CHAPTER 165

H.P. 1030 - L.D. 1403

An Act To Amend a Requirement Concerning Dioxin

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §420, sub-§2, ķI, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 444, §7, is amended by amending subparagraph (3) to read:

(3) After December 31, 2002, a mill may not discharge dioxin into its receiving waters. For purposes of this subparagraph, a mill is considered to have discharged dioxin into its receiving waters if 2, 3, 7, 8 - tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or 2, 3, 7, 8 - tetrachlorodibenzo-p-furan is detected in any of the mill's internal waste streams of its bleach plant and in a confirmatory sample at levels exceeding 10 picograms per liter, unless the department adopts a lower detection level by rule, which is a routine technical rule pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A 2-A, or a lower detection level by incorporation of a method in use by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or if levels of dioxin, as defined in section 420-A, subsection 1 detected in fish tissue sampled below the mill's wastewater outfall are higher than levels in fish tissue sampled at an upstream reference site not affected by the mill's discharge or on the basis of a comparable surrogate procedure acceptable to the commissioner. The commissioner shall consult with the technical advisory group established in section 420-B, subsection 1, paragraph B, subparagraph (5) in making this determination and in evaluating surrogate procedures. The fish- tissue sampling test must be