Opinion ID: 371077
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Requirements of the Montana Clean Air Act

Text: 137 Even if the phrase 'necessary preconstruction approvals or permits' in Sec. 169(2)(A)-(B) is interpreted to mean those permits necessary for actual on-site construction, Montana Power argues it obtained the only permit required before the effective date of the 1977 Amendments. 138 The company received approval under the Montana Major Facility Siting Act, Mont.Rev.Codes Ann. Secs. 70-801 et seq., in July 1976. It received no permit under the state Clean Air Act, Mont.Rev.Codes Ann. Secs. 69-3906 et seq., until January 1978. It asserts that the state Clean Air Act permit is not required under Sec. 169(2)(A)-(B), and that it sought one only to avoid protracted litigation as to its necessity. The EPA contends that permits under both the Siting Act and the state Clean Air Act are 'necessary preconstruction approvals or permits.' 139 The state Clean Air Act was enacted in 1967. With its regulations, it is part of the state's implementation plan under the federal Clean Air Act. While a parent organization administers the plan generally, the Board of Health and Environmental Sciences controls the permitting of all new sources of air pollution: 140 The board may by rule prohibit the construction, installation, alteration, or use of a machine, equipment, device, or facility which it finds may directly or indirectly cause or contribute to air pollution . . ., unless a permit therefor has been obtained. 141 Mont.Rev.Codes Ann. Sec. 69-3911. The regulations require two permits, one for construction and one for operation or use. Mont.Admin.Code Secs. 16-2.14(1)-S1400(1)-(9), (11). 142 The Major Facility Siting Act, enacted in 1973, specifically governs 'the construction of additional power or energy conversion facilities' and is meant 'to ensure that the location, construction and operation of power and energy conversion facilities will produce minimal adverse effects on the environment.' Mont.Rev.Codes Ann. Sec. 70-802. Before a facility may be constructed or operated, it must obtain a 'certificate of environmental compatibility and public need,' the equivalent of a permit. Id. at Sec. 70-804. 143 The Board of Natural Resources and Conservation controls the issuance of permits under the Siting Act. It may not grant one unless it determines 144 that duly authorized state air and water quality agencies have certified that the proposed facility will not violate state and federally established standards and implementation plans . . .. 145 Id. at Sec. 70-810(1)(h). The relevant agency is the Board of Health, which is responsible for issuing a permit under the state Clean Air Act. 146 Section 70-817 of the Siting Act provides that, once a permit under the act has been granted, 147 [n]otwithstanding any other law, no state or regional agency, or municipality or other local government, may require any approval, consent permit, certificate, or other condition for the construction, operation, or maintenance of a facility authorized by a certificate issued pursuant to this chapter; except that the state air and water quality agency or agencies shall retain authority which they have or may be granted to determine compliance of the proposed facility with state and federal standards and implementation plans for air and water quality and to enforce those standards . . .. (Emphasis added.) 148 Montana Power argues that findings of the Board of Health in certifying a source to the Board of Natural Resources under the Siting Act duplicate those it must make under the state Clean Air Act. Since the Siting Act deals specifically with new energy sources and is, comprehensive to the exclusion of other state statutes, 41 the company argues that the certification by the Board of Health that was necessary to obtain its Siting Act permit constitutes permission to construct under the state Clean Air Act as well. 149 The company reads narrowly the exception to Sec. 70-817, which protects the authority of state air quality agencies like the Board of Health 'to determine compliance of the proposed facility with state and federal standards.' Instead of interpreting the exception as ensuring the Board of Health's power to issue construction permits, which might detract from the comprehensive scheme of the Siting Act, Montana Power argues that the exception only preserves the Board's power to grant use permits, for which there is no analogue in the Siting Act. Since a use permit is issued only after a source is constructed, it cannot be a preconstruction approval or permit required by the definition of 'commence' in Sec. 169(2)(A). 150 This understanding of the relationship between the state Clean Air Act and the Siting Act is strained, at best. The language of Sec. 70-817 preserving the authority of the Board of Health is not limited to issuing use permits. 42 It allows the Board 'to determine compliance of the proposed facility' with applicable standards. Use permits granted after a facility is built cannot be for a 'proposed' facility. 151 Whether construction permits required under the state Clean Air Act and Siting Act are duplicative is not our concern. That is a matter for the Montanalegislature. Section 169(2)(A)-(B) requires a source to obtain 'those permits or approvals . . . required by the permitting authority,' in this case the State of Montana and its agencies. 43 Since Montana Power did not have both a state Clean Air Act permit and a Siting Act permit before August 7, 1977, it did not commence construction under the definition in the 1977 Amendments. 44