85-1-904. (Temporary) Duties of the commission. Duties of the commission are to:

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(1)monitor the existing condition of natural resources in western Montana and coordinate development of a 5-year monitoring strategy. This strategy must be developed with input from all land and water management agencies within western Montana and identify proposed and needed monitoring that emphasizes but is not limited to the aquatic resources of western Montana.

(2)support, promote, and ensure the continuation of a comprehensive aquatic invasive species prevention program in western Montana to assure it is implemented effectively and efficiently to protect aquatic resources, local economies, and native species;

(3)encourage close cooperation and coordination between federal, state, provincial, tribal, and local resource managers for the establishment of consistent natural resource conservation practices, comprehensive monitoring, data collection, and interpretation;

(4)encourage and work for international coordination between the state of Montana and the province of British Columbia concerning the undertaking of natural resource monitoring and use of consistent standards for management of natural resources throughout the region that may have influences on aquatic resources within western Montana;

(5)provide focused support and programming to the aquatic and natural resources of the Flathead River basin given its economic, cultural, and natural resource importance to the state of Montana;

(6)support economic development and use of western Montana’s resources to their fullest extent without compromising the aquatic resources of western Montana;

(7)undertake, with the commission’s discretion, investigations of resource utilization and hold public hearings concerning the condition of aquatic resources and other natural resources in western Montana;

(8)use the result of the duties performed pursuant to subsections (1) through (7) to create public-private partnerships that:

(a)result in projects to reduce point source water pollution and nonpoint source water pollutions, as those terms are defined in 75-5-103;

(b)prevent the spread of invasive species; and

(c)maintain, enhance, restore, expand, or benefit the aquatic resources of western Montana;

(9)implement in collaboration with the department policies pursuant to 85-1-101, through the administration of portions of the renewable resource grant and loan program under 85-1-601, within western Montana;

(10)implement in collaboration with the department the portion of state policy expressed in the reclamation and development grants program act under 90-2-1102 through administration of grants and loans within western Montana;

(11)submit to the governor, the environmental quality council, and the water policy interim committee, in accordance with 5-11-210, a biennial report that includes:

(a)a summary of information gathered in fulfillment of its duties under this section;

(b)information on monitoring activities within western Montana concerning the condition of the region’s natural resources with particular emphasis on aquatic resources;

(c)the identification of land use, land development, and economic trends in western Montana;

(d)recommendations the commission considers appropriate for fulfillment of its duties and for the continued preservation of aquatic resources in western Montana; and

(e)an accounting of all money received and disbursed, by source and purpose, for the period since the last biennial report; and

(12)meet at least semiannually within western Montana at locations selected by the commission. (Terminates June 30, 2029–sec. 12, Ch. 428, L. 2023.)