Maine DEP Reminds Contractors Disturbing Soil in Shoreland Areas About Upcoming Certification Deadline

August 29, 2012

Contact: Bill Laflamme, (207)215-9237 / william.n.laflamme@maine.gov

AUGUSTA - With a deadline by which contractors working in the shoreland zone must be state certified fast approaching, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection is reminding contractors of the need to get certified and the process by which certification is achieved.

Under legislation passed in 2008, as of Jan. 1, 2013, a person certified by the DEP in erosion control best practices must be on-site of any activity that disturbs more than one cubic yard of soil ?including earth moving, logging or landscaping operations? in the shoreland zone until work is complete and the site stabilized. The shoreland zone is an area defined as within 250 feet of rivers, wetlands, lakes and the ocean and 75 feet of certain streams.

For companies with several sites being operated simultaneously, this means multiple employees ?one for each job site? would need to be certified.

Certification is obtained by attending a daylong course offered by DEP and having a construction site evaluation by staff from one of Maine?s non-regulatory soil and water conservation districts. The training schedule for the upcoming fall 2012 season can be found here: http://maine.gov/dep/training/npstrc-schedule.html

Other benefits to those who obtain certification include being exempt from the 14-day waiting period for stream crossing projects under DEP?s Permit-by-Rule program; being able to advertise ?including for free on DEP?s website ? as a certified contractor; free publications from DEP?s resource library; and receiving discounts at several suppliers of erosion control products in the state.

For a complete schedule of contractor certification courses as well as other nonpoint source pollution prevention trainings offered by DEP, visit http://www.maine.gov/dep/training or contact Bill Laflamme at (207) 215-9237 or william.n.laflamme@maine.gov.