MAINE MONITOR • May 10, 2025
After decades of understaffing, underfunding and dire warnings about the condition of Maine’s dam safety agency, state lawmakers are now considering expansive legislation that would revamp the office in charge of overseeing hundreds of aging Maine dams and set aside funds to fix them. L.D. 1848 would bolster the state’s enforcement actions against the owners of the most dangerous, derelict dams; expand mapping efforts to understand the downstream damages those dams would cause if they fail; and update the pay scale for Maine’s chief dam inspector after years of difficulty filling the position. L.D. 1382, seeks to allocate $5 million and up the maximum limit for a revolving loan designated for municipally- or quasi-municipally-owned dams. Together, the two bills mirror steps that other New England states have taken in the aftermath of catastrophic flooding and dam failures.