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Sponsor Seeks Repeal of Numeric Nutrient Criteria; DEQ and Municipalities Cite Practical Impasse
Summary
House Bill 664 would repeal DEQ Circular 12A and the statewide numeric nutrient criteria and return Montana to a narrative standard and individual variances while stakeholders develop a new implementation framework.
Representative Mercer opened House Bill 664 by tracing Montana’s long experience with numeric nutrient criteria and variances and urging repeal of DEQ’s Circular 12A and the statewide numeric nutrient rules that, in the sponsor’s view, have not worked as intended.
DEQ Director Sonya Nowakowski testified as a proponent of repeal, telling the committee ‘‘this bill repeals the numeric criteria, but it doesn't get rid of the 30 years of science’’ and arguing the numeric package was adopted as a paired rule (numeric criteria and a general variance framework) that no longer functions because the…
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