The Natural Resources Division provides legal services to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP), the Department of Conservation (including the Bureau of Parks and Lands, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW), the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC), the Maine Forest Service and the Maine Geological Survey), the Department of Agriculture (including the Maine Milk Commission, the Board of Pesticide Control, the Maine Potato Board and the Animal Welfare Program), the Department of Marine Resources, the Land for Maine's Future Program, the Board of Underground Tank Installers, the Oil Fund Insurance Review Board, the Saco River Corridor Commission, the State's Soil and Water Conservation Commissions, and the Office of Energy Independence and Security's Interagency Review Panel, which was recently created to oversee the use of State-owned energy corridors.
The Attorney General also has independent authority to enforce or prosecute violations of Maine State environmental laws generally and has specific enforcement authority under statutes governing conservation easements and unfair trade practices. The Attorney General is not authorized to provide legal advice or representation to private parties.
Scott Boak, Division Chief
Scott Boak graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia in 1993 and received his law degree from the William and Mary Law School in 1997. While in law school, Scott worked with the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences researching public and municipal coastal property rights in the Viriginia Beach area. After law school, Scott was in private practice focusing on civil litigation, first in Atlanta, and then at a Portland law firm after moving to Maine in early 2001.
Scott joined the Office of the Attorney General in January 2006, initially representing Maine Revenue Services as a member of the Tax Unit in the Office's Litigation Division. Scott joined the Natural Resources Division in 2014, where he started out working on water and dam-related issues under the Clean Water Act and other state and federal laws. Scott became Chief of the Natural Resources Division in September 2019.