Regulators move forward with compensation rules for solar on farmland

Maine environmental regulators moved one step closer on February 20 to implementing rules that would force solar developers to pay for impacts to high-value agricultural land.

- BY KATE COUGH, MAINE MONITOR

The Board of Environmental Protection, which is developing the rules in concert with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, voted to schedule a public hearing on the proposed rule and post it for public comment. A date for a public hearing has not yet been set.

The substance of the rules, which include what counts as high-value agricultural land and defining compensation tiers, is being developed by DACF. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has been tasked with putting a dollar amount on the tiers once they are finalized and collecting the money, which will be set aside for mitigation or farmland conservation, similar to the way the state collects fees for impacts to wetlands.

Department of Environmental Protection staff said Thursday that DACF is getting ready to finalize its rules and that lawmakers will likely review them this legislative session.