Maine Gov. Paul LePage has signed a bill that will revamp the state's Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) - a measure that will streamline the permitting process for wind energy projects, according to the Maine Wind Industry Initiative (MWII).
The reforms within the legislation include moving all permitting review for grid-scale wind projects in the "unorganized territories" to the jurisdiction of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Previously, wind project permitting review would be conducted by LURC or the DEP depending on the location of the project. Occasionally, this could cause difficulties when projects overlapped jurisdiction boundaries, MWII explains. With the recent improvements, wind project permitting will have a standard procedure and review process throughout the state.
