State environmental agency halts rewrite of water quality standards
Three years into a legislatively mandated effort to adopt looser standards for two nutrients abundant in Montana waterways, the state has halted rulemaking on the contentious effort.
Following a hearing on Monday, June 10 at which stakeholders on multiple sides of the issue expressed displeasure with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s proposal, the agency announced it has no immediate plans to advance new water quality standards as required by a bill the Republican-controlled Legislature passed in 2021. Environmentalists described DEQ’s proposed rules as unscientific and unprotective, while sewer operators and industrial dischargers deemed them difficult to understand and financially and technologically unattainable.
“The pause in rulemaking will allow DEQ more time to consider the substantive comments received and means that the proposed rule package will not move forward to adoption,” the agency wrote in a press release this week.
Become a Subscriber!
You have read all of your free articles this month. Select a plan below to start your subscription today.
Already a subscriber? Login
