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Committee hears testimony on bill to remove DEQ petition deadline for impaired waters
Summary
Supporters say more time is needed for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to review citizen petitions about impaired waters; opponents warned the change could allow indefinite agency delay and asked for a fixed alternative timeline.
House Natural Resources held a hearing on House Bill 684 on petitions for listing impaired waters, with sponsor Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick saying the Department of Environmental Quality asked that the statutory deadline be removed to give staff more flexibility. "This is a bill I'm bringing at the request of the Department of Environmental Quality," Fitzpatrick said at the hearing.
The bill would strike a statutory deadline tied to DEQ's review of citizen-submitted information that can trigger consideration of whether a water body should be listed as impaired. Proponents from DEQ framed the change as an operational fix: Sonia Nowakowski, director of DEQ, said the agency did not present a specific replacement date…
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