Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

67th Legislature                                                                                                    HB 273.1
                                                      HOUSE BILL NO. 273
                                               INTRODUCED BY D. SKEES
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   A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT REPEALING THE LAWS AUTHORIZING THE PEOPLE OF THE
   STATE OF MONTANA THROUGH STATEWIDE VOTE TO APPROVE OR REJECT A PROPOSED NUCLEAR
   POWER FACILITY CERTIFIED UNDER THE MONTANA MAJOR FACILITY SITING ACT; AMENDING
   SECTIONS 75-1-207, 75-2-103, 75-5-103, 75-20-104, AND 75-20-201, MCA; REPEALING SECTIONS 75-20-
   1201, 75-20-1202, 75-20-1203, 75-20-1204, AND 75-20-1205, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE
   EFFECTIVE DATE.”
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   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
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              Section 1. Section 75-1-207, MCA, is amended to read:
              "75-1-207.   Major facility siting applications excepted. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a
   fee as prescribed by this part may not be assessed against any person, corporation, partnership, firm,
   association, or other private entity filing an application for a certificate under the provisions of the Montana
   Major Facility Siting Act, Title 75, chapter 20.
              (2)   The department of environmental quality may require payment of costs under 75-1-205(1)(a) by a
   person who files a petition under 75-20-201(5) 75-20-201(4)."
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              Section 2. Section 75-2-103, MCA, is amended to read:
              "75-2-103.   Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, in this chapter, the following definitions
   apply:
              (1)   "Air contaminant" means dust, fumes, mist, smoke, other particulate matter, vapor, gas, odorous
   substances, or any combination of those air contaminants.
              (2)   "Air pollutants" means one or more air contaminants that are present in the outdoor atmosphere,
   including those pollutants regulated pursuant to section 7412 and Subchapter V of the federal Clean Air Act, 42
   U.S.C. 7401, et seq.
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              (3)      "Air pollution" means the presence of air pollutants in a quantity and for a duration that are or tend
   to be injurious to human health or welfare, animal or plant life, or property or that would unreasonably interfere
   with the enjoyment of life, property, or the conduct of business.
              (4)      "Associated supporting infrastructure" means:
              (a)      electric transmission and distribution facilities;
              (b)      pipeline facilities;
              (c)      aboveground ponds and reservoirs and underground storage reservoirs;
              (d)      rail transportation;
              (e)      aqueducts and diversion dams;
              (f)   devices or equipment associated with the delivery of an energy form or product produced at an
   energy development project; or
              (g)      other supporting infrastructure, as defined by board rule, that is necessary for an energy
   development project.
              (5)      "Board" means the board of environmental review provided for in 2-15-3502.
              (6)      (a) "Commercial hazardous waste incinerator" means:
              (i)   an incinerator that burns hazardous waste; or
              (ii) a boiler or industrial furnace subject to the provisions of 75-10-406.
              (b)      Commercial hazardous waste incinerator does not include a research and development facility
   that receives federal or state research funds and that burns hazardous waste primarily to test and evaluate
   waste treatment remediation technologies.
              (7)      "Department" means the department of environmental quality provided for in 2-15-3501.
              (8)      "Emission" means a release into the outdoor atmosphere of air contaminants.
              (9)      (a) "Energy development project" means each plant, unit, or other development and associated
   developments, including any associated supporting infrastructure, designed for or capable of:
              (i)(a)     generating electricity;
              (ii)(b) producing gas derived from coal;
              (iii)(c) producing liquid hydrocarbon products;
              (iv)(d) refining crude oil or natural gas;
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67th Legislature                                                                                                       HB 273.1
              (v)(e)   producing alcohol to be blended for ethanol-blended gasoline and that are eligible for a tax
   incentive pursuant to Title 15, chapter 70, part 5;
              (vi)(f) producing biodiesel and that are eligible for a tax incentive for the production of biodiesel
   pursuant to 15-32-701; or
              (vii)(g) transmitting electricity through an electric transmission line with a design capacity of equal to or
   greater than 50 kilovolts.
              (b)   The term does not include a nuclear facility as defined in 75-20-1202.
              (10) "Environmental protection law" means a law contained in or an administrative rule adopted
   pursuant to Title 75, chapter 2, 5, 10, or 11.
              (11) "Hazardous waste" means:
              (a)   a substance defined as hazardous under 75-10-403 or defined as hazardous in department
   administrative rules adopted pursuant to Title 75, chapter 10, part 4; or
              (b)   a waste containing 2 parts or more per million of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB).
              (12) (a) "Incinerator" means any single- or multiple-chambered combustion device that burns
   combustible material, alone or with a supplemental fuel or with catalytic combustion assistance, primarily for the
   purpose of removal, destruction, disposal, or volume reduction of any portion of the input material.
              (b)   Incinerator does not include:
              (i)   safety flares used to combust or dispose of hazardous or toxic gases at industrial facilities, such as
   refineries, gas sweetening plants, oil and gas wells, sulfur recovery plants, or elemental phosphorus plants;
              (ii) space heaters that burn used oil;
              (iii) wood-fired boilers; or
              (iv) wood waste burners, such as tepee, wigwam, truncated cone, or silo burners.
              (13) "Medical waste" means any waste that is generated in the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization
   of human beings or animals, in medical research on humans or animals, or in the production or testing of
   biologicals. The term includes:
              (a)   cultures and stocks of infectious agents;
              (b)   human pathological wastes;
              (c)   waste human blood or products of human blood;
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67th Legislature                                                                                                     HB 273.1
              (d)   sharps;
              (e)   contaminated animal carcasses, body parts, and bedding that were known to have been exposed
   to infectious agents during research;
              (f)   laboratory wastes and wastes from autopsy or surgery that were in contact with infectious agents;
   and
              (g)   biological waste and discarded material contaminated with blood, excretion, exudates, or
   secretions from humans or animals.
              (14) (a) "Oil or gas well facility" means a well that produces oil or natural gas. The term includes:
              (i)   equipment associated with the well and used for the purpose of producing, treating, separating, or
   storing oil, natural gas, or other liquids produced by the well; and
              (ii) a group of wells under common ownership or control that produce oil or natural gas and that share
   common equipment used for the purpose of producing, treating, separating, or storing oil, natural gas, or other
   liquids produced by the wells.
              (b)   The equipment referred to in subsection (14)(a) includes but is not limited to wellhead assemblies,
   amine units, prime mover engines, phase separators, heater treater units, dehydrator units, tanks, and
   connecting tubing.
              (c) The term does not include equipment such as compressor engines used for transmission of oil or
   natural gas.
              (15) "Person" means an individual, a partnership, a firm, an association, a municipality, a public or
   private corporation, the state or a subdivision or agency of the state, a trust, an estate, an interstate body, the
   federal government or an agency of the federal government, or any other legal entity and includes persons
   resident in Canada.
              (16) "Principal" means a principal of a corporation, including but not limited to a partner, associate,
   officer, parent corporation, or subsidiary corporation.
              (17) "Small business stationary source" means a stationary source that:
              (a)   is owned or operated by a person who employs 100 or fewer individuals;
              (b)   is a small business concern as defined in the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 631, et seq.;
              (c)   is not a major stationary source as defined in Subchapter V of the federal Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
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   7661, et seq.;
              (d)   emits less than 50 tons per year of an air pollutant;
              (e)   emits less than a total of 75 tons per year of all air pollutants combined; and
              (f)   is not excluded from this definition under 75-2-108(3).
              (18) (a) "Solid waste" means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid, semisolid, liquid, or gaseous
   wastes, including but not limited to garbage; rubbish; refuse; ashes; swill; food wastes; commercial or industrial
   wastes; medical waste; sludge from sewage treatment plants, water supply treatment plants, or air pollution
   control facilities; construction, demolition, or salvage wastes; dead animals, dead animal parts, offal, animal
   droppings, or litter; discarded home and industrial appliances; automobile bodies, tires, interiors, or parts
   thereof; wood products or wood byproducts and inert materials; styrofoam and other plastics; rubber materials;
   asphalt shingles; tarpaper; electrical equipment, transformers, or insulated wire; oil or petroleum products or oil
   or petroleum products and inert materials; treated lumber and timbers; and pathogenic or infectious waste.
              (b)   Solid waste does not include municipal sewage, industrial wastewater effluents, mining wastes
   regulated under the mining and reclamation laws administered by the department of environmental quality, or
   slash and forest debris regulated under laws administered by the department of natural resources and
   conservation."
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              Section 3. Section 75-5-103, MCA, is amended to read:
              "75-5-103.     (Temporary) Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, in this chapter, the
   following definitions apply:
              (1)   "Associated supporting infrastructure" means:
              (a)   electric transmission and distribution facilities;
              (b)   pipeline facilities;
              (c)   aboveground ponds and reservoirs and underground storage reservoirs;
              (d)   rail transportation;
              (e)   aqueducts and diversion dams;
              (f)   devices or equipment associated with the delivery of an energy form or product produced at an
   energy development project; or
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              (g)      other supporting infrastructure, as defined by board rule, that is necessary for an energy
   development project.
              (2)      (a) "Base numeric nutrient standards" means numeric water quality criteria for nutrients in surface
   water that are adopted to protect the designated uses of a surface water body.
              (b)      The term does not include numeric water quality standards for nitrate, nitrate plus nitrite, or nitrite
   that are adopted to protect human health.
              (3)      "Board" means the board of environmental review provided for in 2-15-3502.
              (4)      "Contamination" means impairment of the quality of state waters by sewage, industrial wastes, or
   other wastes, creating a hazard to human health.
              (5)      "Council" means the water pollution control advisory council provided for in 2-15-2107.
              (6)      (a) "Currently available data" means data that is readily available to the department at the time a
   decision is made, including information supporting its previous lists of water bodies that are threatened or
   impaired.
              (b)      The term does not mean new data to be obtained as a result of department efforts.
              (7)      "Degradation" means a change in water quality that lowers the quality of high-quality waters for a
   parameter. The term does not include those changes in water quality determined to be nonsignificant pursuant
   to 75-5-301(5)(c).
              (8)      "Department" means the department of environmental quality provided for in 2-15-3501.
              (9)      "Disposal system" means a system for disposing of sewage, industrial, or other wastes and
   includes sewage systems and treatment works.
              (10) "Effluent standard" means a restriction or prohibition on quantities, rates, and concentrations of
   chemical, physical, biological, and other constituents that are discharged into state waters.
              (11) (a) "Energy development project" means each plant, unit, or other development and associated
   developments, including any associated supporting infrastructure, designed for or capable of:
              (i)(a)     generating electricity;
              (ii)(b) producing gas derived from coal;
              (iii)(c) producing liquid hydrocarbon products;
              (iv)(d) refining crude oil or natural gas;
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67th Legislature                                                                                                       HB 273.1
              (v)(e)   producing alcohol to be blended for ethanol-blended gasoline and that are eligible for a tax
   incentive pursuant to Title 15, chapter 70, part 5;
              (vi)(f) producing biodiesel and that are eligible for a tax incentive for the production of biodiesel
   pursuant to 15-32-701; or
              (vii)(g) transmitting electricity through an electric transmission line with a design capacity of equal to or
   greater than 50 kilovolts.
              (b)   The term does not include a nuclear facility as defined in 75-20-1202.
              (12) "Existing uses" means those uses actually attained in state waters on or after July 1, 1971,
   whether or not those uses are included in the water quality standards.
              (13) "High-quality waters" means all state waters, except:
              (a)   ground water classified as of January 1, 1995, within the "III" or "IV" classifications established by
   the board's classification rules; and
              (b)   surface waters that:
              (i)   are not capable of supporting any one of the designated uses for their classification; or
              (ii) have zero flow or surface expression for more than 270 days during most years.
              (14) "Impaired water body" means a water body or stream segment for which sufficient credible data
   shows that the water body or stream segment is failing to achieve compliance with applicable water quality
   standards.
              (15) "Industrial waste" means a waste substance from the process of business or industry or from the
   development of any natural resource, together with any sewage that may be present.
              (16) "Interested person" means a person who has a real property interest, a water right, or an
   economic interest that is or may be directly and adversely affected by the department's preliminary decision
   regarding degradation of state waters, pursuant to 75-5-303. The term includes a person who has requested
   authorization to degrade high-quality waters.
              (17) "Load allocation" means the portion of a receiving water's loading capacity that is allocated to one
   of its existing or future nonpoint sources or to natural background sources.
              (18) "Loading capacity" means the mass of a pollutant that a water body can assimilate without a
   violation of water quality standards. For pollutants that cannot be measured in terms of mass, it means the
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67th Legislature