House Bill No. 153

Introduced By grady

By Request of the Department of Environmental Quality

A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act to provide an administrative appeal of a decision to grant or deny an application for a permit to discharge to surface water or ground water; and amending section

75-5-403, MCA."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1.  Section 75-5-403, MCA, is amended to read:

"75-5-403.   Denial or modification of permit -- time for review of permit application -- appeal. (1) The department shall review for completeness all applications for new permits within 60 days of the receipt of the initial application and within 30 days of receipt of responses to notices of deficiencies. The initial completeness notice must note all major deficiency issues, based on the information submitted. The department and the applicant may extend these timeframes, by mutual agreement, by not more than 75 days. An application is considered complete unless the applicant is notified of a deficiency within the appropriate review period.

(2)  If the department denies an application for a permit modification or modifies a permit upon its own initiative, the department shall give written notice of its action to the applicant or holder and the applicant or holder permittee, who may request a hearing before the board, in the manner stated in 75-5-611, for the purpose of petitioning the board to reverse or modify the action of the department. The hearing must be held within 30 days after receipt of written request. After the hearing, the board shall affirm, modify, or reverse the action of the department. If the holder permittee does not request a hearing before the board, modification of a permit is effective 30 days after receipt of notice by the holder permittee unless the department specifies a later date. If the holder permittee does request a hearing before the board, an order modifying the permit is not effective until 20 days after receipt of notice of the action of the board.

(3) The applicant or any person with an interest that may be adversely affected by the department's decision to issue or deny a permit may, within 30 days following the decision, request a hearing before the board. The board may adopt a rule establishing a longer appeal period. The request must be in writing and must state the grounds upon which the requestor contends that the decision is in error."

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