Post on 16-Jan-2016
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Conference on Environmental Assessments in Federations
A Montana PerspectiveSeptember 14, 2009
Tom Livers, Deputy Director Montana Department of Environmental Quality
Projects for Illustration
• Montana-Alberta Tie Line• Keystone Pipeline• Powder River Basin Coal Bed Methane
Montana Constitution – 1972Article II – Declaration of Rights
Section 3. Inalienable rights.
All persons are born free and have certain inalienable rights. They include the right to a clean and healthful environment… In enjoying these rights, all persons recognize corresponding responsibilities.
Montana Environmental Assessment Authority
Major Facility Siting ActMontana Environmental Policy Act
Major Facility Siting Act
Compliance with state lawProtect the environmentSocioeconomic impactsCitizen participationCoordination and efficiency for regulated facilities
Findings Necessary for Certificate
NeedNature of probable environmental impactMinimal adverse environmental impactAll reasonable, cost effective mitigation of
significant impactsNo violation of law in unmitigated impacts
Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA)
Patterned after National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
NEPA: “Each person should enjoy a healthful environment.”
MEPA: “Each person is entitled to a healthful environment.”
Coordination of NEPA and MEPA
NEPA – Federal actionsMEPA – State actionsJoint jurisdiction
• State project federally funded• State actions on federal lands• Interstate or international
Implementation
Federal and state agencies are required to cooperate
May adopt the other’s environmental reviewMay prepare a single environmental review
Montana – Alberta Tie Line
Montana – Alberta Tie Line
230 kV transmission line between Great Falls, Montana and Lethridge, Alberta2-way energy flowIncreased reliabilityWind energy development
Environmental Review
International borderInteragency cooperationDisagreed on need for EISLandowner litigationLate decision delayed approval
Keystone Gulf Expansion Project
Keystone Gulf Expansion Project
Hardisty, Alberta to US Gulf Coast3200 km oil pipelineInternational boundaryRejected state request for co-lead
Powder River Coal Bed Methane
Powder River Coal Bed Methane
Memorandum of UnderstandingU.S. Bureau of Land ManagementMontana Department of Environmental QualityMontana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation
(BOGC)Agency responsibilities for contact oversight and
decision resolution
Cultural and Priority Differences
Simultaneous preparation of separate EISs Montana DEQ: water quality and beneficial use protectionWyoming DEQ and Montana BOGC: timely permitting
MOU with EPAEPA aware of cultural differencesSpecified integration of NEPA throughoutMontana BOGC objects to “EPA
Stubbornness”
Conflict over Environmental Impact Statement:EPA review of draft
Wyoming EIS “unacceptable”Montana EIS “wanting”
Wyoming objects to EPA criticismBureau of Land Management proposes fix for
EPA criticism
EISs Ultimately Issued
Challenged by environmental groupsWyoming Bureau of Land Management direct to redo EIS to address phased development
Water Quality Standards
Montana numeric standardsApproved by EPA, challenged by Wyoming
and industryNegotiations with Northern Cheyenne
Sunshine LawsMontana Open Meeting Law
All meetings of public…agencies…must be open to the public
ExceptionsIndividual privacyCertain litigation strategyCertain Supreme Court deliberations
Cancelled meetings and conference calls
Future Issues: Electrical Transmission Lines
Western grid congestedWaxman-Markey Bill – Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission would control siting in western states
Energy corridors~FERC: overrule states on “national interest”
projects~4th Circuit: states may reject projects on
reasonable grounds
Federal and State Joint Review:Strengths
Share workloadShare dataAnticipate comments, concerns
Multiple perspectivesResolve differencesSounding board
Technical expertiseOn-the-ground knowledge, experience
Federal and State Joint Reviews:Challenges
Communication more complexDelaysState statutory constraints
http://deq.mt.gov/ -- Montana DEQ home page tlivers@mt.gov -- my email http://deq.mt.gov/MFS/index.asp -- Montana Facility Siting Program http://leg.mt.gov/content/publications/Environmental/2006mepaguide.pdf -- Guide to MEPA