Concept Paper for a Sears Island Transportation Area Advisory Council

October 2, 2008 from Fair Play For Sears Island and Penobscot Bay Watch.

1. Background.
Sears Island, a 941-acre island in upper Penobscot Bay, is owned by the State of Maine and managed under the jurisdiction of the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT).

As proposed by the Joint Use Planning Committee, an initiative established by the Governor of Maine, and if approved by the Joint Legislative Committee on Transportation, the island will be divided into two different areas: a 600-acre Conservation Area that will be placed under a conservation easement and managed for outdoor recreation, education, and protection of ecological resources, and a 341-acre Transportation Area that will be open to dredging, land clearing, and port, trucking and rail development.

Construction and maintenance of one or more wharves, cargo offloading, storage and staging areas, a railyard, parking areas, and other structures, machinery and impervious surfaces necessary to deliver services for the intended uses will be allowed and limited under the terms of the Joint Use Agreement. Expected developments in the Transportation Area, while subject to all applicable local, state and federal land use regulations, will inevitably have both short term and long term environmental impacts, both on-island and in the surrounding region.

Because the MDOT is neither statutorily charged with environmental oversight for such uses of the Transportation Area nor has staff and other resources relevant to such oversight, Fair Play for Sears Island and Penobscot Bay Watch propose that an Advisory Council be established to assist the MDOT in the decision process concerning environmental management of activities within the Transportation Area.

2. Role of the Advisory Council
Management of the Sears Island Marine Transportation Area will likely be conducted under a lease agreement between the State of Maine and one or more other business entities. For instance, a port management company and a railroad company might enter into lease agreements covering the construction and operation of a container port and railyard , while a private company might enter into a license agreement to manage the waste management for the Marine Transportation area operations.

The Transportation Area Advisory Council will provide the knowledge and experience of its members to the MDOT with the goal of facilitating environmental oversight of the Transportation Zone planning and development and of minimizing the greatest extent practicable degradation of the island and the surrounding area's land, air, waters, fisheries and wildilfe. In its effort to meet that goal, the Advisory Council will review and comment to the MDOT on the following matters concerning the Transportation Area:

• Policies and practices relating to environmental and conservation management of the island's Transportation Area;
• Proposals and plans submitted by would be port, rail and trucking developers
• Development and discharge permits and licenses for buildings, wharves, rail, road building and dredging
• Lease agreements with tenants of the Marine Transportation Area;
• Other matters that will arise from time to time that relate to Marine Transportation Area development impacts on the environment and ecology of the land and waters in and surrounding Sears Island.
• Issues arising from interpretation of the the terms of the Joint Use Agreement;

The Advisory Council does not itself have the power to approve or disapprove of final decisions concerning management of the Transportation Area. Its chief role is to counsel the MDOT in that agency's jurisdiction of the Transportation Area and related management decisions.

However, members of the Marine Transportation Area Advisory Council may jointly or singly appeal agency decisions concerning the island through both administrative and judicial avenues.

3. Composition of the Transportation Area Advisory Council
The Advisory Council will be composed of one representative from each of the following, or comparable, agencies and non-governmental organizations:

• Maine Department of Environmental Protection,
• Maine Department of Conservation;
• Maine Department of Marine Resources

• Fair Play For Sears Island
• Conservation Law Foundation
• Penobscot Bay Stewards

• University of Maine School of Marine Sciences
• Downeast Lobstermens' Association
• Midcoast Fishermens Alliance

4. Term of the Advisory Council and Schedule of Meetings
The Advisory Council is intended to be a continuing committee in providing its counsel to the MDOT, and is not established with a specific term of years of operation. The Advisory Council will meet as often as necessary to fulfill the role described above, and not less than once per year.

End of concept paper

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For more information or w/suggestions:

Ron Huber
Penobscot Bay Watch

ron.huber@penbay.org
www.penbay.org
207-691-7485

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