Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

LePage lightens reform package

By Rebekah Metzler rmetzler@mainetoday.com
MaineToday Media State House Writer

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage submitted a reduced roster of regulatory reform proposals to lawmakers on Monday, and removed some of the more controversial items from an initial list released last month.

Proposals such as repealing the Kid-Safe Products Act, the electronic waste law and changes to state's regulations dealing with vernal pools, air emissions and the Land Use Regulation Committee were excluded from the governor’s amendment to LD 1, the omnibus regulatory reform bill.

Senior members of LePage’s staff and cabinet said the administration was not backing away from the excluded proposals, which had drawn criticism from environmental, business and social advocacy groups.

“It has been our intention to be able to provide as much (legislative) language as possible by this, what has been scheduled as (the committee's) last public hearing,” said Kathleen Newman, LePage's deputy chief of staff. “We're continuing to work on the rest of the language. We just decided that we would submit it as governor's bills rather than hold up the committee process.”

The amended bill was presented to the Committee on Regulatory Fairness and Reform, who heard testimony from members of the LePage administration and dozens of members of the public during an all-day hearing on the bill.

The amended LD 1 now focuses on proposals to require jobs, costs and regulatory impact analyses associated with new regulations before they are implemented; establish a small business ombudsman to help guide businesses through the regulatory process; provide stronger judiciary review of state agency decisions; repeal the Maine Informed Growth Act, which requires studies of how big-box developments impact municipalities; and replace the Board of Environmental Protection with a three-judge panel.

Darryl Brown, commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, said the proposals dropped from LD 1 on Monday because they would instead be included in legislation directed to different committees — not because Gov. LePage no longer supports them.

“I can't speak for the governor — I can say that I believe that he's not backing away from these particular issues and these particular points that you bring up, and I do believe that they will be showing up in future legislation out of the governor's office or individual bills that are going to be presented by individual members of the Legislature,” he told lawmakers.

When asked if he supported all the governor's original proposals, Brown said he would have to continue to review them.

Members of the public who testified Monday overwhelmingly opposed efforts to weaken Maine's environmental protections.

Former House Speaker Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, was the lead sponsor of the Kid-Safe Products Act — which requires manufacturers to remove certain unsafe chemicals from products sold in Maine — and offered testimony in support of the legislation.

“It is not an overly aggressive law, it's actually a pretty slow moving law,” she said. “Our process allows for the Legislature to weigh in on specific product bans and that's why the BPA ban in specific children's products is before the Legislature this year.”

Pingree also testified about another proposals still included in the governor's amendment, which would require a jobs impact analysis before new regulations were implemented.

“What you have to weigh is a kid's health or the health of a lobster in Penobscot Bay, is that outweighed by an out-of-state industry that says it will impact their bottom line — you have to make that decision,” she said. “But I don't think there's any impact statement will tell you what the right thing to do is.”

Also Monday, more than one hundred Mainers also gathered in the State House for a pro-environment press conference. Business leaders and several others used the occasion to push back on some of LePage's initial proposals.

“Maine's environmental laws have protected the one single advantage that Maine has over other states in the northeast in attracting people and business, namely, our environment and quality of life,” said Horace Hildreth, CEO of Diversified Communications, during the press conference.

Lawmakers on the regulatory reform committee are now charged with refining the focus of their legislation; they are scheduled to hold a series of work sessions to draft a final measure.

If the committee chooses to omit some of the proposals, however, Newman said Gov. LePage would submit legislation to make all of the reforms listed by the administration.

“We're just trying to work closely with the presiding officers and the chairs of the committee to make sure we're following their process, not stepping all over each other, but it's tricky and we're getting there and I think today went as smoothly as we expected it to,” she said.