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The legal fight over the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s approval of a central Montana copper mine made an appearance in the Montana Supreme Court Wednesday. During an hour-long hearing, justices dove deep into weedy regulatory issues focusing on the safety of storing mine tailings and how the mine is expected to influence water quality in Sheep Creek, a tributary of the Smith River. The Black Butte Mine, which is expected to produce 14.5 million tons of high-grade copper over its 13-year operational life, is the focus of the l...
Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed a bill that makes significant changes to the Montana Environmental Policy Act, a law that's used in legal challenges to mines, timber sales and power plants. On May 19, Gianforte signed Senate Bill 557, which changes how individuals and nonprofits can use MEPA to challenge a state permit. Proponents of the measure say it will level the playing field and ensure that groups challenging natural resource and industrial projects first establish "legitimacy." Opponents...
This story was updated May 2, 2023, to correct the percentage of marijuana tax revenue proposed for Habitat Montana distribution according to the text of Initiative 190. After passing its final legislative vote 49-1, a bill seeking to adjust how $50 million of recreational marijuana taxes are distributed is headed to Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk for his consideration. Senate Bill 442 began as a “kind of controversial bill,” according to its sponsor, Sen. Mike Lang, R-Malta. But during a press conference Monday afternoon at the Capitol, Lang...
Two proposals with competing visions for the tens of millions in taxes that Montana collects annually on the sale of recreational marijuana are still making their way through the Legislature as lawmakers work to set a two-year state budget. One measure, House Bill 669, would funnel most of the state’s adult-use marijuana tax collections — which are forecast to top $50 million per year — to the General Fund, allowing lawmakers to distribute that money as they see fit on a session-by-session basis, including this one. The other, Senate Bill 442,...
