New rules adopted by Maine regulators will make it easier to get permits to stabilize shoreline erosion — as long as projects use biodegradable materials and native plants.
The standards were drafted at the direction of the state Legislature and approved by the Maine Board of Environmental Protection. And they are paired with stricter standards for installing larger more intrusive erosion control measures.
Under the rules, applicants can get streamlined permitting as long as they follow certain standards, a process called permit by rule.
But it only applies to those projects that use "nature based" methods or those that use at most 125 linear feet of reinforcing rock, called riprap.
"The rules will require firms that shoreline stabilization activities along the coast and inland waterbodies to look toward more nature based approaches," said Rob Wood, director of the state bureau of land resources.
Streamlined permitting was a response to an influx of applications for erosion control projects the Maine Department of Environmental Protection received following damaging winter storms in 2024.
But it was also intended to limit an expansion of artificially hardened shorelines. Staff from the Maine Geological Survey and environmental groups say seawalls and boulder installations can reflect wave energy, damage nearby shorelines and prevent beneficial erosion from replenishing estuaries with soil.
Landowners that want to construct larger stabilization measures will have to meet new standards under additional rules approved by the board. Those measures only allow such projects when a structure is 100 feet or less from the shoreline and require individual authorization from the environmental protection department.
The new standards raised concern from homeowners, realtors and engineering firms that the state was making it impossible for landowners to protect their property.
Wood said that in response, the department has allowed additional riprap at the base of crumbling shorelines and allowed hardening for docks, boat launches and structures at risk for landslides.
"Shoreline stabilization is not without environmental impacts and we think the rule strikes a good balance by allowing bigger projects to move forward where there is a real need and where there is less of a need, it limits the scope of projects and emphasizes nature based approaches," Wood said.
