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Senate advances bill to extend DEQ/NRO funding sunset to 2029
Summary
The Senate Finance and Claims Committee voted to recommend Senate Bill 71, which would extend the sunset date for General Fund backfill of the Natural Resources Operations (NRO) account to fiscal year 2029. Sponsors and agency directors said the extension is temporary while a new fee structure is considered.
Senator Josh Kasmier, sponsor of Senate Bill 71, asked the Senate Finance and Claims Committee to extend the sunset date for General Fund support tied to the Natural Resources Operations (NRO) account through fiscal year 2029.
The bill would continue a temporary General Fund backfill that has supported the Department of Environmental Quality’s and other agencies’ mining and resource permitting programs. "We stand in strong support of Senate Bill 71," Sonya Nowakowski, director of the Department of Environmental Quality, told the committee. She said the extension would allow time to determine if proposed new fees will make the program sustainable without continued General Fund support.
The bill’s proponents said the NRO pays for staff and operations across agencies that regulate mining and other natural-resource activities. "This funding is critical to paying for our mining programs at DEQ as well as supporting DNRC and the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology," Nowakowski said. Erin Weisgerber, deputy director of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, added that the DNRC receives approximately $1,100,000 a year from the NRO account to support resource development, invasive-species work, urban and community forestry and water-resources operations.
Agency witnesses told the committee the account has required General Fund backfill in recent years and that additional time is needed to determine whether proposed fee changes will replace the General Fund portion. Nowakowski and Weisgerber linked the extension to companion legislation that would create or change mining fees; Nowakowski referenced House Bill 69 as the fee package that may provide a longer-term revenue solution.
Committee members took no amendments and moved the bill forward in executive action. The committee recorded no opposed testimony during the hearing. In executive action the committee voted to recommend a do-pass on Senate Bill 71; the committee chair announced that Senate Bill 71 "has passed Senate Finance and Claims."
