Montana Code 75-10-721. Degree of cleanup required — permit exemption — financial assurance
75-10-721. Degree of cleanup required — permit exemption — financial assurance. (1) A remedial action performed under this part or a voluntary cleanup under 75-10-730 through 75-10-738 must attain a degree of cleanup of the hazardous or deleterious substance and control of a threatened release or further release of that substance that assures protection of public health, safety, and welfare and of the environment.
Terms Used In Montana Code 75-10-721
- Department: means the department of environmental quality provided for in 2-15-3501. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Environment: means any surface water, ground water, drinking water supply, land surface or subsurface strata, or ambient air within the state of Montana or under the jurisdiction of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Hazardous or deleterious substance: means a substance that because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may pose an imminent and substantial threat to public health, safety, or welfare or the environment and is:
(a)a substance that is defined as a hazardous substance by section 101(14) of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), 42 U. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Person: means an individual, trust, firm, joint-stock company, joint venture, consortium, commercial entity, partnership, association, corporation, commission, state or state agency, political subdivision of the state, interstate body, or the federal government, including a federal agency. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Reasonably anticipated future uses: means likely future land or resource uses that take into consideration:
(a)local land and resource use regulations, ordinances, restrictions, or covenants;
(b)historical and anticipated uses of the facility;
(c)patterns of development in the immediate area; and
(d)relevant indications of anticipated land use from the owner of the facility and local planning officials. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Release: means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing of a hazardous or deleterious substance directly into the environment (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles containing any hazardous or deleterious substance), but excludes releases confined to the indoor workplace environment, the use of pesticides as defined in 80-8-102 when they are applied in accordance with approved federal and state labels, and the use of commercial fertilizers, as defined in 80-10-101, when applied as part of accepted agricultural practice. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- Remedial action: includes all notification, investigation, administration, monitoring, cleanup, restoration, mitigation, abatement, removal, replacement, acquisition, enforcement, legal action, health studies, feasibility studies, and other actions necessary or appropriate to respond to a release or threatened release. See Montana Code 75-10-701
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(2)In approving or carrying out remedial actions performed under this part, the department:
(a)except as provided in subsection (4), shall require cleanup consistent with applicable state or federal environmental requirements, criteria, or limitations;
(b)may consider substantive state or federal environmental requirements, criteria, or limitations that are relevant to the site conditions; and
(c)shall select remedial actions, considering present and reasonably anticipated future uses, giving due consideration to institutional controls, that:
(i)demonstrate acceptable mitigation of exposure to risks to the public health, safety, and welfare and the environment;
(ii)are effective and reliable in the short term and the long term;
(iii)are technically practicable and implementable;
(iv)use treatment technologies or resource recovery technologies if practicable, giving due consideration to engineering controls; and
(v)are cost-effective.
(3)In selecting remedial actions, the department shall consider the acceptability of the actions to the affected community, as indicated by community members and the local government.
(4)The department may select a remedial action that does not meet an applicable state environmental requirement, criteria, or limitation under any one of the following circumstances:
(a)The remedial action is an interim measure and will become part of a total remedial action that will attain the applicable requirement, criteria, or limitation.
(b)Compliance with the applicable requirement, criteria, or limitation will result in greater risk to human health and the environment than other remedial action alternatives.
(c)Compliance with the applicable requirement, criteria, or limitation is technically impracticable from an engineering perspective.
(d)The remedial action will attain a standard of performance that is equivalent to that required under the otherwise applicable requirement, criteria, or limitation through use of another method or approach.
(e)Compliance with the requirement would not be cost-effective.
(5)For purposes of this section, cost-effectiveness must be determined through an analysis of incremental costs and incremental risk reduction and other benefits of alternatives considered, taking into account the total anticipated short-term and long-term costs of remedial action alternatives considered, including the total anticipated cost of operation and maintenance activities.
(6)The department may exempt any portion of a remedial action that is conducted entirely on site from a state or local permit that would, in the absence of the remedial action, be required if the remedial action is carried out in accordance with the standards established under this section and this part.
(7)The department may require financial assurance from a liable person in an amount that the department determines will ensure the long-term operation and maintenance of the remedial action site. The liable person shall provide the financial assurance by any one method or combination of methods satisfactory to the department, including but not limited to insurance, guarantee, performance or other surety bond, letter of credit, qualification as a self-insurer, or other demonstration of financial capability.