February 22, 2022 — A key state legislative committee voted this week against recommending a proposal to allow the state to charge up to $250,000 in application fees for large scale aquaculture projects.
The bill was proposed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources as a way to cover the costs of vetting complicated aquaculture applications and prevent them from monopolizing the department’s resources to the detriment of others in the queue.
Seven of the marine resources committee’s 12 members voted against the bill. On Friday, the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Jay McCreight, D-Harpswell, said that she planned to ask the committee to reconsider the bill next week and, if allowed, would propose pulling the fee portion so two non-contested parts of the bill could move forward.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News