AUGUSTA - A bill from Rep. Lynn Copeland, D-Saco, to support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' shore damage mitigation project at Camp Ellis was signed into law yesterday.
"This bill is the next step to combat the ongoing erosion caused by the jetty in Camp Ellis, which has been a decades-long mitigation effort," said Copeland. "This is what my neighbors sent me to Augusta to do, and it has been my primary focus since I was sworn into office."
As amended, LD 946 directs the governor to take actions to assist and support the city of Saco as the nonfederal sponsor of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' shore damage mitigation project for Camp Ellis and Saco Bay. This includes, but is not limited to, directing relevant state agencies to assist the city of Saco in entering into a project partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the mitigation project. It also allows for relevant agencies to support the communities on Saco Bay in implementation of other beach and beach habitat remediation projects in and around Saco Bay.
Cosponsors of the measure include Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, Sens. Donna Bailey and Susan Deschambault, both D-York, Rep. Lydia Blume, D-York, Rep. Lori Gramlich, D-Old Orchard Beach, Rep. Maggie O'Neil, D-Saco, Rep. Erin Sheehan, D-Biddeford, and Rep. Sophie Warren, I-Scarborough.
The bill will go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns.
Copeland, a member of the State and Local Government Committee, is serving her first term in the Maine House and represents House District 14, which includes downtown and coastal Saco. She is a former member of the Saco City Council, where she worked on the issue of shoreline erosion.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [Copeland], c. 812-1111