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An Act To Prohibit the Mining of Massive Sulfide Ore Deposits under the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §490-MM, sub-§7-A  is enacted to read:
 
7-A.  Massive sulfide ore deposit.     "Massive sulfide ore deposit" means a metal sulfide ore deposit that, as determined by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Division of Geology, Natural Areas and Coastal Resources, Maine Geological Survey, contains in total 1,000,000 tons or more of metallic minerals.
Sec. 2.  38 MRSA §490-OO, sub-§4, ¶K  is enacted to read:
 
K.  The metallic mineral ore deposits to be mined by the applicant do not include a massive sulfide ore deposit.
 
SUMMARY
This bill amends the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act to prohibit the Department of Environmental Protection from approving an application for a mining permit if the applicant proposes to mine a metallic mineral ore deposit that contains a massive sulfide ore deposit. The bill defines a "massive sulfide ore deposit" as a metal sulfide ore deposit that, as determined by the Maine Geological Survey, contains in total 1,000,000 tons or more of metallic minerals.