New mining laws in Montana rejected by federal regulators [Video]

The federal government has rejected changes to state water reclamation laws advanced by the 2023 Montana Legislature.

The law intended to lower the bar on water contamination from coal mines and offered the public less protection than the Surface Mining and Control and Reclamation Act. States can legislate restrictions tougher than federal law, but not less stringent. The U.S. Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation informed the state last week that the new laws didn’t pass muster.

Mine neighbors told OSM last fall at a Billings hearing that Republicans in the 2023 Legislature went too far in softening water quality laws. Witnesses produced bottles of water the color of brown shoe polish to suggest Montana’s new tolerance for mine runoff was unacceptable.

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