AUGUSTA - A bill from Rep. Jay McCreight, D-Harpswell, providing for the safe disposal of expired marine flares was signed into law Thursday.
LD 514 permits the Maine Department of Marine Resources to use existing funds to acquire an incinerator for the State Fire Marshal's Office within the Department of Public Safety, enabling it to collect and dispose of expired marine flares. The new law also contains an educational component, which would assist with making the collection and disposal programs known to the public.
"Five years ago, a Harpswell lobsterman asked what I thought was a simple question: 'What am I supposed to do with my expired flares?' He told me that he and other lobstermen have sheds, garages and basements full of these explosive and hazardous devices," McCreight said. "Now, working together with multiple state agencies, Maine's fishermen, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we have a clear, long-term solution in place."
McCreight's measure went to the governor's desk last week after getting final approval from the Legislature's Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee and earning a unanimous vote in both chambers of the Legislature.
At the bill's public hearing earlier this year, supporters testified before the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee that tens of thousands of flares on both commercial and recreational vessels expire each year and that the problem is accelerating as already-limited disposal options have disappeared. State laws and federal regulations require that vessels keep at least three flares on board at all times for safety. The flares expire after three years.
The measure drew supportive testimony from the Maine Harbormasters Association, whose members across the Maine coast have repeatedly raised the issue and sought a statewide solution.
McCreight previously submitted similar legislation in both 2017 and 2019. In 2017, the Legislature failed to override a veto from then-Governor Paul LePage. In 2019, the bill received unanimous committee support but died awaiting funding when the Legislature adjourned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new law goes into effect 90 after the current special session of the Legislature adjourns.
McCreight, House chair of the Legislature's Marine Resources Committee and a member of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, is serving her fourth term in the Maine House and represents Harpswell, West Bath and northeastern Brunswick.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [McCreight], c. 812-1111