The Legislature finds that Maine’s coastal barriers and the adjacent wetlands, marshes, estuaries, inlets and nearshore waters contain resources of extraordinary scenic, scientific, recreational, natural, historic, archeological and economic importance that may be irretrievably damaged and lost due to development on and adjacent to those barriers; that Maine’s coastal barriers provide habitats for migratory birds and other wildlife and habitats that are essential spawning, nursery, nesting and feeding areas for commercially and recreationally important species of finfish and shellfish, as well as other aquatic organisms; that Maine’s coastal barriers serve as natural storm protective buffers and are generally unsuitable for development because they are vulnerable to hurricane and other storm damage and because natural shoreline recession and the movement of unstable sediments undermine human-made structures; and that the United States Congress has recognized the importance of coastal barriers through the United States Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982, United States Code, title 16, § 3509, established a detailed process to identify coastal barriers and prohibited the expenditure of federal funds that support activities incompatible with the ability of these fragile areas to accommodate those activities. [RR 2021, c. 2, Pt. B, §297 (COR).]

The Legislature declares that certain areas of the Maine coast, because of their fragile nature, valuable habitat and their storm buffering abilities should be protected and conserved in their natural state and that it is inappropriate to use state funds to encourage or support activities incompatible with the ability of these areas to sustain these activities. [PL 1985, c. 794, Pt. A, §11 (NEW).]