Final rule · 2026-14244

Montana Regulatory Program

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), is approving an amendment to the Montana regulatory program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Montana submitted this proposed amendment to OSM on its own initiative in response to a State law passed by the Montana Legislature--Senate Bill 365 (SB 365). The amendment to the Montana coal program regulations clarifies that, if a siltation structure's capacity is exceeded because of an extraordinary series of storms, an operator will not have violated the siltation structure construction requirements if the siltation structure was constructed consistent with the design capacity requirements in the applicable Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) and the operator actively undertakes measures to restore pond capacity as soon as weather and ground conditions permit. SB 365 also includes contingencies that apply to the proposed amendment but are not codified into the Montana Code Annotated (MCA): a severability clause, a contingent voidness clause, and an effective date clause.