Many of those appearing Monday before the committee supported L.D. 1302, sponsored by House Majority Whip Jeff M. McCabe, D-Skowhegan, which calls for four revisions to the law that would:
n Seek to improve protection of groundwater at mining sites by requiring that the operation not pollute groundwater.
n Provide financial protection for taxpayers by requiring applicants to cover the cost of a third-party evaluation of how much money would be needed to safely close a proposed mine.
n Require that a mining operation be designed so that it would not require perpetual treatment and maintenance if it closed.
n Require any applicant to identify a mine elsewhere in the U.S., in a climate and geologic setting similar to Maine, that operated at least 10 years without polluting groundwater or surface water.
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