PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 15, 2024
The Mills administration is taking the next step to advance its selection of Sears Island as a hub for Maine’s floating offshore wind industry by proposing legislation to allow construction in a coastal sand dune system. Gov. Janet Mills is asking the Legislature to authorize the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to grant a permit under the Natural Resources Protection Act for an offshore wind terminal “notwithstanding any provision of law regarding activities in coastal sand dune systems to the contrary” if other permitting and licensing criteria are met. But the Friends of Sears Island group says the legislation could circumvent a potentially lengthy permitting process.