After decades of understaffing, underfunding and dire warnings about the condition of Maine’s dam safety agency, state lawmakers are now considering expansive legislation that would revamp the office in charge of overseeing hundreds of aging Maine dams and set aside funds to fix them.

The two bipartisan bills introduced this past month follow a three-part series published by The Maine Monitor that explored the future of Maine’s deteriorating dams as they face growing threats from climate change and lag behind in maintenance and upkeep.

The more wide-ranging of the measures — L.D. 1848 — would bolster the state’s enforcement actions against the owners of the most dangerous, derelict dams; expand mapping efforts to understand the downstream damages those dams would cause if they fail; and update the pay scale for Maine’s chief dam inspector after years of difficulty filling the position.

The other bill, L.D. 1382, seeks to allocate $5 million and up the maximum limit for a revolving loan designated for municipally- or quasi-municipally-owned dams. Together, the two bills would address underlying weaknesses in Maine dam regulations and mirror steps that other New England states have taken in the aftermath of catastrophic flooding and dam failures.

Both measures come from Rep. Nina Milliken (D-Blue Hill) and a coalition of other Hancock County legislators, all of whom have been grappling with a multinational company’s proposed abandonment of three local dams that are in poor structural condition and create large ponds that local communities rely on for drinking water, waterfront property tax revenue and recreation.

Milliken has authored multiple other dam-related bills and told committee members at a Wednesday hearing for L.D. 1848 — the larger reform bill — that the Maine Emergency Management Agency and its Dam Safety Program need more support to regulate dams in her district and beyond.

“They and the many hundreds of dams across the state need to be subjected to comprehensive oversight,” Milliken testified. “Our dams statewide are in need of a lot of repair, and under their current program MEMA is doing the best they can, but are likely challenged to keep up with the growing concerns.”

Of the 590 Maine dams tracked in a federal dam database, 62 are considered to be in poor condition and have some sort of safety deficiency, while 15 are deemed unsatisfactory and require more immediate maintenance.

Ten of the fifteen unsatisfactory dams are also labeled high hazard, meaning they could put the lives of downstream residents at risk if they fail. This includes the three Hancock County dams at risk of abandonment.

The Maine Dam Safety Program has just two engineers to oversee and inspect the more than 500 Maine dams under its jurisdiction. The office had to pull its former chief inspector out of retirement after it was unable to fill the position.

The program does not receive any direct appropriations from the state legislature and does not collect any fees. In 2021, it received a meager $67,241 through its primary federal grant — at least $200,000 less than it needed, according to an internal report, and had to borrow from funds elsewhere.

The agency rarely follows up on its repair recommendations and does not take enforcement actions when dam owners are out of compliance, meaning the program does not compel private dam owners to maintain even the most dilapidated, dangerous dams.

Proponents of Milliken’s dam reform bill raised concerns on Wednesday over Maine’s toothless dam regulations in the face of the heavier precipitation events brought about by climate change, which the Maine Dam Safety Program doesn’t account for.

“I really hope that we’re able to improve this program in the face of a changing climate that brings with it more frequent and more intense storms,” testified Kaitlyn Nuzzo, director of government relations for The Nature Conservancy in Maine. “Maine has already seen several dam failures in the past 15 years that have already caused more than $1.3 million worth of downstream damage.”

In addition to mapping the fallout of potential dam failures, the reform bill would also require more thorough guidelines for testing dams’ emergency action plans, which are meant to outline an evacuation plan for neighboring residents in the case of dam failure.

It also instructs MEMA to “take all actions necessary” to bring the state’s most hazardous dams into compliance with maintenance requirements and requires MEMA’s parent agency, the state Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, to establish rules for a fee schedule that penalizes dam owners who fail to comply.

Committee members were receptive to the reform bill, although there was some critique of its perceived shortcomings. 

Former state Rep. Ron Russell (D-Verona Island), who crafted his own dam legislation during his time in office, pointed out that while the bill would require MEMA to conduct safety inspections on the state’s most hazardous every five years, the national standard calls for those inspections to happen annually. Russell added that although the bill would reclassify the chief dam inspector’s salary it does not include an allocation to boost pay accordingly.

“What worries me is that the situation that we have right now will continue,” Russell told the committee, “but again, it doesn’t take away from all the good the recommendations that were done in the bill.”

A work session for the reform bill has not yet been scheduled, although committee members encouraged Russell and many of those who testified to return so they could beef up the bill accordingly. 

This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit civic news organization. To get regular coverage from The Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.