Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 17 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 17.55 - CECRA REMEDIATION › Subchapter 17.55.1 - Listing and Delisting Facilities for Remediation Under CECRA; Ranking Facilities on a Priority List › Rule 17.55.112 - PROPER AND EXPEDITIOUS NOTICE

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) The
				department shall, as resources allow and considering the facility ranking,
				address facilities on the priority list required by ARM
				17.55.108 in the manner provided
				in this rule. At a facility for which no administrative or judicial order under
				75-10-711, MCA, has been issued,
				the department shall take the following actions:
(a) send a letter to a person liable or
				potentially liable under
				75-10-715, MCA, explaining the
				required remedial actions and their bases and providing the opportunity to
				conduct the required remedial actions;
(b) ensure that a person liable or
				potentially liable under
				75-10-715, MCA, is expeditiously
				performing remedial actions as required by
				75-10-711, MCA, by requiring the
				person to propose a schedule for remedial actions and department reviews. When
				proposing the schedule, the person liable or potentially liable under
				75-10-715, MCA, shall evaluate and
				explain the size and complexity of the facility, the scope of the remedial
				action, the availability and normal timeframes associated with construction of
				the required remedial action features, permitting timeframes, specialty
				contractor availability and scheduling requirements (if applicable), typical
				climatic conditions as they relate to the constructability of the remedial
				action and foreseeable delays in construction, and normal response time for
				requests to connect to utilities (as applicable). Based on that explanation,
				the department may approve, disapprove, or modify the schedule; and
(c) ensure that a person liable or
				potentially liable under
				75-10-715, MCA, is properly
				performing the required remedial actions by reviewing work plans, reports, or
				other documents submitted by the person and identifying required revisions, as
				follows:
(i) the person liable or potentially
				liable under
				75-10-715, MCA, must be given, at
				a minimum, one opportunity to address all of the department's required
				revisions on each submittal;
(ii)
				the person liable or potentially liable under
				75-10-715, MCA, may request a
				meeting or conference call with the department to discuss the required
				revisions or alternatives to the required revisions. Such a request for a
				meeting or conference call must be made within seven business days of receiving
				the department's required revisions or the right to request such a meeting or
				conference call is waived;
(iii) if
				the department determines it is appropriate to modify its required revisions
				based on the meeting or conference call, the department shall document those
				modifications in writing;
(iv) if
				the department determines that its required revisions and any modifications, if
				applicable, were not adequately addressed in the revised document, the
				department shall incorporate its required revisions electronically into the
				document and shall either finalize the document itself or shall provide the
				person liable or potentially liable under
				75-10-715, MCA, an opportunity to
				finalize the document within the department's revisions. If the department
				finalizes the document, upon request of the person liable or potentially liable
				under 75-10-715, MCA, the department
				shall remove from the final version of the document the name of the author who
				prepared the original version of the document. In addition, if the department
				finalizes the document, the department shall include a statement on the cover
				page of the document such as: "The department finalized this document because
				all of its required changes were not incorporated. Although this document is
				designated a department version, the author of the original document holds a
				copyright on the original document, and may have intellectual property rights
				in all or a portion of this document. Further, information regarding the
				original document is available in the department files" or equivalent
				language;
(v) when incorporating
				required revisions into a document, the department shall ensure that documents
				required by Montana law to be endorsed by a licensed professional are modified
				and endorsed by a duly licensed professional; and
(vi) the person liable or potentially liable
				under 75-10-715, MCA, may indicate its
				disagreement with the department's required revisions in a letter to be
				included in the department files, and may insert the following sentences in a
				footnote on the cover page of the document: "The department has required
				changes to this document to which [the person liable or potentially liable
				under 75-10-715, MCA] does not agree.
				See the department files for more information." The person liable or
				potentially liable under
				75-10-715, MCA, may not in any
				other manner indicate its disagreement with the department's required revisions
				in the document itself. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of
				highlighting, italicizing, footnoting, and underlining.