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LD2013 • 2025

An Act to Authorize the Commissioner of Marine Resources to Adopt Emergency Rules to Protect Certain Marine Mammals in Exceptional Circumstances

An Act to Authorize the Commissioner of Marine Resources to Adopt Emergency Rules to Protect Certain Marine Mammals in Exceptional Circumstances

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Representative Allison Hepler
Last action
2026-04-03
Official status
Signed by the Governor
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 Authorize the Commissioner of Marine Resources to Adopt Emergency Rules to Protect Certain Marine Mammals in Exceptional Circumstances

An Act to Authorize the Commissioner of Marine Resources to Adopt Emergency Rules to Protect Certain Marine Mammals in Exceptional Circumstances Sponsor: Representative Allison Hepler Reference committee: Marine Resources Governor action: Signed by the Governor

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to Authorize the Commissioner of Marine Resources to Adopt Emergency Rules to Protect Certain Marine Mammals in Exceptional Circumstances Sponsor: Representative Allison Hepler Reference committee: Marine Resources Governor action: Signed by the Governor

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.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Adopted by House & Senate

Plain English: Page 1 - 132LR2635(02) COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 1 L.D.

  • Page 1 - 132LR2635(02) COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 1 L.D.
  • 2013 2 Date: (Filing No.
  • H- ) 3MARINE RESOURCES 4 Reproduced and distributed under the direction of the Clerk of the House.
  • 5STATE OF MAINE 6HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 7132ND LEGISLATURE 8SECOND REGULAR SESSION 9 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “ ” to H.P.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-03 Governor

    Signed by the Governor

  2. 2026-03-25 Senate

    PASSED TO BE ENACTED , in concurrence.

  3. 2026-03-24 House

    PASSED TO BE ENACTED . Sent for concurrence. ORDERED SENT FORTHWITH.

  4. 2026-03-13 Committee

    Reported Out; OTP-AM

  5. 2026-02-19 Committee

    Work Session Held

  6. 2026-02-19 Committee

    Voted; OTP-AM

  7. 2025-12-03 Committee

    Referred to Committee on Marine Resources.

Official Summary Text

An Act to Authorize the Commissioner of Marine Resources to Adopt Emergency Rules to Protect Certain Marine Mammals in Exceptional Circumstances
Sponsor:
Representative Allison Hepler
Reference committee:
Marine Resources
Governor action:
Signed by the Governor

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Page 1 - 132LR2635(03)
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX
_____
H.P. 1343 - L.D. 2013
An Act to Authorize the Commissioner of Marine Resources to Adopt
Emergency Rules to Protect Certain Marine Mammals in Exceptional
Circumstances
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6171, sub-§6 is enacted to read:
6. Emergency rules to limit taking of marine organisms. Notwithstanding
subsections 3 and 5, the commissioner may adopt routine technical rules as emergency
rules under Title 5, section 8054 that limit the taking of marine organisms by method or
location to protect marine mammals listed under section 6975 when the commissioner,
upon consultation with industry personnel, determines that immediate action is necessary
to mitigate circumstances posing an exceptionally high level of risk to those mammals.
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §6171, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
7. Annual report on use of emergency rule-making authority. The department
shall submit a written report on or before January 1st of each year to the joint standing
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over marine resources matters regarding
the use of emergency rulemaking pursuant to subsection 6. The joint standing committee
may report out a bill based on the report to any regular or special session of the Legislature
in the year the report is due.
APPROVED
APRIL 3, 2026
BY GOVERNOR
CHAPTER
625
PUBLIC LAW