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Maine Environmental Board Nominee Narrowly Wins Approval

BANGOR, Maine - Gov. Paul LePage's nominee to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection won very narrow approval yesterday from a legislative committee in a 6 to 5 vote, largely along party lines.

LePage nominated Kathleen Chase, a former Republican representative from Wells, to sit on the seven-member board, which is responsible for interpreting and enforcing Maine environmental policies.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine testified strongly against Chase's nomination, citing her record in the House, including her sponsorship of a bill they say would have exempted all wetlands in the state from shoreline zoning protections.

Pete Didisheim, of NRCM, told the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, that no nominee for the BEP in the past 20 years has had "such an adversarial stance toward Maine's environmental laws."

Democratic Rep. Robert Duchesne, of Hudson, voted with Republicans in favor of Chase's nomination.

The committee's approval comes a week after Democrats blocked LePage's nominee to the Maine Unemployment Insurance Commission; in retaliation, LePage delayed the swearing in of a Democratic senator who had gained a seat in a special election.