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LD153 • 2025

An Act to Prohibit the Unauthorized Mooring of Watercraft

An Act to Prohibit the Unauthorized Mooring of Watercraft

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The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Representative Nina Milliken
Last action
2025-03-27
Official status
Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to Prohibit the Unauthorized Mooring of Watercraft

An Act to Prohibit the Unauthorized Mooring of Watercraft Sponsor: Representative Nina Milliken Reference committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Latest committee action: Reported Out; ONTP

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to Prohibit the Unauthorized Mooring of Watercraft Sponsor: Representative Nina Milliken Reference committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Latest committee action: Reported Out; ONTP

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-27 Senate

    Pursuant to Joint Rule 310.3 Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD)

  2. 2025-03-26 Committee

    Reported Out; ONTP

  3. 2025-03-21 House

    Carried over, in the same posture, to the next special or regular session of the 132nd Legislature, pursuant to Joint Order SP 519.

  4. 2025-02-24 Committee

    Work Session Held

  5. 2025-02-24 Committee

    Voted; ONTP

  6. 2025-01-14 Committee

    Referred to Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Official Summary Text

An Act to Prohibit the Unauthorized Mooring of Watercraft
Sponsor:
Representative Nina Milliken
Reference committee:
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Latest committee action:
Reported Out; ONTP

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Printed on recycled paper
132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 153
H.P. 86 House of Representatives, January 14, 2025
An Act to Prohibit the Unauthorized Mooring of Watercraft
Reference to the Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife suggested and ordered
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MILLIKEN of Blue Hill.
Cosponsored by Senator MOORE of Washington and
Representatives: BISHOP of Bucksport, DODGE of Belfast, EATON of Deer Isle, STROUT
of Harrington.

Page 1 - 132LR0393(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §3-B is enacted to read:
3§3-B. Mooring on privately owned or leased land
41. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the
5 following terms have the following meanings.
6 A. "Emergency" means an unexpected adverse event that exposes a person to physical
7 harm if immediate action is not taken to prevent the harm or that exposes a watercraft
8 to likely damage if a mooring is not used.
9 B. "Owner or lessee" means a person or group of persons that have a legal interest in
10 a mooring or that have been granted rights of use of a mooring by the mooring's owner.
112. Permission required. A person may not secure a watercraft to a mooring owned or
12 leased by another person without permission of the owner or lessee.
133. Penalty. A person who violates subsection 2 commits a Class E crime if:
14 A. The person refuses or fails to immediately release a watercraft from a mooring upon
15 request of the owner or lessee and deprives the owner or lessee of use of the mooring;
16 B. The person leaves a watercraft unattended and secured to a mooring and deprives
17 the owner or lessee of the use of the mooring; or
18 C. The person damages or drags the mooring.
194. Restitution. In addition to any criminal penalty imposed for a violation of subsection
20 2, a court shall order a person who violates subsection 2 to pay restitution to the owner or
21 lessee of the mooring in an amount equal to any monetary expenses the owner or lessee
22 incurs as a result of the unauthorized use of the mooring.
235. Liability. An owner or lessee of a mooring is not liable for damages incurred by a
24 person resulting from that person's use of the mooring without permission of the owner or
25 lessee.
266. Affirmative defense. It is an affirmative defense to an alleged violation of
27 subsection 2 that:
28 A. A mooring is clearly marked in a manner indicating that it is a rental mooring, the
29 mooring is vacant at the time the person secures a watercraft to it and reasonable efforts
30 have been made to pay any mooring rental fee; or
31 B. A person secures a watercraft to a mooring during an emergency that is immediately
32 reported to a law enforcement agency.
33SUMMARY
34 This bill prohibits a person from securing a watercraft to a mooring without receiving
35 permission from the mooring's owner or lessee and establishes penalties and exceptions to
36 that prohibition.
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