Maine Revised Statutes Title 38. Waters and Navigation § 546-B. Sensitive area identification and protection

1. Sensitive area identification and data management. The commissioner, in consultation with the Department of Marine Resources, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and other appropriate agencies and organizations, both public and private, shall assess the nature and extent of sensitive areas and resources in the marine environment that may be threatened by oil spills and develop a system to collect and maintain the necessary data. The commissioner shall ensure that the duplication of effort among agencies and creation of incompatible data and databases are minimized.

2. Repealed. Laws 1991, c. 698, § 9.

3. Use of state geographic information system. The system developed pursuant to subsection 1 must be based on the state geographic information system to the maximum extent practicable. The commissioner is responsible for the design, implementation and execution of the marine oil spill prevention, planning and response system. The commissioner shall specify the format and types of data to be compiled by other agencies with money supplied by the fund. The format and digital conversion of the data must comply with standards developed by the state geographic information system and data must be added to that system's data base. The state geographic information system must provide technical assistance and serve as the final repository for final geographic information system data. Any persons employed for sensitive area mapping and supported by money from the fund must be involved in the digitization, quality assurance and control and training for sensitive area mapping. Development must proceed in 3 phases as follows: