2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 75. Environmental Protection › Chapter 5. Water Quality › Part 3. Classification and Standards › 75-5-311. Local water quality districts -- department approval -- local water quality programs

75-5-311. Local water quality districts -- department approval -- local water quality programs.
(1) A county that establishes a local water quality district according to the procedures specified in Title 7, chapter 13, part 45, shall, in consultation with the department, undertake planning and information-gathering activities necessary to develop a proposed local water quality program.
(2) A county may implement a local water quality program in a local water quality district if the program is approved by the department after a hearing conducted under 75-5-202.
(3) In approving a local water quality program, the department shall determine that the program is consistent with the purposes and requirements of Title 75, chapter 5, and that the program will be effective in protecting, preserving, and improving the quality of surface water and ground water, considering the administrative organization, staff, and financial and other resources available to implement the program.
(4) Subject to department approval, the commissioners and the governing bodies of cities and towns that participate in a local water quality district may adopt local ordinances to regulate the following specific facilities and sources of pollution:
(a) onsite wastewater disposal facilities;
(b) storm water runoff from paved surfaces;
(c) service connections between buildings and publicly owned sewer mains;
(d) facilities that use or store halogenated and nonhalogenated solvents, including hazardous substances that are referenced in 40 CFR 261.31, United States environmental protection agency hazardous waste numbers F001 through F005, as amended; and
(e) internal combustion engine lubricants.
(5) (a) For the facilities and sources of pollution included in subsection (4) and consistent with the provisions of subsection (6), the local ordinances may:
(i) be compatible with or more stringent or more extensive than the requirements imposed by 75-5-304, 75-5-305, and 75-5-401 through 75-5-404 and rules adopted under those sections to protect water quality, establish waste discharge permit requirements, and establish best management practices for substances that have the potential to pollute state waters;
(ii) provide for administrative procedures, administrative orders and actions, and civil enforcement actions that are consistent with 75-5-601 through 75-5-604, 75-5-611 through 75-5-616, 75-5-621, and 75-5-622 and rules adopted under those sections; and
(iii) provide for civil penalties not to exceed $1,000 per violation, provided that each day of violation of a local ordinance constitutes a separate violation, and criminal penalties not to exceed $500 per day of violation or imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both.
(b) Department approval of an ordinance or local law that is more stringent than the comparable state law is subject to the provisions of 75-5-203.
(6) The local ordinances authorized by this section may not:
(a) duplicate the department's requirements and procedures relating to permitting of waste discharge sources and enforcement of water quality standards;
(b) regulate any facility or source of pollution to the extent that the facility or source is:
(i) required to obtain a permit or other approval from the department or federal government or is the subject of an administrative order, a consent decree, or an enforcement action pursuant to Title 75, chapter 5, part 4; Title 75, chapter 6; Title 75, chapter 10; the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. 9601 through 9675, as amended; or federal environmental, safety, or health statutes and regulations;
(ii) exempted from obtaining a permit or other approval from the department because the facility or source is required to obtain a permit or other approval from another state agency or is the subject of an enforcement action by another state agency; or
(iii) subject to the provisions of Title 80, chapter 8 or chapter 15.
(7) If the boundaries of a district are changed after the department has approved the local water quality program for the district, the board of directors of the local water quality district shall submit a program amendment to the department and obtain department approval of the program amendment before implementing the local water quality program in areas that have been added to the district.
(8) The department shall monitor the implementation of local water quality programs to ensure that the programs are adequate to protect, preserve, and improve the quality of the surface water and ground water and are being administered in a manner consistent with the purposes and requirements of Title 75, chapter 5.
(9) If the department determines that a local water quality program is inadequate to protect, preserve, and improve the quality of the surface water and ground water in the local water quality district or that the program is being administered in a manner inconsistent with Title 75, chapter 5, the department shall give notice and conduct a hearing on the matter.
(10) If after the hearing the department determines that the program is inadequate to protect, preserve, and improve the quality of the surface water and ground water in the local water quality district or that it is not being administered in a manner consistent with the purposes of Title 75, chapter 5, the department shall require that necessary corrective measures be taken within a reasonable time, not to exceed 60 days.
(11) If an ordinance adopted under this section conflicts with a requirement imposed by the department's water quality program, the department's requirement supersedes the local ordinance.
(12) If the department finds that, because of the complexity or magnitude of a particular water pollution source, the control of the source is beyond the reasonable capability of a local water quality district or may be more efficiently and economically performed at the state level, the department may assume and retain control over the source. A charge may not be assessed against the local water quality district for that source. Findings made under this subsection may be based on the nature of the source involved or on the source's relationship to the size of the community in which it is located.
History: En. Sec. 24, Ch. 357, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 471, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 42, Ch. 324, L. 2021.