{ "attribution": { "source": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18", "cite_as": "NovaCopilot, legal.exploreworldai.com (https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18)", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/revision", "version": "legal-2026-10-12", "fingerprint": "ewai:us:2a3d67", "proof": "sha256:195f4d57b8771d6e4aef3f8396903345d8354fb7d7e6fbdc68986fec6f8b64e1", "jurisdiction": "us", "lang": "en", "publisher": "NovaCopilot by ExploreWorld Legal", "terms": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/om" }, "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "item": { "schema_version": "1.0.0", "id": "us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18", "jurisdiction": "us", "lang": "en", "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "brand": { "product": "NovaCopilot", "platform": "ExploreWorldAI", "infrastructure": "ExploreWorld Legal", "infrastructure_url": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "legal_entity": "Valkiv Ventures AB", "permanent_url": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/novacopilot", "source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "powered_by": "Powered by NovaCopilot", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/licensvillkor" }, "sections": [ { "title": "MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Reporter of Decisions", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Decision: 2026 ME 90", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Docket: BCD-25-337", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Argued: March 3, 2026", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Decided: August 18, 2026", "paragraphs": [ "para_6" ] }, { "title": "FRIENDS OF EASTERN BAY", "paragraphs": [ "para_8", "para_9", "para_10", "para_11" ] }, { "title": "Marine Resources granted Acadia Aqua Farms’ application for a twenty-year", "paragraphs": [ "para_13" ] }, { "title": "Desert Island for the cultivation of blue mussels and other shellfish. Friends of", "paragraphs": [ "para_15", "para_16" ] }, { "title": "(McKeon, J.) affirming the Commissioner’s decision granting Acadia’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_18" ] }, { "title": "2", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "I. BACKGROUND", "paragraphs": [ "para_21", "para_22", "para_23", "para_24", "para_25", "para_26", "para_27", "para_28", "para_29", "para_30", "para_31", "para_32", "para_33", "para_34", "para_35", "para_36", "para_37", "para_38", "para_39", "para_40" ] }, { "title": "3", "paragraphs": [ "para_42", "para_43", "para_44", "para_45" ] }, { "title": "February 13, 2020, and a hearing was ultimately scheduled for March 2022. See", "paragraphs": [ "para_47" ] }, { "title": "Friends applied for and was granted intervenor status in the proceeding, as", "paragraphs": [ "para_49", "para_50", "para_51", "para_52", "para_53", "para_54" ] }, { "title": "13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.31(4)-(5). Representatives from Acadia testified about", "paragraphs": [ "para_56", "para_57", "para_58" ] }, { "title": "Biological Lab as witnesses to testify about the potential impact of noise", "paragraphs": [ "para_60" ] }, { "title": "4", "paragraphs": [ "para_62", "para_63", "para_64", "para_65", "para_66", "para_67", "para_68", "para_69", "para_70" ] }, { "title": "2 The lease conditions included the following:", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(1) The lease holder is required to submit a sworn statement and photographs", "paragraphs": [ "para_73", "para_74", "para_75", "para_76", "para_77", "para_78", "para_79" ] }, { "title": "(3) Any structure moored within the boundaries of the proposed site must be flat in", "paragraphs": [ "para_81", "para_82", "para_83", "para_84", "para_85" ] }, { "title": "5", "paragraphs": [ "para_87" ] }, { "title": "County) on October 31, 2024. M.R. Civ. P. 80C(a). The case was transferred to", "paragraphs": [ "para_89", "para_90" ] }, { "title": "Commissioner’s decision on June 30, 2025. Friends timely appealed the", "paragraphs": [ "para_92", "para_93" ] }, { "title": "II. DISCUSSION", "paragraphs": [ "para_95", "para_96", "para_97", "para_98", "para_99", "para_100", "para_101", "para_102", "para_103" ] }, { "title": "6", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "A. Authority of the Commissioner of the Department of Marine", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Resources to Grant Acadia’s Application for an Aquaculture Lease", "paragraphs": [ "para_107" ] }, { "title": "Acadia’s application, Friends makes two interrelated arguments. First, Friends", "paragraphs": [ "para_109", "para_110", "para_111", "para_112", "para_113" ] }, { "title": "Department of Marine Resources but rather is shared between DEP pursuant", "paragraphs": [ "para_115" ] }, { "title": "38 M.R.S. §§ 480-A to -480-JJ (2026), and the Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL)", "paragraphs": [ "para_117", "para_118", "para_119", "para_120", "para_121", "para_122" ] }, { "title": "Id. Otherwise, we “defer to the interpretation of a statutory scheme by the", "paragraphs": [ "para_124" ] }, { "title": "7", "paragraphs": [ "para_126", "para_127", "para_128", "para_129", "para_130", "para_131", "para_132", "para_133", "para_134", "para_135", "para_136", "para_137", "para_138", "para_139", "para_140", "para_141", "para_142", "para_143", "para_144" ] }, { "title": "8", "paragraphs": [ "para_146", "para_147", "para_148", "para_149" ] }, { "title": "(“In evaluating the proposed lease, the commissioner . . . may grant the lease if", "paragraphs": [ "para_151", "para_152" ] }, { "title": "3 The conditions set out in section 6072(7-A) that the Commissioner must ensure compliance", "paragraphs": [ "para_154" ] }, { "title": "A. The lease will not unreasonably interfere with the ingress and egress of riparian", "paragraphs": [ "para_156", "para_157", "para_158" ] }, { "title": "D. The lease will not unreasonably interfere with significant wildlife habitat and", "paragraphs": [ "para_160", "para_161" ] }, { "title": "E. The applicant has demonstrated that there is an available source of organisms to", "paragraphs": [ "para_163" ] }, { "title": "F. The lease does not unreasonably interfere with public use or enjoyment within", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "1,000 feet of a beach, park or docking facility owned by the Federal Government, the", "paragraphs": [ "para_166", "para_167" ] }, { "title": "G. The lease will not result in unreasonable impact from noise or light at the boundaries", "paragraphs": [ "para_169" ] }, { "title": "H. Upon the implementation of rules, the lease must be in compliance with visual", "paragraphs": [ "para_171", "para_172", "para_173" ] }, { "title": "9", "paragraphs": [ "para_175", "para_176", "para_177", "para_178", "para_179" ] }, { "title": "(2026), but also must be “submit[ted] . . . to the Legislature for review and", "paragraphs": [ "para_181", "para_182", "para_183", "para_184", "para_185" ] }, { "title": "13 188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A)(8)-(10). For example, the rules establishing", "paragraphs": [ "para_187", "para_188" ] }, { "title": "13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A)(8) (emphasis added). Rules establishing", "paragraphs": [ "para_190", "para_191", "para_192" ] }, { "title": "10", "paragraphs": [ "para_194", "para_195", "para_196", "para_197", "para_198", "para_199" ] }, { "title": "Moreover, the raft structure itself meets all applicable criteria under the", "paragraphs": [ "para_201", "para_202", "para_203", "para_204", "para_205", "para_206", "para_207", "para_208", "para_209", "para_210", "para_211", "para_212", "para_213", "para_214", "para_215", "para_216", "para_217", "para_218", "para_219", "para_220", "para_221", "para_222", "para_223", "para_224", "para_225" ] }, { "title": "11", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A). Accordingly, we reject Friends’ argument that the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Commissioner lacked authority under Title 12 to grant Acadia’s aquaculture", "paragraphs": [ "para_229", "para_230" ] }, { "title": "NRPA or BPL’s authority to lease submerged lands preempts the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Commissioner’s authority to grant Acadia’s application. NRPA simply does not", "paragraphs": [ "para_233" ] }, { "title": "A [NRPA] permit is not required . . . if the activity takes place solely", "paragraphs": [ "para_235", "para_236" ] }, { "title": "(10) Aquaculture. Aquaculture activities regulated by the", "paragraphs": [ "para_238" ] }, { "title": "6072-A, 6072-B, or 6072-C. Ancillary activities, including but not", "paragraphs": [ "para_240", "para_241" ] }, { "title": "38 M.R.S. § 480-Q(10) (2026) (emphasis added). Friends asserts that Acadia’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_243", "para_244", "para_245", "para_246" ] }, { "title": "12", "paragraphs": [ "para_248", "para_249", "para_250", "para_251", "para_252", "para_253", "para_254", "para_255", "para_256", "para_257", "para_258", "para_259", "para_260", "para_261", "para_262", "para_263", "para_264", "para_265", "para_266", "para_267", "para_268", "para_269", "para_270", "para_271", "para_272", "para_273", "para_274" ] }, { "title": "Finally, Friends asserts that the Commissioner of Marine Resources is owed no deference in", "paragraphs": [ "para_276", "para_277", "para_278", "para_279", "para_280", "para_281", "para_282", "para_283", "para_284", "para_285", "para_286" ] }, { "title": "13", "paragraphs": [ "para_288", "para_289", "para_290", "para_291", "para_292", "para_293" ] }, { "title": "Acadia’s proposed storage raft is not “ancillary equipment or [an ancillary]", "paragraphs": [ "para_295", "para_296" ] }, { "title": "B. Lease Impacts on “Other Uses in the Area” and “Noise at the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Boundaries of the Lease Site”", "paragraphs": [ "para_299", "para_300", "para_301", "para_302", "para_303", "para_304", "para_305", "para_306" ] }, { "title": "14", "paragraphs": [ "para_308", "para_309", "para_310" ] }, { "title": "Maquoit Bay, LLC v. Dep’t of Marine Res., 2022 ME 19, ¶ 5, 271 A.3d 1183. We", "paragraphs": [ "para_312", "para_313" ] }, { "title": "Saco River Corridor Comm’n, 2022 ME 42, ¶ 20, 278 A.3d 1183 (quotation marks", "paragraphs": [ "para_315", "para_316", "para_317", "para_318", "para_319", "para_320", "para_321", "para_322", "para_323", "para_324", "para_325", "para_326" ] }, { "title": "15", "paragraphs": [ "para_328", "para_329", "para_330" ] }, { "title": "Acadia’s proposed lease operations would not unreasonably interfere with the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Lab’s activities. Thus, we assume for purposes of this opinion that the Lab’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_333", "para_334", "para_335", "para_336", "para_337" ] }, { "title": "Commissioner’s interpretation of section 6072 that Friends brings, namely that", "paragraphs": [ "para_339", "para_340", "para_341", "para_342", "para_343", "para_344", "para_345" ] }, { "title": "16", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "LLC v. Pub. Utilities Comm’n, 2025 ME 64, ¶ 26, 340 A.3d 99; E. Me. Conservation", "paragraphs": [ "para_348", "para_349", "para_350", "para_351", "para_352", "para_353", "para_354", "para_355", "para_356", "para_357" ] }, { "title": "Section 2.37(1)(A)(9) provides as follows:", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "All motorized equipment used during routine operation at an", "paragraphs": [ "para_360", "para_361" ] }, { "title": "Centralized feeding barges, or feeding distribution systems, shall", "paragraphs": [ "para_363", "para_364", "para_365", "para_366", "para_367" ] }, { "title": "All fixed noise sources shall be directed away from any residences", "paragraphs": [ "para_369" ] }, { "title": "17", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "An applicant shall demonstrate that all reasonable measures will be", "paragraphs": [ "para_372", "para_373", "para_374", "para_375", "para_376" ] }, { "title": "Department’s rules implementing section 6072(7-A)’s noise-impact standard", "paragraphs": [ "para_378" ] }, { "title": "See 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.10. Rather, the rules direct the Commissioner to", "paragraphs": [ "para_380", "para_381", "para_382" ] }, { "title": "13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A)(9). The Commissioner determined here that", "paragraphs": [ "para_384", "para_385", "para_386", "para_387" ] }, { "title": "Acadia demonstrated that it would use sufficient mitigation measures to satisfy", "paragraphs": [ "para_389", "para_390" ] }, { "title": "18", "paragraphs": [ "para_392", "para_393", "para_394", "para_395", "para_396", "para_397", "para_398", "para_399", "para_400", "para_401", "para_402", "para_403", "para_404", "para_405", "para_406", "para_407", "para_408", "para_409", "para_410", "para_411" ] }, { "title": "19", "paragraphs": [ "para_413", "para_414", "para_415", "para_416", "para_417", "para_418", "para_419", "para_420", "para_421" ] }, { "title": "Lab’s ongoing research activities alone “should have resulted in outright denial", "paragraphs": [ "para_423", "para_424", "para_425", "para_426" ] }, { "title": "Lab “is more than 1,590’ from the southwest boundary of the modified", "paragraphs": [ "para_428", "para_429", "para_430", "para_431" ] }, { "title": "20", "paragraphs": [ "para_433", "para_434", "para_435", "para_436", "para_437", "para_438", "para_439", "para_440", "para_441", "para_442", "para_443", "para_444", "para_445", "para_446" ] }, { "title": "278 A.3d 1183. Here, the Commissioner applied the correct legal standard and", "paragraphs": [ "para_448", "para_449" ] }, { "title": "10 Contrary to an additional argument made by Friends, the Commissioner did not improperly", "paragraphs": [ "para_451", "para_452", "para_453" ] }, { "title": "21", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "C. Treatment of the Lease Application as a Non-Discharge Application", "paragraphs": [ "para_456", "para_457", "para_458", "para_459", "para_460", "para_461", "para_462", "para_463", "para_464", "para_465" ] }, { "title": "Acadia’s lease application as a discharge application and that the Commissioner", "paragraphs": [ "para_467", "para_468", "para_469", "para_470", "para_471", "para_472", "para_473", "para_474", "para_475", "para_476", "para_477", "para_478" ] }, { "title": "22", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "These arguments are premised on the supposition that the equipment and gear", "paragraphs": [ "para_481", "para_482", "para_483", "para_484", "para_485", "para_486" ] }, { "title": "February 2020, its staff nevertheless submitted the application to DEP for", "paragraphs": [ "para_488", "para_489", "para_490", "para_491", "para_492", "para_493" ] }, { "title": "Torts Litigation Guide § 48:1, Westlaw (database updated May 2026). In May 2024, the", "paragraphs": [ "para_495", "para_496", "para_497", "para_498", "para_499", "para_500", "para_501", "para_502" ] }, { "title": "23", "paragraphs": [ "para_504", "para_505", "para_506", "para_507", "para_508", "para_509" ] }, { "title": "Cf. Maquoit Bay, 2022 ME 19, ¶ 21, 271 A.3d 1183 (“The record reflects that", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "DMR notified DEP about [the] completed application . . . , which defeats . . . [the", "paragraphs": [ "para_512", "para_513", "para_514", "para_515" ] }, { "title": "Acadia proposes to use contains any PFAS toxins. Friends merely asserts that", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Acadia’s equipment “is likely to contain PFAS,” that power washing “will likely", "paragraphs": [ "para_518", "para_519", "para_520", "para_521", "para_522", "para_523", "para_524" ] }, { "title": "24", "paragraphs": [ "para_526", "para_527", "para_528", "para_529", "para_530", "para_531", "para_532", "para_533", "para_534", "para_535", "para_536", "para_537", "para_538", "para_539", "para_540" ] }, { "title": "Ellsworth ME Solar, LLC v. Pub. Utilities Comm’n, 2026 ME 10, ¶ 32, 353 A.3d", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "952, and find none here. There was no evidence in the record that Acadia’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_543", "para_544" ] }, { "title": "25", "paragraphs": [ "para_546", "para_547", "para_548" ] }, { "title": "The entry is:", "paragraphs": [ "para_550", "para_551" ] }, { "title": "Portland, for appellant Friends of Eastern Bay", "paragraphs": [ "para_553" ] }, { "title": "Office of the Attorney General, Augusta, for appellee Department of Marine", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Resources", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Patrick W. Lyons, Esq., Viridian Law, P.C., Ellsworth, for appellee Acadia Aqua", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Farms, LLC", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Business and Consumer Docket docket number APP-2025-1", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "FOR CLERK REFERENCE ONLY", "paragraphs": [] } ], "paragraphs": [ { "text": "MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Reporter of Decisions", "paragraph_id": "para_1" }, { "text": "Decision: 2026 ME 90", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "Docket: BCD-25-337", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "Argued: March 3, 2026", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "Decided: August 18, 2026", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "Panel: STANFILL, C.J., and MEAD, CONNORS, DOUGLAS, and LIPEZ, JJ., and HJELM, A.R.J.", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "FRIENDS OF EASTERN BAY", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "v.", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES et al.", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": "DOUGLAS, J.", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": "[¶1] In October 2024, the Commissioner of the Maine Department of", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": "Marine Resources granted Acadia Aqua Farms’ application for a twenty-year", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": "aquaculture lease of 19.71 acres in the coastal waters of Eastern Bay off Mount", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": "Desert Island for the cultivation of blue mussels and other shellfish. Friends of", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": "Eastern Bay, one of the intervenors in the proceeding before the Department,", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "appeals from a judgment entered in the Business and Consumer Docket", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "(McKeon, J.) affirming the Commissioner’s decision granting Acadia’s", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "application for the lease. We affirm the judgment.", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "I. BACKGROUND", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "[¶2] In November 2019, Acadia applied for a twenty-year standard", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "aquaculture lease1 of 48.11 acres of coastal water in Eastern Bay, located in an", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "area approximately 1,000 feet from shore southwest of Googins Ledge in the", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "town of Bar Harbor. Acadia proposed to culture blue mussels using a floating", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "pipe system at the water’s surface with nets hanging down in the water column", "paragraph_id": "para_25" }, { "text": "to collect blue mussel seed. The mussel seed would be harvested using", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "specially designed machinery that is lowered over the collection netting to", "paragraph_id": "para_27" }, { "text": "remove the seed with a brushing mechanism. The harvesting machine uses a", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "hydraulic system to then pump the seed into a seventy-four-foot transport", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "vessel.", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "[¶3] Acadia intends to use the harvesting machine seasonally, from May", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "to October, for up to a total of three weeks during those months. When not in", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "use, the machine would be stored on a twenty-foot-by-twenty-foot floating raft", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "permanently moored within the lease site. During the off-season, the", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "harvesting machine may be removed from the lease site. Acadia personnel", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "1 The Department is authorized to issue a standard aquaculture lease for a renewable term of up", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "to twenty years for an area of up to 100 acres. 12 M.R.S. § 6072(2), (12) (2026). Other types of", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "aquaculture leases authorized by Title 12 include leases for commercial or scientific research,", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "12 M.R.S. § 6072-A (2026), emergency aquaculture leases for shellfish, 12 M.R.S. § 6072-B (2026),", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "and other limited-purpose aquaculture leases, 12 M.R.S. § 6072-C (2026).", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "would be on the site daily or weekly to perform routine maintenance, which", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "would involve use of the transport vessel’s hydraulic system along with power", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "washers and graders.", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "[¶4] The Department deemed Acadia’s application complete on", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "February 13, 2020, and a hearing was ultimately scheduled for March 2022. See", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, §§ 2.08(5)-(6), 2.15(1)-(3) (effective April 1, 2019).", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "Friends applied for and was granted intervenor status in the proceeding, as", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "were Alynn and Frances Seymour on behalf of riparian landowners. See 13-188", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.20.", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "[¶5] The Department held a public hearing on Acadia’s lease application", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "on March 28 and 29, 2022. See 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.30. At the hearing,", "paragraph_id": "para_52" }, { "text": "representatives from Acadia, the Department of Marine Resources, the", "paragraph_id": "para_53" }, { "text": "intervenors, and members of the public presented testimony and evidence. See", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.31(4)-(5). Representatives from Acadia testified about", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "the use and storage of the harvesting machine and about measures to be taken", "paragraph_id": "para_56" }, { "text": "to mitigate noise generated from its aquaculture operations. The intervenors", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "submitted over eighty exhibits and called employees of the Mount Desert Island", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "Biological Lab as witnesses to testify about the potential impact of noise", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "generated by Acadia’s operations on the integrity of the Lab’s research, some of", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "4", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "which involves sound-sensitive animals and instruments. Parties and members", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "of the public were permitted to cross-examine witnesses. Acadia and the", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "intervenors submitted written closing arguments and rebuttals. See 13-188", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.31(6)(A).", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "[¶6] On October 2, 2024, the Commissioner issued a comprehensive,", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "seventy-three page written decision approving Acadia’s application and leasing", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "waters for a twenty-year term, but only for 19.71 acres (reduced from the", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "original request for 48.11 acres) and subject to a number of conditions.2 See", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37.", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "2 The lease conditions included the following:", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "(1) The lease holder is required to submit a sworn statement and photographs", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "demonstrating that the hydraulic drive system on the Stewardship [the transport", "paragraph_id": "para_73" }, { "text": "vessel] has been upgraded. Such documentation needs to also indicate whether the", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "installation was accommodated safely and if not, demonstrate that the John Deer[e]", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "hydraulic drive system has been muffled with a hospital grade cowl muffler. Written", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "authorization must be granted by DMR prior to the vessel being used within the", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "boundaries of the proposed site to verify the upgrades have been made.", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "(2) All power washing equipment must be located within the hull of the Stewardship.", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "(3) Any structure moored within the boundaries of the proposed site must be flat in", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "color and must be gray, black, brown, blue, or green in hue.", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "(4) Conditions 2 and 3 may be re-evaluated via the lease amendment process.", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "(5) Lobster fishing is permitted within the boundaries of the lease site.", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "See 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(B); 12 M.R.S. § 6072(7-B). Conditions 1 and 2 were imposed to", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "mitigate potential noise impacts from Acadia’s operations.", "paragraph_id": "para_85" }, { "text": "5", "paragraph_id": "para_86" }, { "text": "[¶7] Friends filed a Rule 80C petition in the Superior Court (Kennebec", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "County) on October 31, 2024. M.R. Civ. P. 80C(a). The case was transferred to", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "the Business and Consumer Docket on January 7, 2025. The court heard oral", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "arguments on May 28, 2025, and entered a judgment affirming the", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "Commissioner’s decision on June 30, 2025. Friends timely appealed the", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "judgment. See M.R. App. P. 2B(c)(1); M.R. Civ. P. 80C(m); 5 M.R.S. § 11008(1)", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "(2026).", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "II. DISCUSSION", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "[¶8] Friends advances three principal arguments in this appeal: first, that", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "the Commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources lacked statutory", "paragraph_id": "para_96" }, { "text": "authority to grant Acadia’s application for the aquaculture lease; second, that", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "the Commissioner erred in determining that Acadia’s operations will not result", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "in unreasonable impacts or unreasonable noise at the boundaries of the lease", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "site; and third, that the Department erred by not treating Acadia’s lease", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "application as a “discharge application” subject to review and permitting by", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "another state agency, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). We", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "address each argument in turn.", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "6", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "A. Authority of the Commissioner of the Department of Marine", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "Resources to Grant Acadia’s Application for an Aquaculture Lease", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "[¶9] In challenging the Commissioner’s statutory authority to grant", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "Acadia’s application, Friends makes two interrelated arguments. First, Friends", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "argues that the Commissioner exceeded his leasing authority in Title 12 by", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "approving an aquaculture operation that uses a permanently moored storage", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "raft “for the sole purpose of warehousing unused equipment,” because, Friends", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "maintains, the use of the raft “is not ‘aquaculture.’” Second, Friends contends", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "that the “jurisdiction” to approve the storage raft does not lie with the", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "Department of Marine Resources but rather is shared between DEP pursuant", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "to its permitting authority under the Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA),", "paragraph_id": "para_115" }, { "text": "38 M.R.S. §§ 480-A to -480-JJ (2026), and the Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL)", "paragraph_id": "para_116" }, { "text": "pursuant to its leasing authority under 12 M.R.S. § 1862(2) (2026) with respect", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "to submerged lands.", "paragraph_id": "para_118" }, { "text": "[¶10] We review de novo a challenge to an agency’s interpretation of the", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "statute it administers to determine first whether the statute’s language is", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "unambiguous. E. Me. Conservation Initiative v. Bd. of Env’t Prot., 2025 ME 35,", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "¶ 22, 334 A.3d 706. If the language is unambiguous, its plain meaning controls.", "paragraph_id": "para_122" }, { "text": "Id. Otherwise, we “defer to the interpretation of a statutory scheme by the", "paragraph_id": "para_123" }, { "text": "agency charged with its implementation as long as the agency’s construction is", "paragraph_id": "para_124" }, { "text": "7", "paragraph_id": "para_125" }, { "text": "reasonable.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). Our deference recognizes that", "paragraph_id": "para_126" }, { "text": "state agencies generally possess programmatic expertise to inform their", "paragraph_id": "para_127" }, { "text": "implementation of the statute in areas that the Legislature has charged them", "paragraph_id": "para_128" }, { "text": "with administering. See Off. of the Pub. Advoc. v. Pub. Util. Comm’n, 2023 ME 77,", "paragraph_id": "para_129" }, { "text": "¶ 9, 306 A.3d 633; Watts v. Bd. of Env’t Prot., 2014 ME 91, ¶ 5, 97 A.3d 115.", "paragraph_id": "para_130" }, { "text": "[¶11] The Legislature has vested the Commissioner of the Department", "paragraph_id": "para_131" }, { "text": "of Marine Resources with the exclusive authority to “lease areas in, on and", "paragraph_id": "para_132" }, { "text": "under the coastal waters, including the public lands beneath those waters . . .", "paragraph_id": "para_133" }, { "text": "for aquaculture of marine organisms.” 12 M.R.S. § 6072(1) (2026). A lease", "paragraph_id": "para_134" }, { "text": "permits the lessee to engage in aquaculture operations, which entail “the", "paragraph_id": "para_135" }, { "text": "culture or husbandry of marine organisms,” 12 M.R.S. § 6001(1) (2026),", "paragraph_id": "para_136" }, { "text": "including operations “for the suspended culture” of marine organisms, which", "paragraph_id": "para_137" }, { "text": "inherently involves the use of floating gear and equipment, see 12 M.R.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_138" }, { "text": "§ 6072(1-A) (providing that “it is unlawful for a person who does not have a", "paragraph_id": "para_139" }, { "text": "lease issued by the commissioner under this section to construct or operate in", "paragraph_id": "para_140" }, { "text": "the coastal waters of the State a facility . . . for the suspended culture of any", "paragraph_id": "para_141" }, { "text": "other marine organism” (emphasis added)).", "paragraph_id": "para_142" }, { "text": "[¶12] The regulatory framework established by the Legislature confirms", "paragraph_id": "para_143" }, { "text": "the Commissioner’s authority to approve Acadia’s application for a lease with", "paragraph_id": "para_144" }, { "text": "8", "paragraph_id": "para_145" }, { "text": "its floating-raft component. Section 6072(7-A) prescribes eight general", "paragraph_id": "para_146" }, { "text": "conditions that the Commissioner must ensure are met in evaluating lease", "paragraph_id": "para_147" }, { "text": "applications3 and requires the Department to adopt rules delineating specific", "paragraph_id": "para_148" }, { "text": "criteria for determining whether these conditions are met. See id. § 6072(7-A)", "paragraph_id": "para_149" }, { "text": "(“In evaluating the proposed lease, the commissioner . . . may grant the lease if", "paragraph_id": "para_150" }, { "text": "the proposed lease meets the following conditions [contained in section", "paragraph_id": "para_151" }, { "text": "6072(7-A)(A)-(H)] as defined by rule.” (emphasis added)). As relevant here,", "paragraph_id": "para_152" }, { "text": "3 The conditions set out in section 6072(7-A) that the Commissioner must ensure compliance", "paragraph_id": "para_153" }, { "text": "with are as follows:", "paragraph_id": "para_154" }, { "text": "A. The lease will not unreasonably interfere with the ingress and egress of riparian", "paragraph_id": "para_155" }, { "text": "owners.", "paragraph_id": "para_156" }, { "text": "B. The lease will not unreasonably interfere with navigation.", "paragraph_id": "para_157" }, { "text": "C. The lease will not unreasonably interfere with fishing or other uses of the area . . . .", "paragraph_id": "para_158" }, { "text": "D. The lease will not unreasonably interfere with significant wildlife habitat and", "paragraph_id": "para_159" }, { "text": "marine habitat or with the ability of the lease site and surrounding marine and upland", "paragraph_id": "para_160" }, { "text": "areas to support existing ecologically significant flora and fauna.", "paragraph_id": "para_161" }, { "text": "E. The applicant has demonstrated that there is an available source of organisms to", "paragraph_id": "para_162" }, { "text": "be cultured for the lease site.", "paragraph_id": "para_163" }, { "text": "F. The lease does not unreasonably interfere with public use or enjoyment within", "paragraph_id": "para_164" }, { "text": "1,000 feet of a beach, park or docking facility owned by the Federal Government, the", "paragraph_id": "para_165" }, { "text": "State Government or a municipal governmental agency or certain conserved lands . .", "paragraph_id": "para_166" }, { "text": ". .", "paragraph_id": "para_167" }, { "text": "G. The lease will not result in unreasonable impact from noise or light at the boundaries", "paragraph_id": "para_168" }, { "text": "of the lease site.", "paragraph_id": "para_169" }, { "text": "H. Upon the implementation of rules, the lease must be in compliance with visual", "paragraph_id": "para_170" }, { "text": "impact criteria adopted by the commissioner relating to color, height, shape and", "paragraph_id": "para_171" }, { "text": "mass.", "paragraph_id": "para_172" }, { "text": "12 M.R.S. § 6072(7-A)(A)-(H) (emphasis added).", "paragraph_id": "para_173" }, { "text": "9", "paragraph_id": "para_174" }, { "text": "section 6072(7-A) specifically mandates that “[t]he commissioner . . . adopt", "paragraph_id": "para_175" }, { "text": "rules to establish noise, light and visual impact criteria under paragraphs G and", "paragraph_id": "para_176" }, { "text": "H, which are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, Chapter 375,", "paragraph_id": "para_177" }, { "text": "subchapter 2-A.” Id. (emphasis added). Major substantive rules are not only", "paragraph_id": "para_178" }, { "text": "“subject to an increased level of rulemaking requirements,” 5 M.R.S. § 8072", "paragraph_id": "para_179" }, { "text": "(2026), but also must be “submit[ted] . . . to the Legislature for review and", "paragraph_id": "para_180" }, { "text": "authorization”; they are effective “only after review by the Legislature followed", "paragraph_id": "para_181" }, { "text": "by final adoption by the agency,” id. § 8072(1).", "paragraph_id": "para_182" }, { "text": "[¶13] As required by section 6072(7-A), the Department adopted, with", "paragraph_id": "para_183" }, { "text": "legislative endorsement, rules establishing noise, light, and visual impact", "paragraph_id": "para_184" }, { "text": "criteria applicable to floating structures used in aquaculture operations. See", "paragraph_id": "para_185" }, { "text": "13 188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A)(8)-(10). For example, the rules establishing", "paragraph_id": "para_186" }, { "text": "lighting criteria “apply to all exterior lighting used on buildings, equipment, and", "paragraph_id": "para_187" }, { "text": "vessels permanently moored or routinely used at all aquaculture facilities.”", "paragraph_id": "para_188" }, { "text": "13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A)(8) (emphasis added). Rules establishing", "paragraph_id": "para_189" }, { "text": "visual impact criteria “appl[y] to all equipment, buildings, and watercraft used", "paragraph_id": "para_190" }, { "text": "at an aquaculture facility, excluding watercraft not permanently moored", "paragraph_id": "para_191" }, { "text": "[there]” and impose a twenty-foot height limit on “[a]ll buildings, vessels,", "paragraph_id": "para_192" }, { "text": "10", "paragraph_id": "para_193" }, { "text": "barges, and structures” at aquaculture lease sites.4 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2,", "paragraph_id": "para_194" }, { "text": "§ 2.37(1)(A)(10).", "paragraph_id": "para_195" }, { "text": "[¶14] Thus, the Commissioner’s approval of Acadia’s lease is consistent", "paragraph_id": "para_196" }, { "text": "with his authority under section 6072 and the legislatively endorsed regulatory", "paragraph_id": "para_197" }, { "text": "framework reflected in the Department’s rules. As the record establishes, the", "paragraph_id": "para_198" }, { "text": "raft plays an integral part in Acadia’s planned aquaculture operations.5", "paragraph_id": "para_199" }, { "text": "Moreover, the raft structure itself meets all applicable criteria under the", "paragraph_id": "para_200" }, { "text": "governing statute and the Department’s rules.6 12 M.R.S. § 6072(7-A); 13-188", "paragraph_id": "para_201" }, { "text": "4 We note that the application for a standard aquaculture lease has a section entitled, “On-Site", "paragraph_id": "para_202" }, { "text": "Support Structures.” There, the applicant is required to “[d]escribe structures such as barges, sheds,", "paragraph_id": "para_203" }, { "text": "etc., to be located on-site” and to “[p]rovide a schematic and indicate the dimensions [of the", "paragraph_id": "para_204" }, { "text": "structures], including height above sea level.”", "paragraph_id": "para_205" }, { "text": "5 The harvesting machine itself is equipment that Acadia plans to use in the “husbandry of marine", "paragraph_id": "para_206" }, { "text": "organisms” and that must be stored when not in operation. A representative from Acadia testified", "paragraph_id": "para_207" }, { "text": "that it was “also looking at whether [it] can make the harvest machine easier to launch and retrieve", "paragraph_id": "para_208" }, { "text": "so that it’s only on the water for the few weeks that [Acadia] need[s] to harvest, but that’s relatively", "paragraph_id": "para_209" }, { "text": "tricky because it’s a large machine and [Acadia’s] boom truck crane can’t take it.” The size of the", "paragraph_id": "para_210" }, { "text": "harvest machine necessitates storage on the lease site when not in use during the six-month season", "paragraph_id": "para_211" }, { "text": "from May to October. The contention that the raft is not part of Acadia’s aquacultural operation", "paragraph_id": "para_212" }, { "text": "because it merely “warehouse[s] unused equipment” is contrary not only to the record but also to", "paragraph_id": "para_213" }, { "text": "common sense. It is tantamount to suggesting that a barn housing farm equipment that is not in use", "paragraph_id": "para_214" }, { "text": "is not part of a farming operation.", "paragraph_id": "para_215" }, { "text": "6 The Commissioner found, and the record supports, that the raft was “in compliance with visual", "paragraph_id": "para_216" }, { "text": "impact criteria adopted by the commissioner relating to color, height, shape and mass.” 12 M.R.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_217" }, { "text": "§ 6072(7-A)(H). The height of the raft would be 1.5 feet above the waterline; the height of the harvest", "paragraph_id": "para_218" }, { "text": "machine, when submerged and in use, would be approximately five feet above the waterline; and", "paragraph_id": "para_219" }, { "text": "together, when the machine was not in use but stored on the raft, they would have a total height of", "paragraph_id": "para_220" }, { "text": "approximately 13.5 feet above the waterline. This complied with the height requirements in the", "paragraph_id": "para_221" }, { "text": "Department’s rules. See 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A)(10). And the Commissioner further found", "paragraph_id": "para_222" }, { "text": "that “[w]hether or not the applicant decides to move the harvesting machine during [the] time when", "paragraph_id": "para_223" }, { "text": "it is not in active use would not impact [the Commissioner’s] analysis, as under either operation, the", "paragraph_id": "para_224" }, { "text": "machine complies with the visual impact rules.” See id.", "paragraph_id": "para_225" }, { "text": "11", "paragraph_id": "para_226" }, { "text": "C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A). Accordingly, we reject Friends’ argument that the", "paragraph_id": "para_227" }, { "text": "Commissioner lacked authority under Title 12 to grant Acadia’s aquaculture", "paragraph_id": "para_228" }, { "text": "lease application.", "paragraph_id": "para_229" }, { "text": "[¶15] We also reject the argument that DEP’s permitting authority under", "paragraph_id": "para_230" }, { "text": "NRPA or BPL’s authority to lease submerged lands preempts the", "paragraph_id": "para_231" }, { "text": "Commissioner’s authority to grant Acadia’s application. NRPA simply does not", "paragraph_id": "para_232" }, { "text": "apply here:", "paragraph_id": "para_233" }, { "text": "A [NRPA] permit is not required . . . if the activity takes place solely", "paragraph_id": "para_234" }, { "text": "in the area specified below:", "paragraph_id": "para_235" }, { "text": ". . .", "paragraph_id": "para_236" }, { "text": "(10) Aquaculture. Aquaculture activities regulated by the", "paragraph_id": "para_237" }, { "text": "Department of Marine Resources under Title 12, section 6072,", "paragraph_id": "para_238" }, { "text": "6072-A, 6072-B, or 6072-C. Ancillary activities, including but not", "paragraph_id": "para_239" }, { "text": "limited to, building or altering docks or filling of wetlands, are not", "paragraph_id": "para_240" }, { "text": "exempt from the provisions of this article . . . .”", "paragraph_id": "para_241" }, { "text": "38 M.R.S. § 480-Q(10) (2026) (emphasis added). Friends asserts that Acadia’s", "paragraph_id": "para_242" }, { "text": "proposed use of a floating storage raft falls within the scope of “ancillary", "paragraph_id": "para_243" }, { "text": "activities” and not “aquaculture activities” because the raft “is not necessary for", "paragraph_id": "para_244" }, { "text": "or even directly used as a part of the culture or husbandry of marine", "paragraph_id": "para_245" }, { "text": "organisms.” As just discussed, the record plainly contradicts this assertion; the", "paragraph_id": "para_246" }, { "text": "12", "paragraph_id": "para_247" }, { "text": "raft is directly related to, and an important component of, Acadia’s aquaculture", "paragraph_id": "para_248" }, { "text": "operations.7 See supra n.5.", "paragraph_id": "para_249" }, { "text": "[¶16] Likewise, BPL’s leasing authority over submerged lands pursuant", "paragraph_id": "para_250" }, { "text": "to 12 M.R.S. § 1862(2) does not apply. Section 1862(10) provides: “A lease for", "paragraph_id": "para_251" }, { "text": "the use of lands under this section is not required for the development and", "paragraph_id": "para_252" }, { "text": "7 Friends also relies upon section 480-Q(10)’s reference to “altering docks” to argue that Acadia’s", "paragraph_id": "para_253" }, { "text": "storage raft, which Friends characterizes as a “floating dock,” is an “ancillary activit[y]” under that", "paragraph_id": "para_254" }, { "text": "section and therefore excluded from the NRPA aquaculture exemption. This argument, too, is", "paragraph_id": "para_255" }, { "text": "unpersuasive. Section 480-Q(10) refers to a “dock,” not a “floating dock”; the Legislature knew how", "paragraph_id": "para_256" }, { "text": "to distinguish between these two terms, even within NRPA itself. Compare 38 M.R.S. § 480-Q(2-B)", "paragraph_id": "para_257" }, { "text": "(exempting replacement of “floating docks” from the requirement of a NRPA permit if not exceeding", "paragraph_id": "para_258" }, { "text": "the dimensions of the original) with id. § 480-Q(10) (excluding the “building or altering of docks”", "paragraph_id": "para_259" }, { "text": "from the aquaculture exemption from the NRPA permitting requirement). Although neither term is", "paragraph_id": "para_260" }, { "text": "defined in NRPA, a “dock” is included among the structures in the statute’s definition of “[p]ermanent", "paragraph_id": "para_261" }, { "text": "structure,” and as such is clearly distinguished from the floating raft that Acadia contemplates here.", "paragraph_id": "para_262" }, { "text": "See 38 M.R.S. § 480-B(7) (2026) (defining “[p]ermanent structure” as “any structure that is designed", "paragraph_id": "para_263" }, { "text": "to remain at or that is constructed or erected with a fixed location or that is attached to a structure", "paragraph_id": "para_264" }, { "text": "with a fixed location for a period exceeding 7 months within any 12-month period, including, but not", "paragraph_id": "para_265" }, { "text": "limited to, causeways, piers, docks, concrete slabs, piles, marinas, retaining walls and buildings”).", "paragraph_id": "para_266" }, { "text": "And although the word “dock” itself is undefined in NRPA, it is commonly understood to mean “a", "paragraph_id": "para_267" }, { "text": "structure extending alongshore or out from the shore into a body of water, to which boats may be", "paragraph_id": "para_268" }, { "text": "moored,” Dock, New Oxford American Dictionary (3d ed. 2010); in other words, a structure that is", "paragraph_id": "para_269" }, { "text": "affixed to land. Friends further attempts to enlist our decision in Uliano v. Bd. of Env’t Prot., 2009 ME", "paragraph_id": "para_270" }, { "text": "89, 977 A.2d 400, in support of the argument that a NRPA permit is required, noting that the case", "paragraph_id": "para_271" }, { "text": "“expressly applied to a dock proposed in Eastern Bay—the very same water body that is the subject", "paragraph_id": "para_272" }, { "text": "of [the Commissioner’s] [d]ecision.” Uliano is inapt; it involved construction of a land-connected,", "paragraph_id": "para_273" }, { "text": "private pier, not a raft floating hundreds of feet offshore. Uliano, 2009 ME 89, ¶ 4, 977 A.2d 400.", "paragraph_id": "para_274" }, { "text": "Finally, Friends asserts that the Commissioner of Marine Resources is owed no deference in", "paragraph_id": "para_275" }, { "text": "determining what activities are “ancillary” within the meaning of 38 M.R.S. § 480-Q(10) or 12 M.R.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_276" }, { "text": "§ 1862(10) because the Department of Marine Resources does not administer these statutes. This", "paragraph_id": "para_277" }, { "text": "argument falls short as well. It is true that the Department of Marine Resources does not administer", "paragraph_id": "para_278" }, { "text": "DEP’s or BPL’s programs. As noted above, however, both statutes expressly exempt “[a]quaculture", "paragraph_id": "para_279" }, { "text": "activities regulated by the Department of Marine Resources under Title 12, section 6072” and “any", "paragraph_id": "para_280" }, { "text": "aquaculture . . . [performed under] lease from the Commissioner of Marine Resources under section", "paragraph_id": "para_281" }, { "text": "6072.” See 38 M.R.S. § 480-Q(10); 12 M.R.S. § 1862(10). The Department of Marine Resources does", "paragraph_id": "para_282" }, { "text": "administer Title 12’s aquaculture leasing statute and is intimately familiar with the aquaculture", "paragraph_id": "para_283" }, { "text": "industry. The Commissioner, therefore, is accorded deference in administering the requirements of", "paragraph_id": "para_284" }, { "text": "the aquaculture leasing statute, and here his consideration of the storage raft as part of Acadia’s", "paragraph_id": "para_285" }, { "text": "aquaculture activities and operation is amply supported by the record.", "paragraph_id": "para_286" }, { "text": "13", "paragraph_id": "para_287" }, { "text": "operation of any aquaculture facility if the owner or operator has obtained a", "paragraph_id": "para_288" }, { "text": "lease from the Commissioner of Marine Resources under section 6072.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_289" }, { "text": "§ 1862(10) (emphasis added). Section 1862(10)’s aquaculture exemption is", "paragraph_id": "para_290" }, { "text": "limited—it provides that “[a]ncillary equipment and facilities permanently", "paragraph_id": "para_291" }, { "text": "occupying submerged lands on the lease site and not explicitly included in the", "paragraph_id": "para_292" }, { "text": "lease granted by the Commissioner of Marine Resources are not exempt.” Still,", "paragraph_id": "para_293" }, { "text": "Acadia’s proposed storage raft is not “ancillary equipment or [an ancillary]", "paragraph_id": "para_294" }, { "text": "facilit[y],” id., but even if it were, it is explicitly permitted as part of the", "paragraph_id": "para_295" }, { "text": "Commissioner’s aquaculture lease to Acadia.", "paragraph_id": "para_296" }, { "text": "B. Lease Impacts on “Other Uses in the Area” and “Noise at the", "paragraph_id": "para_297" }, { "text": "Boundaries of the Lease Site”", "paragraph_id": "para_298" }, { "text": "[¶17] Friends next contends that Acadia failed to demonstrate that its", "paragraph_id": "para_299" }, { "text": "proposed aquaculture operations will not unreasonably interfere with other", "paragraph_id": "para_300" }, { "text": "uses of the area, as required by 12 M.R.S. § 6072(7-A)(C), and will not result in", "paragraph_id": "para_301" }, { "text": "unreasonable impacts from noise at the boundaries of the lease site, as required", "paragraph_id": "para_302" }, { "text": "by 12 M.R.S. § 6072(7-A)(G); that the Commissioner incorrectly interpreted", "paragraph_id": "para_303" }, { "text": "and applied the statutory standards; and that the Commissioner’s findings", "paragraph_id": "para_304" }, { "text": "otherwise were unsupported by substantial evidence and are an abuse of", "paragraph_id": "para_305" }, { "text": "discretion.", "paragraph_id": "para_306" }, { "text": "14", "paragraph_id": "para_307" }, { "text": "[¶18] In an appeal from a judgment on a Rule 80C petition, “we review", "paragraph_id": "para_308" }, { "text": "the underlying administrative agency decision directly for abuse of discretion,", "paragraph_id": "para_309" }, { "text": "errors of law, or findings unsupported by substantial evidence in the record.”", "paragraph_id": "para_310" }, { "text": "Maquoit Bay, LLC v. Dep’t of Marine Res., 2022 ME 19, ¶ 5, 271 A.3d 1183. We", "paragraph_id": "para_311" }, { "text": "do not “substitute our judgment for that of the agency and will affirm findings", "paragraph_id": "para_312" }, { "text": "of fact if they are supported by substantial evidence in the record.” Ouellette v.", "paragraph_id": "para_313" }, { "text": "Saco River Corridor Comm’n, 2022 ME 42, ¶ 20, 278 A.3d 1183 (quotation marks", "paragraph_id": "para_314" }, { "text": "omitted). We do not independently weigh the merits of the evidence and “will", "paragraph_id": "para_315" }, { "text": "affirm the agency’s findings even if the record contains inconsistent evidence", "paragraph_id": "para_316" }, { "text": "or evidence contrary to the result reached by the agency.” Id. (quotation marks", "paragraph_id": "para_317" }, { "text": "omitted); see Friends of Lincoln Lakes v. Bd. of Env’t Prot., 2010 ME 18, ¶ 13, 989", "paragraph_id": "para_318" }, { "text": "A.2d 1128.", "paragraph_id": "para_319" }, { "text": "[¶19] We first address the challenge to the Commissioner’s construction", "paragraph_id": "para_320" }, { "text": "of section 6072(7-A)(C). The Commissioner initially determined that the", "paragraph_id": "para_321" }, { "text": "research programs conducted by the Lab were “beyond the scope of ‘other uses", "paragraph_id": "para_322" }, { "text": "of the area’ as that phrase [is] used in 12 M.R.S.[] § 6072(7-A)(C) when read in", "paragraph_id": "para_323" }, { "text": "the context of the rest of the statute.” Friends argues that the Commissioner", "paragraph_id": "para_324" }, { "text": "erred by limiting the scope of “other uses in the area” to other water-related", "paragraph_id": "para_325" }, { "text": "uses, and not including land-based uses.", "paragraph_id": "para_326" }, { "text": "15", "paragraph_id": "para_327" }, { "text": "[¶20] Here, however, we need not reach that issue because, despite his", "paragraph_id": "para_328" }, { "text": "conclusion to the contrary, the Commissioner considered and evaluated the", "paragraph_id": "para_329" }, { "text": "evidence concerning potential noise impacts on the Lab and determined that", "paragraph_id": "para_330" }, { "text": "Acadia’s proposed lease operations would not unreasonably interfere with the", "paragraph_id": "para_331" }, { "text": "Lab’s activities. Thus, we assume for purposes of this opinion that the Lab’s", "paragraph_id": "para_332" }, { "text": "operations, including its research programs, constitute an “other use in the", "paragraph_id": "para_333" }, { "text": "area” in 12 M.R.S. § 6072(7-A)(C) and review the Commissioner’s findings to", "paragraph_id": "para_334" }, { "text": "determine whether they are supported by substantial record evidence.", "paragraph_id": "para_335" }, { "text": "See infra ¶¶ 25-27, 29-30.", "paragraph_id": "para_336" }, { "text": "[¶21] Before doing so, we turn to the other challenge to the", "paragraph_id": "para_337" }, { "text": "Commissioner’s interpretation of section 6072 that Friends brings, namely that", "paragraph_id": "para_338" }, { "text": "the Commissioner erred in construing the unreasonable-noise-impact", "paragraph_id": "para_339" }, { "text": "condition in section 6072(7-A)(G) to mean that Acadia was required to", "paragraph_id": "para_340" }, { "text": "demonstrate only satisfactory noise mitigation measures and did not need to", "paragraph_id": "para_341" }, { "text": "present evidence of what particular decibel levels of noise would be generated", "paragraph_id": "para_342" }, { "text": "by its operations. Again, we look first at the language of the statute to", "paragraph_id": "para_343" }, { "text": "determine whether or not it is unambiguous and if not, give deference to the", "paragraph_id": "para_344" }, { "text": "agency's interpretation if its interpretation is reasonable. See Snakeroot Solar,", "paragraph_id": "para_345" }, { "text": "16", "paragraph_id": "para_346" }, { "text": "LLC v. Pub. Utilities Comm’n, 2025 ME 64, ¶ 26, 340 A.3d 99; E. Me. Conservation", "paragraph_id": "para_347" }, { "text": "Initiative, 2025 ME 35, ¶ 22, 334 A.3d 706.", "paragraph_id": "para_348" }, { "text": "[¶22] Section 6072(7-A)(G) requires, as a condition for granting an", "paragraph_id": "para_349" }, { "text": "aquaculture lease, that the Commissioner determine that “[t]he lease will not", "paragraph_id": "para_350" }, { "text": "result in unreasonable impact from noise or light at the boundaries of the lease", "paragraph_id": "para_351" }, { "text": "site.” The language of section 6072(7-A)(G) itself does not definitively establish", "paragraph_id": "para_352" }, { "text": "specific criteria for the condition, but the legislatively endorsed rules adopted", "paragraph_id": "para_353" }, { "text": "by the Department do.", "paragraph_id": "para_354" }, { "text": "[¶23] As mandated by 12 M.R.S. § 6072(7-A), the Department adopted,", "paragraph_id": "para_355" }, { "text": "with legislative endorsement, major substantive rules establishing specific", "paragraph_id": "para_356" }, { "text": "noise criteria. See Resolves 2005, ch. 58; 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A)(9).", "paragraph_id": "para_357" }, { "text": "Section 2.37(1)(A)(9) provides as follows:", "paragraph_id": "para_358" }, { "text": "All motorized equipment used during routine operation at an", "paragraph_id": "para_359" }, { "text": "aquaculture facility must be designed or mitigated to reduce the", "paragraph_id": "para_360" }, { "text": "sound level produced to the maximum extent practical.", "paragraph_id": "para_361" }, { "text": "Centralized feeding barges, or feeding distribution systems, shall", "paragraph_id": "para_362" }, { "text": "be designed or mitigated to reduce noise by installing the most", "paragraph_id": "para_363" }, { "text": "effective commercially available baffles at air intakes and outlets,", "paragraph_id": "para_364" }, { "text": "mounting of all relevant equipment to minimize vibration between", "paragraph_id": "para_365" }, { "text": "it and the hull, and using the most effective commercially available", "paragraph_id": "para_366" }, { "text": "soundproofing insulation.", "paragraph_id": "para_367" }, { "text": "All fixed noise sources shall be directed away from any residences", "paragraph_id": "para_368" }, { "text": "or areas of routine use on adjacent land.", "paragraph_id": "para_369" }, { "text": "17", "paragraph_id": "para_370" }, { "text": "An applicant shall demonstrate that all reasonable measures will be", "paragraph_id": "para_371" }, { "text": "taken to mitigate noise impacts from the lease activities.", "paragraph_id": "para_372" }, { "text": "(Emphasis added).", "paragraph_id": "para_373" }, { "text": "[¶24] Contrary to Friends’ contentions, neither the governing statute nor", "paragraph_id": "para_374" }, { "text": "the Department’s rules require that mechanized or motorized equipment be", "paragraph_id": "para_375" }, { "text": "operated at or below specific decibel or vibrational levels. Moreover, the", "paragraph_id": "para_376" }, { "text": "Department’s rules implementing section 6072(7-A)’s noise-impact standard", "paragraph_id": "para_377" }, { "text": "do not require lease applicants to submit information on specific decibel levels.", "paragraph_id": "para_378" }, { "text": "See 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.10. Rather, the rules direct the Commissioner to", "paragraph_id": "para_379" }, { "text": "ensure reasonable mitigation—the applicant must demonstrate that “all", "paragraph_id": "para_380" }, { "text": "reasonable measures will be taken” to mitigate noise impact and reduce sound", "paragraph_id": "para_381" }, { "text": "levels “to the maximum extent practicable” “at the boundaries of the lease site.”", "paragraph_id": "para_382" }, { "text": "13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A)(9). The Commissioner determined here that", "paragraph_id": "para_383" }, { "text": "“[t]his is most often achieved by describing the design of the equipment, or", "paragraph_id": "para_384" }, { "text": "explaining how the equipment will be utilized or retrofitted to reduce sound", "paragraph_id": "para_385" }, { "text": "levels.”", "paragraph_id": "para_386" }, { "text": "[¶25] The Commissioner found, with substantial record support, that", "paragraph_id": "para_387" }, { "text": "Acadia demonstrated that it would use sufficient mitigation measures to satisfy", "paragraph_id": "para_388" }, { "text": "section 6072(7-A)(G) as further delineated by rule. Acadia proposed a number", "paragraph_id": "para_389" }, { "text": "of measures to reduce noise impacts, “[a]ll the mitigation measures are", "paragraph_id": "para_390" }, { "text": "18", "paragraph_id": "para_391" }, { "text": "consistent with approaches incorporated on other standard lease sites,” and", "paragraph_id": "para_392" }, { "text": "“[m]any of these measures exceed mitigation approaches on other standard", "paragraph_id": "para_393" }, { "text": "lease sites.”", "paragraph_id": "para_394" }, { "text": "[¶26] Specific to the harvesting machine and transport vessel, which", "paragraph_id": "para_395" }, { "text": "were less commonly found in other aquaculture operations and which Friends", "paragraph_id": "para_396" }, { "text": "contends would be the principal source of noise affecting the Lab’s operations,", "paragraph_id": "para_397" }, { "text": "the Commissioner found that Acadia proposed noise-reducing measures", "paragraph_id": "para_398" }, { "text": "sufficient to meet this standard, including an upgraded hydraulic system on the", "paragraph_id": "para_399" }, { "text": "transport vessel to utilize a below-deck engine with water-cooled hydraulic oil;", "paragraph_id": "para_400" }, { "text": "upward-facing mufflers and “cowl mufflers”8 for the main drive engines to", "paragraph_id": "para_401" }, { "text": "minimize and dissipate noise; generators, fit with rubber footings, that are", "paragraph_id": "para_402" }, { "text": "mounted below deck on the transport vessel to reduce noise and vibrations;", "paragraph_id": "para_403" }, { "text": "and the rubber-foot mounting of the engine to further reduce vibrations.9", "paragraph_id": "para_404" }, { "text": "[¶27] In addition, the Commissioner incorporated as conditions of the", "paragraph_id": "para_405" }, { "text": "lease additional representations made by Acadia in its application and closing", "paragraph_id": "para_406" }, { "text": "arguments to reduce noise, including completely turning off the transport", "paragraph_id": "para_407" }, { "text": "8 A cowl muffler is a type of muffler developed by the military to reduce noise from field hospital", "paragraph_id": "para_408" }, { "text": "generators. Most Department-approved leases do not use hospital-grade cowl mufflers.", "paragraph_id": "para_409" }, { "text": "9 Acadia also represented that “[a]ccording to the manufacturer the noise of the running harvest", "paragraph_id": "para_410" }, { "text": "machine is very mild, less than a 4 stroke outboard engine.”", "paragraph_id": "para_411" }, { "text": "19", "paragraph_id": "para_412" }, { "text": "vessel “whenever possible,” even during harvesting; outfitting all portable", "paragraph_id": "para_413" }, { "text": "engines used on site regularly, except for outboard engines, with “higher than", "paragraph_id": "para_414" }, { "text": "standard muffling when possible”; and, if power washers are used more than", "paragraph_id": "para_415" }, { "text": "several times per year, mounting them below deck for noise mitigation.", "paragraph_id": "para_416" }, { "text": "[¶28] Friends asserts, however, that despite the evidence establishing", "paragraph_id": "para_417" }, { "text": "noise mitigation measures, Acadia failed to demonstrate that the noise from its", "paragraph_id": "para_418" }, { "text": "activities, and in particular from the use of the harvesting machine, will not", "paragraph_id": "para_419" }, { "text": "unreasonably interfere with the Lab’s use of the area. Friends argues that the", "paragraph_id": "para_420" }, { "text": "unrebutted expert testimony about the uncertainty that will be injected into the", "paragraph_id": "para_421" }, { "text": "Lab’s ongoing research activities alone “should have resulted in outright denial", "paragraph_id": "para_422" }, { "text": "of this type of lease.”", "paragraph_id": "para_423" }, { "text": "[¶29] The Commissioner considered the testimony and evidence about", "paragraph_id": "para_424" }, { "text": "potential noise impacts presented by Friends and the Lab’s witnesses; he", "paragraph_id": "para_425" }, { "text": "simply found it unconvincing. The Commissioner noted, for example, that the", "paragraph_id": "para_426" }, { "text": "Lab “is more than 1,590’ from the southwest boundary of the modified", "paragraph_id": "para_427" }, { "text": "proposed lease site” and “approximately 30’ from the high tide line in an area", "paragraph_id": "para_428" }, { "text": "that is regularly trafficked by tour vessels, mussel harvest vessels, power boats,", "paragraph_id": "para_429" }, { "text": "and lobster fishing vessels”; that the Lab “has its own dock, which is utilized by", "paragraph_id": "para_430" }, { "text": "employees with motorized watercraft”; that the Lab “maintains [its] grounds", "paragraph_id": "para_431" }, { "text": "20", "paragraph_id": "para_432" }, { "text": "with motorized equipment”; and that, although the Lab’s facility was under", "paragraph_id": "para_433" }, { "text": "renovation, “no provisions were made to soundproof the space to a certain", "paragraph_id": "para_434" }, { "text": "sound level, nor had the facility conducted its own sound readings to determine", "paragraph_id": "para_435" }, { "text": "at what levels the animals in their care would react adversely to noise or", "paragraph_id": "para_436" }, { "text": "vibrations or at what duration.”", "paragraph_id": "para_437" }, { "text": "[¶30] In sum, the Commissioner found the testimony about noise", "paragraph_id": "para_438" }, { "text": "impacts to be “largely speculative,” “based on assertions that the applicant was", "paragraph_id": "para_439" }, { "text": "required to supply precise studies and estimates of noise decibels not required", "paragraph_id": "para_440" }, { "text": "by the applicable law,” and “not consistent with evidence regarding [the Lab’s]", "paragraph_id": "para_441" }, { "text": "operations and approach to noise control and impacts from current noise", "paragraph_id": "para_442" }, { "text": "level[s] already present in the area.” The fact that the record contains other", "paragraph_id": "para_443" }, { "text": "evidence—even uncontested evidence—from which a different conclusion", "paragraph_id": "para_444" }, { "text": "might be drawn is not cause to overturn an agency’s decision if there is", "paragraph_id": "para_445" }, { "text": "competent evidence to support that decision. See Ouellette, 2022 ME 42, ¶ 20,", "paragraph_id": "para_446" }, { "text": "278 A.3d 1183. Here, the Commissioner applied the correct legal standard and", "paragraph_id": "para_447" }, { "text": "there is competent evidence to support the Commissioner’s findings and", "paragraph_id": "para_448" }, { "text": "conclusion.10", "paragraph_id": "para_449" }, { "text": "10 Contrary to an additional argument made by Friends, the Commissioner did not improperly", "paragraph_id": "para_450" }, { "text": "shift the burden to the intervenors to demonstrate noncompliance with the applicable statutory", "paragraph_id": "para_451" }, { "text": "criteria pertaining to noise impacts and, in particular, the impacts on the Lab. The Commissioner", "paragraph_id": "para_452" }, { "text": "correctly identified the burden as resting with the applicant, Acadia, by referencing the standard in", "paragraph_id": "para_453" }, { "text": "21", "paragraph_id": "para_454" }, { "text": "C. Treatment of the Lease Application as a Non-Discharge Application", "paragraph_id": "para_455" }, { "text": "[¶31] Standard applications for aquaculture leases are designated as", "paragraph_id": "para_456" }, { "text": "either “non-discharge” or “discharge” applications, and the application", "paragraph_id": "para_457" }, { "text": "requirements differ between the two designations. 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2,", "paragraph_id": "para_458" }, { "text": "§ 2.10(B). Department rules define “discharge” as “any spilling, leaking,", "paragraph_id": "para_459" }, { "text": "pumping, pouring, emptying, dumping, disposing or other addition of any", "paragraph_id": "para_460" }, { "text": "pollutant including, but not limited to, the addition of feed, therapeutants or", "paragraph_id": "para_461" }, { "text": "pesticides to waters of the State.” 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.05(G). An applicant", "paragraph_id": "para_462" }, { "text": "submitting a “discharge application” must procure a Maine Pollutant Discharge", "paragraph_id": "para_463" }, { "text": "Elimination System (MEPDES) permit from DEP. 38 M.R.S. § 413(1) (2026).", "paragraph_id": "para_464" }, { "text": "[¶32] Friends maintains that the Department erred by not designating", "paragraph_id": "para_465" }, { "text": "Acadia’s lease application as a discharge application and that the Commissioner", "paragraph_id": "para_466" }, { "text": "abused his discretion by declining to make additional findings or reopen the", "paragraph_id": "para_467" }, { "text": "record in light of recent federal regulatory changes regarding PFAS chemicals.11", "paragraph_id": "para_468" }, { "text": "section 2.37(1)(A)(9): “An applicant shall demonstrate that all reasonable measures will be taken to", "paragraph_id": "para_469" }, { "text": "mitigate noise impacts from the lease activities.” 13-188 C.M.R. ch. 2, § 2.37(1)(A)(9). The", "paragraph_id": "para_470" }, { "text": "Commissioner relied on several sources of information in reaching his decision, and that is", "paragraph_id": "para_471" }, { "text": "“consistent with [the Department’s] standard practice for developing the record that it uses to", "paragraph_id": "para_472" }, { "text": "evaluate lease applications.” Maquoit Bay, 2022 ME 19, ¶ 19, 271 A.3d 1183.", "paragraph_id": "para_473" }, { "text": "11 “Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a general term used to describe a group of over", "paragraph_id": "para_474" }, { "text": "5,000 different synthetic chemicals that are used in industrial and commercial applications", "paragraph_id": "para_475" }, { "text": "throughout the world, most commonly to repel water and oil, to combat high temperatures, and to", "paragraph_id": "para_476" }, { "text": "reduce the effects of friction. Historically, the most prevalent use of PFAS has included two synthetic", "paragraph_id": "para_477" }, { "text": "chemicals: perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).” 4 Cetrulo et al., Toxic", "paragraph_id": "para_478" }, { "text": "22", "paragraph_id": "para_479" }, { "text": "These arguments are premised on the supposition that the equipment and gear", "paragraph_id": "para_480" }, { "text": "Acadia plans to use, including plastic high-density polyethylene plastic piping,", "paragraph_id": "para_481" }, { "text": "“is likely to contain PFAS” and that power washing this gear is likely to", "paragraph_id": "para_482" }, { "text": "discharge PFAS and PFOA into Eastern Bay. We reject the arguments for", "paragraph_id": "para_483" }, { "text": "several reasons.", "paragraph_id": "para_484" }, { "text": "[¶33] First, although the Department initially treated Acadia’s", "paragraph_id": "para_485" }, { "text": "application as a non-discharge application when deeming it complete in", "paragraph_id": "para_486" }, { "text": "February 2020, its staff nevertheless submitted the application to DEP for", "paragraph_id": "para_487" }, { "text": "review. The application specifically proposed the use of plastic pipes and", "paragraph_id": "para_488" }, { "text": "power washers. The statute then in effect required that DEP “be notified of all", "paragraph_id": "para_489" }, { "text": "lease applications.” 12 M.R.S. § 6072(6)(C) (2020).12 Despite being provided", "paragraph_id": "para_490" }, { "text": "with the application, DEP did not request further information about or", "paragraph_id": "para_491" }, { "text": "comment on the application. Moreover, the Commissioner found in his decision", "paragraph_id": "para_492" }, { "text": "that Department staff “took official notice of a 2018 letter issued by the DEP", "paragraph_id": "para_493" }, { "text": "Torts Litigation Guide § 48:1, Westlaw (database updated May 2026). In May 2024, the", "paragraph_id": "para_494" }, { "text": "Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its final rule designating PFOA and PFOS as", "paragraph_id": "para_495" }, { "text": "“hazardous substances” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and", "paragraph_id": "para_496" }, { "text": "Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 9601-75 (Westlaw through Pub. L. No. 119-100). See", "paragraph_id": "para_497" }, { "text": "Designation of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid (PFOS) as CERCLA", "paragraph_id": "para_498" }, { "text": "Hazardous Substances, 89 Fed. Reg. 39124 (May 8, 2024) (codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 302).", "paragraph_id": "para_499" }, { "text": "12 Title 12 M.R.S. § 6072(6)(C) has since been amended to require the Department to notify DEP", "paragraph_id": "para_500" }, { "text": "only of applications deemed to be discharge applications. See P.L. 2021, ch. 52, § 3 (effective Oct. 18,", "paragraph_id": "para_501" }, { "text": "2021) (codified at 12 M.R.S. § 6072(6)(C)).", "paragraph_id": "para_502" }, { "text": "23", "paragraph_id": "para_503" }, { "text": "determining that a discharge permit was not required for a similar aquaculture", "paragraph_id": "para_504" }, { "text": "lease application that also included the culture of shellfish and power", "paragraph_id": "para_505" }, { "text": "washing.”13 There is competent record evidence to support the Department’s", "paragraph_id": "para_506" }, { "text": "initial designation of Acadia’s application as a non-discharge application and", "paragraph_id": "para_507" }, { "text": "the Commissioner’s consistent treatment of it after that, given the information", "paragraph_id": "para_508" }, { "text": "available at the time the application was made and deemed complete.", "paragraph_id": "para_509" }, { "text": "Cf. Maquoit Bay, 2022 ME 19, ¶ 21, 271 A.3d 1183 (“The record reflects that", "paragraph_id": "para_510" }, { "text": "DMR notified DEP about [the] completed application . . . , which defeats . . . [the", "paragraph_id": "para_511" }, { "text": "intervenors’] notice argument and their related contention that the allegedly", "paragraph_id": "para_512" }, { "text": "improper notice undermined DEP’s ability to consider the application of the", "paragraph_id": "para_513" }, { "text": "Natural Resources Protection Act.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_514" }, { "text": "[¶34] Second, there is no evidence in the record that the equipment", "paragraph_id": "para_515" }, { "text": "Acadia proposes to use contains any PFAS toxins. Friends merely asserts that", "paragraph_id": "para_516" }, { "text": "Acadia’s equipment “is likely to contain PFAS,” that power washing “will likely", "paragraph_id": "para_517" }, { "text": "result in a discharge of those pollutants,” and that there is a “potential for", "paragraph_id": "para_518" }, { "text": "[Acadia’s] proposed activities to result in the discharge of PFAS into the marine", "paragraph_id": "para_519" }, { "text": "13 The letter acknowledged receipt of the lease application and stated that DEP reviewed the", "paragraph_id": "para_520" }, { "text": "application and determined that, with support from a decision of the United States Court of Appeals", "paragraph_id": "para_521" }, { "text": "for the Ninth Circuit, Ass’n to Protect Hammersley, Eld, & Totten Inlets v. Taylor Res., Inc., 299 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_522" }, { "text": "1007 (9th Cir. 2002), “this activity would not require [the applicant] to obtain a [MEPDES] permit . . .", "paragraph_id": "para_523" }, { "text": "from the DEP.”", "paragraph_id": "para_524" }, { "text": "24", "paragraph_id": "para_525" }, { "text": "environment.” Though Friends contends that “the record does not reflect that", "paragraph_id": "para_526" }, { "text": "[Acadia’s equipment] is PFOA and PFAS free,” the more significant point is that", "paragraph_id": "para_527" }, { "text": "the record does not establish that Acadia’s equipment contains such chemicals", "paragraph_id": "para_528" }, { "text": "at all or that, if it did, they would be released into the marine environment", "paragraph_id": "para_529" }, { "text": "naturally or by virtue of equipment maintenance. On this record, there is no", "paragraph_id": "para_530" }, { "text": "basis for us to second-guess the Commissioner. See Maquoit Bay, 2022 ME 19,", "paragraph_id": "para_531" }, { "text": "¶ 20, 271 A.3d 1183 (holding that deference to the Department’s designation", "paragraph_id": "para_532" }, { "text": "of an application for a shellfish aquaculture lease as a non-discharge application", "paragraph_id": "para_533" }, { "text": "was appropriate where assertions that power washing equipment would result", "paragraph_id": "para_534" }, { "text": "in the discharge of pollutants were merely speculative).", "paragraph_id": "para_535" }, { "text": "[¶35] Finally, the federal regulatory changes that Friends cites as a basis", "paragraph_id": "para_536" }, { "text": "for reopening the record, including the EPA’s May 2024 designation of PFAS", "paragraph_id": "para_537" }, { "text": "chemicals as hazardous substances and subject to regulation under CERCLA,", "paragraph_id": "para_538" }, { "text": "see supra n.11, occurred after the close of the administrative record. We review", "paragraph_id": "para_539" }, { "text": "an agency’s denial of a request to reopen the record for an abuse of discretion,", "paragraph_id": "para_540" }, { "text": "Ellsworth ME Solar, LLC v. Pub. Utilities Comm’n, 2026 ME 10, ¶ 32, 353 A.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_541" }, { "text": "952, and find none here. There was no evidence in the record that Acadia’s", "paragraph_id": "para_542" }, { "text": "equipment contains PFOA or PFAS chemicals, and Friends’ argument that the", "paragraph_id": "para_543" }, { "text": "gear and power washers that Acadia plans to use in its operations will cause a", "paragraph_id": "para_544" }, { "text": "25", "paragraph_id": "para_545" }, { "text": "discharge of those chemicals into the water still “is speculative and does not", "paragraph_id": "para_546" }, { "text": "persuade us to disturb [the Commissioner’s] conclusion.” Maquoit Bay, 2022", "paragraph_id": "para_547" }, { "text": "ME 19, ¶ 20, 271 A.3d 1183.", "paragraph_id": "para_548" }, { "text": "The entry is:", "paragraph_id": "para_549" }, { "text": "Judgment affirmed.", "paragraph_id": "para_550" }, { "text": "Stacey L. Caulk, Esq., and David M. Kallin, Esq. (orally), Drummond Woodsum,", "paragraph_id": "para_551" }, { "text": "Portland, for appellant Friends of Eastern Bay", "paragraph_id": "para_552" }, { "text": "Aaron M. Frey, Attorney General, and Valerie A. Wright, Asst. Atty. Gen. (orally),", "paragraph_id": "para_553" }, { "text": "Office of the Attorney General, Augusta, for appellee Department of Marine", "paragraph_id": "para_554" }, { "text": "Resources", "paragraph_id": "para_555" }, { "text": "Patrick W. Lyons, Esq., Viridian Law, P.C., Ellsworth, for appellee Acadia Aqua", "paragraph_id": "para_556" }, { "text": "Farms, LLC", "paragraph_id": "para_557" }, { "text": "Business and Consumer Docket docket number APP-2025-1", "paragraph_id": "para_558" }, { "text": "FOR CLERK REFERENCE ONLY", "paragraph_id": "para_559" } ], "word_count": 6061, "cites": [ "299 F.3d\n1007" ], "cited_by": [], "sha256": "2fa875c82e57964d81fd1a3a3df0f93e1c745106917c8521e1b46bef6bc4c185", "source_url": "https://www.courts.maine.gov/courts/sjc/lawcourt/2026/26me090.pdf", "fetched_at": "2026-10-09T10:21:48.833+00:00", "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/ai/judgments/us/me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18", "risk_graph": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18", "relations_graph": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18", "changes": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/us-praxis/changes", "agent": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/us-praxis/agent?id=us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18", "verification": { "stored_sha256": "2fa875c82e57964d81fd1a3a3df0f93e1c745106917c8521e1b46bef6bc4c185", "recomputed_sha256": "2fa875c82e57964d81fd1a3a3df0f93e1c745106917c8521e1b46bef6bc4c185", "intact": true, "checked_at": "2026-10-13T04:47:04.252Z" } }, "hash": "sha256:195f4d57b8771d6e4aef3f8396903345d8354fb7d7e6fbdc68986fec6f8b64e1", "version": "legal-2026-10-12", "expires": "2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z", "dependency": { "index_version": "legal-2026-10-12+legal-2026-10-12+2026-10-12T21:04:16", "content_hash": "sha256:195f4d57b8771d6e4aef3f8396903345d8354fb7d7e6fbdc68986fec6f8b64e1", "revalidate_after": "2026-10-13T05:47:04.822Z", "max_copy_age_seconds": 3600, "policy": "revalidate-required; attribution-preferred", "changelog": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/dependency", "verify": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/verify", "stale_copy_invalid": true }, "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18", "follow": [ { "rel": "risk", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18" }, { "rel": "relations", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18" }, { "rel": "agent", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/us-praxis/agent?id=us:me-bcd-25-337-2026-08-18" }, { "rel": "obligations", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/obligation-chain" }, { "rel": "changes", "href": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/whats-new?jurisdiction=us" } ], "disclaimer": "Source reference with official identifier. 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