A lobster boat motors across Casco Bay under a rising, haze-obscured sun in September 2017. A Maine boatyard is building the nation's first lobster boat exempt from modern clean-air rules, a boon for lobstermen but a concern for clean-air advocates. But lobster boats have shallow, flat bottoms and cramped engine rooms. AdvertisementSanborn is promoting the waiver program as a “blueprint” for other Maine boatbuilders and lobstermen who have been vocal advocates for this flexibility. “Maine coastal businesses are already leaders in electrifying boat engines, and we should lean into that innovation.”