Maine environmental regulators moved one step closer last week to implementing rules that would force solar developers to pay for impacts to high-value agricultural land.

The Board of Environmental Protection, which is developing the rules in concert with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, voted to schedule a public hearing on the proposed rule and post it for public comment. A date for a public hearing has not yet been set.

The substance of the rules, which include what counts as high-value agricultural land and defining compensation tiers, is being developed by DACF. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has been tasked with putting a dollar amount on the tiers once they are finalized and collecting the money, which will be set aside for mitigation or farmland conservation, similar to the way the state collects fees for impacts to wetlands. 

Department of Environmental Protection staff said last week that DACF is getting ready to finalize its rules and that lawmakers will likely review them this legislative session.

The most recent draft of DACF rules would apply to projects that begin construction after Sept. 1, 2024 whose projects impact at least 5 acres of “high-value agricultural soils.” 

How much developers would pay would vary depending on the land’s value for agriculture, its history of farming, whether the land is contaminated with PFAS and whether developers are installing “dual use” panels that allow for some agricultural activity to continue, like growing blueberries or grazing sheep. The rules will not apply to forested land, even if soil tests indicate it could potentially be high-value farmland.

The new rules are being developed at the request of the legislature, which passed a law in 2023 directing the two departments to work together to find a way to protect Maine’s rare high-value agricultural land from development.

Farmland, with its open fields, southern exposure and well-drained soils, is typically one of the easiest and cheapest places to put a solar project. But that type of land is also limited in Maine, which has a finite amount of soil suitable for agriculture. 

About 10 percent of the state’s nearly 22 million acres are considered “soils of statewide importance.” Of those soils, 800,000 acres are considered “prime,” or land that is “of major importance in meeting the nation’s short- and long-range needs for food and fiber,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. DACF estimates that roughly 13 percent of the state is considered high-value agricultural land.

The state has been losing farms at a rapid clip in recent years, victims of high production costs, labor shortages, unpredictable growing seasons exacerbated by climate change and pressure from developers, according to reporting by Maine Public last year.

Maine lost 564 farms and 82,567 acres of farmland between 2017 and 2022, according to the most recent agricultural census.

Solar is not the only threat to farmland. Urban sprawl threatens to destroy more than 53,000 acres, or 5 percent of all Maine farmland, by 2040, according to a report by the American Farmland Trust. Solar can also provide an economic cushion for farmers, who often operate on thin and unpredictable margins. 

The new fees will have to be approved by the legislature before they can take effect.

This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit civic news organization. To get regular coverage from the Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.