Senate Bill No. 338

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________



A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act requiring licensure of certain guest ranches and outfitting and guide facilities by the department of public health and human services; providing definitions; requiring the department to adopt rules; requiring negotiated rulemaking; providing for license fees; providing for 2-year licenses and staggered license dates; requiring an opportunity for correction of certain licensing violations; amending sections 50-51-101, 50-51-102, 50-51-103, 50-51-201, 50-51-204, 50-51-207, and 50-51-401, MCA; and providing effective dates."



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



Section 1.  Section 50-51-101, MCA, is amended to read:

"50-51-101.   Purpose Findings and purpose of regulation. (1) It is hereby found and declared that the public welfare requires control and regulation of the operation of establishments providing lodging space accommodations, as defined in 50-51-102 hereof, and the control, inspection, and regulation of persons engaged therein providing accommodations in order to prevent or eliminate unsanitary and unhealthful conditions and practices, which conditions and practices may endanger public health. It is further found and declared that the regulation of establishments providing lodging space accommodations as above outlined is in the interest of social well-being and the health and safety of the state and all of its people.

(2) The legislature recognizes that there is a wide disparity in the type of establishments, especially in the size, the time of year at which the establishments operate, and the ability of small establishments with few employees and a limited operating season to conform to the same standards to which larger establishments are required to conform. These factors must be considered, especially in the operation of small or seasonal businesses that are such an important part of Montana's tourism business. For these reasons, the legislature believes that department rules must be tailored to properly and reasonably address differences in the size, location, purpose, and time of year of operation of certain small or seasonal establishments. The legislature believes that rules governing certain small or seasonal establishments must be limited to requirements meant to ensure basic health standards and should not detract from the rustic, out-of-doors experience offered by many guest ranches and outfitter and guide facilities and desired by many tourists."



Section 2.  Section 50-51-102, MCA, is amended to read:

"50-51-102.   Definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, in this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(1)  "Department" means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201.

(2)  "Establishment" means a hotel, motel, roominghouse, guest ranch, outfitting and guide facility, boardinghouse, or tourist home.

(3) "Guest ranch" means a facility that:

(a) uses one or more permanent structures, one or more of which have running water, sewage disposal, and a kitchen;

(b) furnishes sleeping accommodations on advance reservations for a minimum stay;

(c) provides hunting, horseback riding, fishing, or a working cattle ranch experience to its guests; and

(d) is a small establishment or a seasonal establishment.

(3)(4)  "Hotel" or "motel" includes a building or structure kept, used, maintained as, advertised as, or held out to the public to be a hotel, motel, inn, motor court, tourist court, public lodginghouse, or place where sleeping accommodations are furnished for a fee to transient guests, with or without meals.

(5) "Outfitting and guide facility" means a facility that:

(a) uses one or more permanent structures, one or more of which have running water, sewage disposal, and a kitchen;

(b) furnishes sleeping accommodations to guests;

(c) offers hunting, fishing, or recreational services in conjunction with the services of an outfitter or guide, as defined in 37-47-101; and

(d) is a small establishment or a seasonal establishment.

(4)(6)  "Person" includes an individual, partnership, corporation, association, county, municipality, cooperative group, or other entity engaged in the business of operating, owning, or offering the services of a hotel, motel, boardinghouse, tourist home, guest ranch, outfitting and guide facility, or roominghouse.

(5)(7)  "Roominghouse" or "boardinghouse" means buildings in which separate sleeping rooms are rented that provide sleeping accommodations for three or more persons on a weekly, semimonthly, monthly, or permanent basis, whether or not meals or central kitchens are provided but without separated cooking facilities or kitchens within each room, and whose occupants do not need professional nursing or personal-care services provided by the facility.

(8) "Seasonal establishment" means a guest ranch or outfitting and guide facility operating for less than 120 days in a calendar year and offering accommodations to 40 people or fewer at one time.

(9) "Small establishment" means a guest ranch or an outfitting and guide facility offering accommodations to 24 people or fewer at one time.

(6)(10)  "Tourist home" means an establishment or premises where sleeping accommodations are furnished to transient guests for hire or rent on a daily or weekly rental basis in a private home when the accommodations are offered for hire or rent for the use of the traveling public.

(7)(11)  "Transient guest" means a guest for only a brief stay, such as the traveling public."



Section 3.  Section 50-51-103, MCA, is amended to read:

"50-51-103.   Department authorized to adopt rules. (1) The department may adopt and enforce rules to preserve the public health and safety.

These rules shall (2) Rules applicable to a hotel, motel, roominghouse, boardinghouse, or tourist home must relate to construction, furnishings, housekeeping, personnel, sanitary facilities and controls, water supply, sewerage and sewage disposal system, refuse collection and disposal, registration and supervision, and fire and life safety code.

(3) The department shall adopt rules governing guest ranches and outfitting and guide facilities. The rules must take into consideration the size, type, location, and seasonal operations of an establishment and may include only rules to:

(a) ensure that the establishment has safe drinking water and an adequate water supply;

(b) ensure an adequate and sanitary sewage system and refuse disposal system;

(c) address food safety concerns, such as adequate storage and refrigeration; and

(d) establish staggered license expiration dates by implementing an initial licensing period determined by the department.

(4) Rules adopted to implement subsection (3) must be adopted through negotiated rulemaking pursuant to the Montana Negotiated Rulemaking Act."



Section 4.  Section 50-51-201, MCA, is amended to read:

"50-51-201.   License required. (1) Each year, every Except as provided in this section, a person engaged in the business of conducting or operating a hotel, motel, tourist home, boardinghouse, or roominghouse an establishment shall annually procure a license issued by the department.

(2) The department may issue a license to a guest ranch or outfitting and guide facility only for a license term of 2 years after an initial license term determined by the department. Guest ranches and outfitting and guide facilities need not apply for a license pursuant to this chapter for the first time until the later of:

(a) the completion of negotiated rulemaking and public notification by the department of the necessity for those guest ranches or outfitting and guide facilities to obtain a license pursuant to this chapter; or

(b) July 1, 1998.

(2)(3)  A separate license is required for each establishment; however. However, when more than one of each type of establishment is operated on the same premises and under the same management, only one license is required that must enumerate on the certificate the types of establishments licensed.

(3)(4)  Before a license may be issued by the department, it must be validated by the local health officer or, if there is no local health officer, the sanitarian, in the county where the establishment is located."



Section 5.  Section 50-51-204, MCA, is amended to read:

"50-51-204.   License fee -- late fee. (1) There shall be paid An applicant for an annual license or a license with an initial license term of less than 1 year shall pay to the department with each application for such a license or for renewal of such a license an annual license fee of $40. An applicant for a biennial license or a license with an initial license term of more than 1 year shall pay a license or renewal fee of $80. The department shall deposit 85% of the fees collected under this section into the local board inspection fund account created in 50-2-108, 11.25% of the fees into the general fund, and 3.75% of the fees into the account provided for in 50-51-110.

(2)  In addition to the license fee required under subsection (1), the department shall collect a late fee from any licensee who has failed to submit a license renewal fee prior to the expiration of his a current license and who operates an establishment governed by this part in the next licensing year or 2-year period in the case of a biennial license. The late fee is $25 and must be deposited in the account provided for in 50-51-110."



Section 6.  Section 50-51-207, MCA, is amended to read:

"50-51-207.   Expiration date of license. Each annual license shall expire on December 31 following expires 1 year after its date of issue unless canceled for cause. Each biennial license expires 2 years from the date of issuance. Licenses issued for the purpose of implementing staggered licensing terms expire on the date determined by the department."



Section 7.  Section 50-51-401, MCA, is amended to read:

"50-51-401.   Civil penalties -- injunctions not barred. (1) An establishment that violates this chapter or rules adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500.

(2) Penalties may not be assessed against a guest ranch or outfitter and guide facility unless the guest ranch or outfitting and guide facility receives a written notice of a violation and fails to correct the violation within 30 days.

(2)(3)  Civil action to impose penalties, as provided under this section, does not bar injunctions to enforce compliance with this chapter or to enforce compliance with a rule adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter."



NEW SECTION. Section 8.  Effective dates. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), [this act] is effective July 1, 1998.

(2) [Section 3 and this section] are effective on passage and approval.

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