Which version of Maine's Site Location Law definition of 'subdivision' should the Department of Environmental Protection use when the supplement prints two competing texts?

Plain-English summary

John James of the DEP Land Bureau noticed that the 1988 Supplementary Pamphlet for Volume 16A of MRSA carried two competing texts of 38 M.R.S.A. § 482(5), Maine's Site Location of Development Law definition of "subdivision." Page 241 showed one version; page 242 showed another. DEP was already disseminating the page 242 version and wanted assurance that this was correct. The AG memo from Sam Kilbourn and Peggy McCloskey confirmed that DEP had picked the right one.

The mechanics of the conflict were straightforward but inconvenient. P.L. 1987, c. 812, § 7 repealed and replaced § 482(5) in its entirety. Around the same time the Legislature recodified the municipal subdivision law from Title 30 to Title 30-A, and P.L. 1987, c. 737 amended § 482(5) to swap the old Title 30, § 4956 cross-reference for the new Title 30-A, § 4551. Chapter 812 was drafted without picking up the chapter 737 cross-reference change. When West Publishing produced the 1988 supplement, it kept both versions visible so users could see what the recodification had done. Chapter 812's new text was the operative law, but the chapter 737 cross-reference fix had effectively been lost when chapter 812 swept the section clean.

The memo flagged the practical fix: a future legislative session would need to amend the chapter 812 text to fold in the chapter 737 reference to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4551. The chapter 737 change was due to take effect March 1, 1989, so the gap could not be ignored for long. In the meantime, the substantive definition of subdivision on page 242 (the chapter 812 version) was the controlling text, regardless of the dangling cross-reference issue.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1989. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Why did the 1988 Supplementary Pamphlet carry two versions of § 482(5)?

West Publishing printed both because two different 1987 public laws had changed the section, and chapter 812 had not picked up the chapter 737 change. The supplement preserved both so readers could see the recodified Title 30-A cross-reference that would otherwise vanish from the books.

Which version was the operative statute?

The page 242 version, enacted by P.L. 1987, c. 812, § 7. Chapter 812 repealed and replaced § 482(5), so its text superseded the earlier chapter 737 amendment. DEP was right to use page 242 in its enforcement and review work.

What had Chapter 737 changed?

It updated a cross-reference. The municipal subdivision law had been moved from Title 30, § 4956 to Title 30-A, § 4551 during the 1987 recodification of municipal law. Chapter 737 made § 482(5)(B) point to the new location. When chapter 812 rewrote the section, that cross-reference change disappeared from the operative text.

Did the dangling cross-reference cause a substantive problem?

Not in the short term. DEP was applying the chapter 812 definition of subdivision and the recodification of Title 30 to 30-A took effect March 1, 1989, after which any reader could navigate from the chapter 812 text to the new municipal subdivision provisions on context alone. The clean fix was for the Legislature to re-enact the chapter 737 cross-reference inside the chapter 812 text.

Who signed off on this guidance?

Assistant Attorneys General Sam Kilbourn and Peggy McCloskey signed the memo. It was addressed to John James in DEP's Land Bureau and copied to Deputy AG Philip Ahrens.

Background and statutory framework

Maine's Site Location of Development Law regulates large-scale land development and defines "subdivision" in 38 M.R.S.A. § 482(5). The municipal subdivision law historically lived at 30 M.R.S.A. § 4956. In 1987 the Legislature recodified municipal law into Title 30-A, moving subdivision regulation to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4551. Two 1987 public laws then collided in the supplement: chapter 737 made the cross-reference change, and chapter 812 repealed and replaced § 482(5) without absorbing the chapter 737 fix. The 1988 supplement printed both texts; the AG memo confirmed which was operative and identified the cleanup the Legislature still needed to do.

Citations

• 38 M.R.S.A. § 482(5) (1988 Pamph.)
• P.L. 1987, c. 812, § 7
• P.L. 1987, c. 737
• 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4551 (municipal subdivision law)
• 30 M.R.S.A. § 4956 (pre-recodification municipal subdivision law)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.maine.gov/legis/lawlib/lldl/agops/agops.htm
• Original PDF: https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/AG/Opinions/1989/ag_19890125.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain, the linked PDF is authoritative.

Department of Attorney General

MEMORANDUM

To: John James, Land Bureau, Department of Environmental Protection
From: Sam Kilbourn and Peggy McCloskey, Assistant Attorneys General
Date: January 25, 1989
Subject: Site Location Law, Definition of Subdivision

In response to your memorandum of January 18, 1989 regarding the two versions of 38 M.R.S.A. § 482(5) (1988 Pamph.), your reference to page 242 implies that the DEP has been working with the version enacted by P.L. 1987, c. 812, § 7, and with this we agree. As best we can determine, the reason that West Publishing Company included in the supplement the previously existing version of § 482(5) was to show the amendments that were made to that section by the P.L. 1987, c. 737, specifically which made reference to the new codification of Title 30-A, where in paragraph B of § 482(5) there is reference made to the municipal subdivision law. The reason for this appears to be that when Chapter 812, § 7 repealed and replaced all of § 482(5), no reference was made to the previously enacted Chapter 737 and its reference to Title 30-A. Therefore, to have omitted the old version would have been to omit the new wording regarding Title 30-A (which will take effect on March 1, 1989).

In short, what the Legislature will need to do to resolve this will be to amend the law as amended by Chapter 812 to include the amendments made by Chapter 737 which refer to Title 30-A, § 4551 (instead of Title 30, § 4956). However, the definition of subdivision as it has been amended and exists now is, as you note, on page 242 of the supplementary pamphlet being P.L. 1987, c. 812, § 7.

SK/ec
cc: Philip Ahrens, Deputy Attorney General

Attached: Original DEP memorandum from John James, Land Bureau, to Deputy AG Philip Ahrens, dated January 18, 1989, asking why the 1988 Supplementary Pamphlet contains two versions of 38 M.R.S.A. § 482(5) and confirming that DEP is using the page 242 version.