Montana Regulatory Program
Key claim: OSM is approving Montana’s amendment to its surface mining regulatory program, which redefines ‘material damage’ related to hydrologic balance and allows permit applicants to self-collect hydrologic consequence data when federal or state agencies cannot provide it.
Abstract
(Rule · Interior Department, Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office) The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is APPROVING an amendment to the Montana regulatory program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Montana submitted this proposed amendment to OSM on its own initiative in response to a State law passed by the Montana Legislature House Bill 587 (HB 587). The proposed amendment provides a new definition of “Material damage” with respect to the hydrologic balance, alluvial valley floors, and subsidence. It also creates an option for a permit applicant to provide self-collected information related to its determination of probable hydrologic consequences, if an appropriate Federal or State agency cannot provide such information. Finally, HB 587 includes contingencies that apply to the proposed amendment but are not codified into the Montana Code Annotated (MCA): a severability clause, a contingent voidness clause, an effective date clause, and a retroactive applicability clause.
Why this matters
OSM is approving Montana’s amendment to its surface mining regulatory program, which redefines ‘material damage’ related to hydrologic balance and allows permit applicants to self-collect hydrologic consequence data when federal or state agencies cannot provide it.