Utility and Railroad Services Location Permits FAQs

Location Permits

Who Needs a Location Permit?
In short, anyone who will be installing new facilities along a public highway corridor.   For more specific information regarding facilities along state and state-aid highways, please refer to Section 5 of the Department's Utility Accommodation Policy.

Who Issues a Location Permit?
The Licensing Authority for the issuance of utility location permits is defined in  Title 35-A M.R.S.A. § 2502 of Maine Law.  They are as follows:

The Department of Transportation, when the public way is a state or state-aid highway, except for state or state-aid highways in the compact areas of urban compact municipalities as defined in Title 23, section 754;

The municipal officers or their designees: when the public way is a city street or town way or a state or state-aid highway in compact areas.

The county commissioners: for all other public ways.

Once I have a Location Permit, am I all set?
In most cases, no. A Location Permit only provides a license to locate facilities within the public right-of-way limits. Before you disturb any soil, you must obtain any other applicable permits (i.e. environmental, railroad, Coast Guard, etc...) and also check whether your proposed work will require a Highway Opening or Excavation Permit from the MDOT Maintenance Division office or the municipality.