AUGUSTA
— Gov. John Baldacci on Tuesday signed into law new restrictions on the
burning of construction and demolition debris, which is imported into
Maine by the ton and is used as a cheap biomass fuel. The legislation,
which took effect immediately upon Baldacci's signature, limits the
volume of wood from construction and demolition debris that may be
substituted for conventional fuel in boilers to 50 percent per year.
The new law also establishes for the first time a standard to make sure the debris is as clean as technically possible.
"The bill adopts a standard we think is one of the most rigorous in the
country," said Rep. Ted Koffman, D-Bar Harbor, a leading supporter of
the bill and co-chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.
Some
600 million pounds of construction and demolition debris were burned in
biomass boilers in Maine in 2004. The state Department of Environmental
Protection says more than 80 percent of the total came from
out-of-state sources.
Imports
of the waste exceed the volumes sent out of Maine, and "there's a
concern this volume will grow," Koffman said. And if the CDD isn't
consumed in boilers, there is an even greater concern it could be
destined for Maine's landfills, he said.
Simply blocking waste from
being imported into Maine isn't an option because such restrictions
have been deemed unconstitutional.
"It's important that we take some action to assure that the fuel is as clean as it can technically be made now," said Koffman.
The new 50 percent limit on burning of construction and demolition
debris could doom a proposal by GenPower LLC of Massachusetts to build
a plant in the western Maine town of Athens.
GenPower
developed a gas-fired power plant in Westbrook. Its Athens proposal
would have roughly doubled the volume of such debris that's burned in
the state today, driving up the cost for debris for other Maine plants.
