Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 17 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 17.1 - ORGANIZATION OF DEPARTMENT › Subchapter 17.1.1 - N/A › Rule 17.1.101 - ORGANIZATION OF DEPARTMENT

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) History and
				Purpose. The Department of Environmental Quality was created by Chapter 418,
				Laws of 1995. It administers most of Montana's environmental regulatory,
				environmental cleanup, environmental monitoring, pollution prevention, and
				energy conservation laws.
(2)
				Organization. The department is headed by the director, who is appointed by the
				Governor. Within the director's office are the deputy director, the Legal Unit,
				the Public Policy Unit, and an Operations Analyst. The deputy director, Legal
				Unit, and Operations Analyst report to the director, while the Public Policy
				Unit reports to the deputy director. Below the director's office, the
				department is divided into three divisions that report directly to the director
				as well as four departmental centralized support programs that report to the
				deputy director. The divisions are the Water Quality Division, the Air, Energy
				and Mining Division, and the Waste Management and Remediation Division. Each
				division is headed by an administrator and is divided into bureaus, each of
				which is headed by a chief. The four centralized support programs include the
				Information Management Bureau, the Financial Services Bureau, the Enforcement
				Program, and Human Resources. Two boards are attached to the department for
				administrative purposes only as provided in
				2-15-121,
				MCA. The Board of Environmental Review exercise adjudicatory functions. The
				Petroleum Tank Release Compensation Board exercises rulemaking and adjudicatory
				functions. Three advisory councils advise the department and one of the boards.
				Advisory councils do not have any rulemaking or adjudicatory function. They
				have advisory roles only.
(3)
				Department Organizational Units. The organizational structure and allocation of
				functions are as follows:
(a) Director's
				Office. The director is responsible for the administration of all functions
				vested by law in the department and for establishing policy to be followed by
				the department. In addition, the work units in the director's office provide
				legal and communications services to the director and the divisions within the
				agency and administers Montana Environmental Policy Act and Montana Major
				Facility Siting Act coordination.
(b) Water Quality Division. This division
				performs water quality planning, pollution prevention, permitting, financing
				assistance, monitoring, and compliance functions. It also regulates public
				water supply and public sewage systems, sanitation in subdivisions, and water
				and wastewater operator training and certification. It is divided into the
				following bureaus:
(i) Water Quality Planning
				Bureau. This bureau develops water quality standards, supports statewide water
				quality monitoring networks, conducts inventories of pollution sources,
				identifies impaired streams and lakes and develops load allocations to remedy
				these impairments, and maintains statewide environmental monitoring
				databases.
(ii) Engineering Bureau.
				This bureau administers the drinking water revolving and water pollution
				control revolving funds that provide loans to communities for the construction
				and improvement of drinking water and wastewater systems. The bureau also
				reviews sanitary and storm drainage features of subdivisions. The bureau also
				requires that proposed subdivisions meet minimum standards and reviews and
				regulates public water and wastewater system designs.
(iii) Water Protection Bureau. This bureau
				regulates discharges into state waters through issuance of permits, monitors
				compliance with those permits, training, technical assistance to discharges of
				wastewater, storm water, and other wastes into surface water and ground water.
				The bureau operates the source water protection and nonpoint source programs
				and conducts development and implementation of water quality improvement
				plans.
(iv) Public Water Supply
				Bureau. This bureau regulates public drinking water systems and public
				wastewater systems. It assures that public water systems comply with
				established monitoring requirements and with standards for drinking water
				quality. It provides training and certifies operators of public drinking water
				systems and wastewater treatment plants.
(c) Air, Energy and Mining Division. This
				division administers the department's air quality, energy conservation, and
				mine reclamation statutes. The division is divided into the following bureaus:
(i) Air Quality Bureau. This bureau regulates
				air quality by issuing air quality permits, inspecting and providing compliance
				assistance for air emission sources, issuing permits for open burning
				activities, developing state implementation plans to ensure compliance with
				state and federal air quality standards, and administering air quality
				monitoring and assessment programs.
(ii) Mining Bureau. This bureau permits and
				regulates:
(A) prospecting and mining of coal
				and uranium;
(B) mining of sand,
				gravel, bentonite, scoria, peat, soil, and clay; and
(C) exploration for and mining of metal ores
				and industrial minerals such as talc, limestone, and building stone under the
				Metal Mine Reclamation Act.
(iii) Energy Bureau. This bureau conducts
				inventories of pollution sources and provides small business assistance, public
				education, and research and development activities to prevent air and water
				pollution and to promote energy conservation, the use of alternative and
				renewable energy sources, and the reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting
				of wastes. This bureau also provides energy retrofits to hospitals and public
				buildings, and technical assistance regarding energy efficiency, indoor air
				quality, and radon in public and commercial facilities.
(d) Waste Management and Remediation
				Division. This division oversees and conducts investigation and cleanup
				activities at state and federal superfund sites; voluntary cleanup activities;
				reclamation of abandoned mine lands; development and implementation of
				corrective actions at sites with leaking underground storage tanks;
				administration of solid waste, junk vehicle, hazardous waste, asbestos control,
				septic tank and privy cleaner, underground storage tank laws; and oversight of
				ground water remediation at sites where improper placement of wastes has caused
				ground water contamination. It also administers provisions of the federal
				Comprehensive Environmental Response and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the state
				Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act (CECRA). This
				division is divided into the following bureaus:
(i) Contaminated Site Cleanup Bureau. This
				bureau oversees or conducts the investigation and cleanup of sites contaminated
				by chemical spills, hazardous substances and petroleum released by industrial
				and commercial operations other than mining. The bureau provides grants to
				local governments for compliance assistance.
(ii) Federal Superfund and Construction
				Bureau. This bureau is responsible for administering and overseeing remedial
				actions at historic mine sites, abandoned mines, and ore transport and
				processing facilities.
(iii) Waste
				and Underground Tank Management Bureau. This bureau permits and regulates
				landfills and other solid waste facilities; motor vehicle wrecking facilities
				and graveyards; cesspool, septic tank, privy cleaners; hazardous waste sites;
				and asbestos removal activities. It implements the underground storage tank
				leak prevention program, including the permitting of underground storage tank
				installations, and the methamphetamine cleanup program.
(e) Centralized support programs. These
				programs provide agency-wide managerial and administrative support, centralized
				coordination, information services, and enforcement activities for the
				department. The centralized support programs include the following:
(i) Information Management Bureau. This
				bureau provides central coordination and support of information technology
				services to the department.
(ii)
				Fiscal Services Bureau. This bureau provides services to the department in
				accounting, budget and financial management, fiscal reporting, payroll,
				internal auditing, procurements including contracts for services and the
				purchasing of supplies and equipment.
(iii) Enforcement Program. This program
				develops enforcement policies and conducts enforcement activities to obtain
				compliance with permitting and regulatory statutes. It also accepts and
				investigates citizen complaints.
(iv) Human Resources. Human Resources
				administers the personnel, payroll, labor relations, and safety programs for
				the department.