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Federal Consistency Review

The federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) establishes a federal-state partnership and the related legal framework regarding management of the nation's coastal resources. The CZMA grants Maine and other coastal states that have a federally approved coastal management program the authority to review federal activities, federal license or permit activities, and federally funded activities to ensure that federal actions that may affect its coastal area meet the "enforceable policies" of the State's coastal program. The process by which a state decides whether a federal action meets its enforceable policies is called federal consistency review.

The State Planning Office (SPO) serves as a coordinator and point of contact for federal consistency review in Maine and has prepared a guide to the federal consistency review process (767K PDF). In Maine, standards and criteria of state environmental permitting and licensing laws and regulations serve as the enforceable policies of the Maine Coastal Program. Accordingly, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and other state agencies in Maine's networked coastal program review and make findings that serve as the basis for the state's consistency decision in much the same that way they evaluate license and permit applications under the state environmental laws and regulations.

Rules issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) govern the deadlines and other procedural aspects of the federal consistency review process.

If you have questions or need additional information, please call (207-287-1496) or e-mail the Maine Coastal Program's Federal Consistency Coordinator (Todd.Burrowes@maine.gov).