FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Thursday, March 27, 2008 Contact: Senator Kathleen Sgambati

(603) 271-3074

Senator Deborah Reynolds

(603)  271-3569

SENATE DELAYS NEW SHORELAND PROTECTION RULES UNTIL OCT. 1

CONCORD – The Senate voted today to adjust the implementation date for new rules that place tighter restrictions on shorefront development.

The Shoreland Protection Act was due to go into effect on April 1 but today’s vote in the Senate seeks to push that back to Oct 1. The House must concur with the new date or request a committee of conference for further negotiations with the Senate.

Senator Kathleen Sgambati (D-Tilton) and Senator Deborah Reynolds (D-Plymouth) both support the new shoreline protection measures but want to make sure landowners aren’t hurt by the transition to new permitting rules.

They voted in support of the Oct. 1 dates to give the state Department of Environmental Services more time to educate landowners and builders about them.

“It is important that we afford the public, and particularly the building community, sufficient time to get familiar with the new permitting process. Delaying the implementation date to Oct. 1 is more than reasonable given the complexity of the process,” said Reynolds.

“My goal was to make sure people who have started the building process know what they need to do to successfully complete their projects,” Sgambati said. “The new implementation date gives building officials and others more time to learn the new rules and find out whether they might need a waiver to complete a project that’s already been started.”