Vincent Bill Summaries

Here are summaries of seven new state laws that were spearheaded by Chas Vincent, a state senator who represents Lincoln County at the Montana Legislature.

Vincent sponsored dozens of bills this session; 10 of them passed, including three bills to confirm appointments of state agency department heads and seven bills that changed existing state law.

These summaries of the seven bills that changed state law were written by Vincent and verified for accuracy by The Western News.

Senate Bill 76

Clarified that the state Department of Environmental Quality has the authority to implement the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements regarding cooling intake structures.

There were two reasons I sponsored this bill. First, all of the entities in Montana that currently fall under Section 316 Clean Water Act regulations are already complying with the federal standards. Second, the failure to do so could place Montana’s primacy under the Clean Water Act in question for issuing state permits, and the outcome of a legal challenge would not likely be in the state’s or its industries favor.     

Senate Bill 200

Created another tool for managing wolf populations and gives some freedom back to Montana landowners and their right to defend their property. The bill allows a landowner or an agent of a landowner to take a wolf on private property when the wolf is a threat to human safety, livestock, or pets. There are a couple important provisions in the bill that folks need to be aware of.

A landowner (or a landowner’s agent), must promptly contact Fish, Wildlife and Parks after shooting a wolf on their property. A warden will be sent to pick up the carcass.

Montana’s Fish and Game Commission has the ability to place a moratorium on this allowance if the number of wolves taken in a year threatens the possible relisting of wolves on the Endangered Species Act. Each year the commission will set a quota for the amount of wolves that can be taken on private property absent a wolf tag or special kill permit. It is not likely that this quota will ever be met, but here’s hoping…

Senate Bill 364

This bill was necessary because of pending federal court action that could require the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate coal ash as a hazardous material. If coal ash is regulated as hazardous, it could no longer be re-used for cement mixing, road mix or manufacturing. States would be required to permit and construct hazardous waste landfills for ash, or electricity generators would have to stop burning coal.

The bill allows the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to regulate coal ash produced at electricity generation facilities and for coal ash to continue to be re-used for beneficial purposes. It will only go into effect if the EPA is required to treat ash as a hazardous waste and if Congress passes a law that (currently introduced waiting for the court’s decision) allows states to implement their own management process.

Senate Bill 39

Eliminated outdated language requiring the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to identify property within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) by a certain date, and report progress to the Environmental Quality Council.

The mapping is complete, leaving no reason to continue the legislative oversight reporting requirements. So, I repealed those provisions this bill. The state will, however, continue to work with local government and fire departments to utilize the latest wildfire risk tools to refine and update the WUI maps for Montana.

Senate Bill 346

Allowed senior water right holders in “closed basins” (watersheds that have been fully appropriated) a process by which they can make a ‘call’ to restrict water consumption to domestic use when they need the water most – during irrigation season.

Exempt wells, wells that are exempt from legal or physical availability review, have been a highly contentious issue for several years in the Legislature. The bill was the product of development and senior water right holders’ willingness to work with me in creating a balanced, science driven solution on a case-by-case basis instead of a sweeping policy change.

Senate Bill 154

Required the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to conduct another sustainable yield survey on Montana’s Trust Land Forests. The state has acquired several thousand acres of forest land over the last few years, which will increase the allowable sustainable timber harvest each year. It will likely increase our current sustained yield calculation by an estimated 10 million board feet, thereby providing more timber for our forest industry and creating an additional $1 million dollars of revenue annually for our schools.

Senate Bill 345

Last year, Sierra Pacific was collecting some cold decked logs in California adjacent to Forest Service grounds, and a fire broke out in the vicinity of the operation and turned into a fairly large wildfire.

The result was that the Forest Service sent them a $750 million tab. Part of the damages being sought was for real property damages, but much of the bill was for intangible damages. Even though Sierra Pacific was not proven to be responsible for the fires ignition, they ultimately decided to settle out of court and agreed to $55 million in damages and had to give up 20,000 acres fee simple to the federal government.

This bill will prevent that from ever happening in Montana.