Public Hearing Scheduled April 1st for LD 285 – This bill prohibits an investor-owned transmission and distribution utility from recovering in rates any costs incurred by the utility as a result of a disaster regardless of whether or not the utility receives federal assistance in paying those costs…

On Thursday, March 11, 2021 the American Rescue Plan was signed into law by President Biden. This law includes several provisions that extend federal unemployment programs.…

A $28 million project that will reconstruct Maine Turnpike’s Exit 45 Interchange in South Portland is scheduled to begin next week.…

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) received 47 applications totaling over $5.5 million dollars in funding requests. The forty-two stream crossing projects funded this round will result in new or improved fish passage to nearly 100 miles of streams statewide…

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows will testify today before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on House Administration in support of  H.R. 1, the “For the People Act” of 2021.…

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s (DACF) Plant Health Program (PHP) and Maine Forest Service (MFS) announced today that Maine is taking the next step to continue regulating the movement of ash wood material.…

The Maine Department of Marine Resources filed comments with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on the draft Biological Opinion for ten fishery management plans in the Greater Atlantic Region, focusing on the North Atlantic Right Whale. In a cover letter included with DMR’s comments, Governor Janet Mills expressed “grave concern” about the draft Bi-Op, warning it will be economically devastating and will fundamentally change Maine’s lobster fishery.…

“Together, we can do more” is the theme under which the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) is rolling out its 2021 National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) campaign.…

Task force will consider forest carbon storage incentives for small-to-medium size woodland owners to help protect their property while fighting climate change….…

A statewide ban on single-use plastic carry-out bags had been scheduled to go into effect January 15, 2021 and the polystyrene foam disposable food service container ban had been scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2021 however, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is delaying its enforcement of the laws that ban the use of these products until July 1, 2021.…

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner have released figures demonstrating that drug overdose deaths slightly decreased in the third quarter of 2020, though the total year-to-date deaths is on pace to significantly exceed those in 2019.…

U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the Chairman of the Housing Appropriations Subcommittee, announced that the State of Maine has received a total of $6,678,216 in the third installment of funding to support affordable housing, assistance to businesses and bolster COVID-19 prevention and response efforts throughout the state. This funding, awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), was allocated through a section of the CARES Act that Senator Collins co-authored directing $48.5 billion to support housing and transportation programs.…

In a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue, U.S. Senator Susan Collins led a bipartisan group of Senators in urging the USDA to provide financial assistance to American loggers and log haulers who have been experiencing serious financial strain due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The letter was also signed by Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Angus King (I-ME), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Cornyn (R-TX), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA).

Sen. Susan Collins: “Loggers and log haulers are critical to America’s forest products industry – which is a top-10 manufacturing industry in 45 U.S. states.  Our nation’s loggers and haulers harvest and transport the raw material that supports over $283 billion in value-added wood and paper products – with a supply chain that includes nearly one million Americans earning over $54 billion in combined payroll,”
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In a letter sent to the President Tuesday (PDF), the governors highlighted the longstanding bilateral trade relationship between New England and Canada, which was strengthened by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that went into effect this summer. About half of all trade for Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine companies is conducted with Canada.…

Since 2016, NEC researchers have evaluated barriers that lobstermen experience when considering wearing lifejackets. In April, researchers embarked on a campaign to distribute lifejackets from two vans traveling from port to port along the Maine and Massachusetts coastlines. The “Lifejackets for Lobstermen” vans carried 11 models of personal flotation devices (PFDs), available at a 50% discount. The selection was the culmination of more than 550 lobstermen giving guidance over the course of three years on the “ideal” working lifejacket.…

NOAA announced the closure of the Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I Groundfish Closure Areas for gillnet gear to comply with a recent Court Order.…

Last week’s U.S.-China trade deal does not specify the amount of China’s investment for industry; U.S. lobster exports to China have dropped dramatically as result of ongoing trade war…

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) today voted to approve the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). USMCA passed the Senate by an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of 89-10. It previously passed the House by a vote of 385-41 and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.…