WHEREAS, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans came together to celebrate the first Earth Day, recognizing the importance of protecting our environment and preserving our natural resources; and

WHEREAS, in the months and years that followed, the United States Congress passed the Clean Air, Clean Water, Endangered Species, and Marine Mammal Protections Acts and founded the Environmental Protection Agency; and

WHEREAS, Maine is fortunate to have over 400,000 people aged 60 and over who contribute skills, talent, wisdom, and experience to our great State; and

WHEREAS, our communities benefit when people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds can participate fully with the highest level of independence; and

WHEREAS, older Mainers improve our communities through intergenerational relationships, community service, civic engagement, and many other activities; and

WHEREAS, nurses make up the largest group of health care professionals in the United States and are an indispensable component of the safety and quality of care of Maine residents; and

WHEREAS, the depth and breadth of the nursing profession meets the different and emerging health care needs of the people of Maine in a wide range of settings, such as hospitals, schools, nursing homes, in-patient clinics, and more; and

WHEREAS, the State of Maine is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depends on the safety and essential role our homes, buildings and infrastructure play, both in everyday life and when disasters strike; and

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

PFAS are widely used and long lasting chemicals that break down slowly over time, and that threaten the health of our people, our wildlife, and our environment. That's why my Administration has worked with the Legislature to implement one of the strongest efforts in the nation to address PFAS contamination in Maine.

In 2021, the Legislature passed, and I signed, nation-leading legislation establishing an interim standard to regulate the presence of PFAS in drinking water. The standard we created in state law was only temporary because we knew that the federal government was going to work on this on its own and issue its own standard. This week, the United States Environmental Protection Agency released its final, national drinking water standard for PFAS.

The Maine CDC is closely reviewing these new Federal standards, which apply only to public drinking water systems, and they will propose a final state standard that brings our drinking water requirements into alignment. The Federal government has given states five years, and additional funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to implement these new standards. That's a recognition that PFAS contamination is a nationwide challenge and Maine is ahead of the curve.

I appreciate this action by the federal government because it builds on our work to protect the health of Maine people from PFAS.

That work started just three months after I took office, when I established a Governor's Task Force to review the prevalence of PFAS in Maine and to put forward a plan to address it.

Led by that Task Force, Maine has dedicated tens of millions of dollars in state funding to remediate PFAS contamination in drinking water treatment systems.

We have also established screening levels for PFAS in soil, fish tissue and milk. And we've have prohibited the spreading of sludge, a widespread source of PFAS historically.

We have established a $60 million PFAS Fund to support farmers whose land and or water has been tested as having a high level of PFAS. We want these farms to survive, we want to remediate any damage to their soil and water, and make sure they stay in business.

We have dedicated funding to test hundreds of deer, turkey and fish to better understand how PFAS in the environment impacts Maine's fish and wildlife.

And we've have expanded the statute of limitations for Maine citizens to file claims related to PFAS contamination and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has sued PFAS manufacturers for the damage they have caused. That lawsuit is still pending.

In all, my Administration has worked with the Legislature to dedicate more than $100 million over the past several years to reduce PFAS contamination in Maine and to protect the health of our people, our wildlife, and our environment.

We know there's more to work to do too. So, my Administration will be reviewing this new Federal standard for drinking water, and the science supporting it, to inform our future actions in dealing with PFAS contamination in Maine. This is a nationwide challenge, but I am proud that we are leading the nation when it comes to addressing this.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening. Happy Patriot's Day!

WHEREAS, sexual assault impacts all communities in Maine, and people of all races, genders, and economic backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, over 19,000 people in Maine are sexually assaulted each year and one in five Maine citizens will experience sexual violence in their lifetime; and  

WHEREAS, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 2,900 probable cases of Lyme disease in 2023; and

WHEREAS, the actual incidence of Lyme disease in Maine is likely much higher than reported, disproportionately affecting children between five and fifteen years and adults over sixty-five years; and

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.

Well, the Gulf of Maine, you know has some of the strongest and most consistent winds in the entire world; with Maine’s deepwater port assets; our proximity to international markets; and with the University of Maine’s extensive research and offshore wind technology, our state is well-suited to seize the economic and environmental benefits of the offshore wind industry.

Advancing offshore wind in Maine will create good-paying jobs, will generate renewable energy for our homes and businesses, and it will stabilize our energy bills over the long term. That’s why, for the past five years, my Administration has been working closely with people all across Maine to maximize the benefits of offshore wind.

But, like I’ve always said, offshore wind has to be developed responsibly. It has to be done in a way that is right for Maine. That means minimizing impacts to our commercial fishing industry, for instance, and to our coastal communities, and other maritime users. 

That is very important to me.  

To avoid any impacts on commercial fishing from offshore wind developments, I signed legislation three years ago to prohibit offshore wind projects in state waters, within the three mile limit, and that’s where most of Maine’s commercial lobster harvesting occurs. That law cemented that our preference for offshore wind projects being only in Federal waters in the Gulf of Maine.

Last June the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, released a draft plan for commercial leasing of offshore wind areas in the Gulf of Maine, a welcome step forward for offshore wind and its potential to create jobs, and stabilize energy prices, and fight climate change in Maine. But the problem with what BOEM proposed was that it included critical fishing grounds for our lobstermen, groundfishermen, herring fishermen and scallopers. The majority of these grounds are covered by a management area known as “Lobster Management Area One”. 

So, Senators Collins and Senator King and Representatives Pingree and Golden and I wrote to BOEM to urge them to listen to the voices of Maine fishermen and remove LMA 1 from their commercial leasing plan. BOEM then released an updated plan last October that removed most of Lobster Management Area One – which was some progress, but it still included potential problematic areas within that area, exposing them to potential development.

Well, the Congressional Delegation and I then wrote again to BOEM, saying that their new proposal was appreciated but still unacceptable, given how important these fishing grounds are to us. We urged BOEM to ensure that any areas leased in the Gulf of Maine would avoid, and at the very least, minimize impacts to the fishing industry whenever possible.

Following our push, I am pleased to say that BOEM released its final plan for commercial leasing of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine this week and it does not include any part of Lobster Management Area One. Excluding these critical fishing grounds from offshore wind development will help avoid any conflicts between these two important industries.

I appreciate that BOEM has heeded the concerns of my Administration, the concerns of our Congressional Delegation, and many of the concerns of Maine’s fishing communities in its final plan for commercial development of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. 

I will keep urging BOEM to engage with Maine’s fishing industry, with our coastal communities, Tribal governments, and other key maritime users and stakeholders as the commercial leasing process goes forward.

I strongly believe that offshore wind, done responsibly, can help us build a stronger economy with more good-paying jobs and a brighter, more sustainable future for Maine people. 

This week’s decision by BOEM to respect the voices of Maine’s fishermen is an important step forward as we work to responsibly advance offshore wind in Maine in a responsible way.

This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.