Environmental groups say they’re considering options as the state relaxes its pollution standards
By Darrell Ehrlick DAILY MONTANAN
The Environmental Protection Agency has signed off on Montana’s plan to discard numeric water quality standards and adopt a measure that was passed by the 2025 Legislature allowing state officials to revert back to an older system, which many groups criticize as being insufficient to protect the Treasure State’s already struggling waterways.
In 2014, Montana adopted numeric water quality standards, which has been hailed by scientists and conservation organizations as the scientific gold standard which is most likely to ensure clean water throughout the state. In summary, it’s a system where nutrients, pollutants and other water quality issues are measured by sampling results reflected numerically.
However, the Montana Legislature had been thwarted by federal authorities for years as it tried to overturn the numeric standards in favor of something less rigorous. But with a change in presidential administration, state officials through the Montana Department of Environmental Quality have convinced the Trump administration to revert to “narrative standards,” which doesn’t require the same standards of water testing, making it more challenging to gauge or compare the health of the waterways.
Conservation groups and scientists said this marks a step backwards for Montana’s waterways at an already critical time. This summer, rivers in the Big Hole Basin faced hot temperatures, low water flows and a critically low number of fish. Meanwhile, development in nearby Gallatin County has caused repeated algae blooms and pollution.
Groups like the Upper Missouri Waterkeeper said these new regulations will allow polluters to skirt water quality laws in the absence of clear measurable, objective scientific testing. Several different environmental groups said they’re considering the next steps in legal action, but regional EPA administrator Cyrus Western said that the EPA does not prohibit narrative standards, and that House Bill 664 satisfies federal clean water standards.
Rep. Bill Mercer, R-Billings, was the lead sponsor of the bill. The Montana House of Representatives passed the legislation, 69-to-30, with 12 Democrats joining all the Republicans in support of the bill. In the Montana Senate, only two Democrats jointed with all Republicans to support the measure, 32-18. Derek Harvey of Butte and Sara Novak of Deer Lodge were the only Democratic support in the Senate.
By most accounts, narrative standards are considered more lenient and flexible, while critics of numeric standards say that the measurements are too rigid and may not pinpoint the source of the pollution.
Upper Missouri Waterkeeper said it is reviewing the decision by the EPA and has vowed to “take necessary actions to defend Montana’s vital clean water resources against unscientific decision-making that’s both contrary to federal law and will risk the future health of our valued waterways.”
The Waterkeeper also alleges that Montana’s DEQ has ignored or stalled implementation of the Clean Water Act, a federal law governing clean water as it’s issuing discharge permits without numeric standards so that large industrial and municipal entities could discharge pollution without consequence. A cursory look of that provision in state law shows few remedies for those companies or individuals who pollute.
The Waterkeeper also said the penalty provision of the new law has never been “meaningfully implemented or enforced,” raising fears that even if pollution rises, the state will struggle to punish bad actors. The Waterkeeper also referred to a recent study which showed that the state’s fisheries, streams and rivers generate around $1.3 billion annually for Montana’s economy.
“This is another gift to polluters and developers at the public’s and environment’s expense. There is no scientific or legal basis for abandoning numeric nutrient standards that prevent nutrient pollutions in our rivers and streams. The State of Montana and Gov. Greg Gianforte are throwing away the measuring stick used to determine when water quality is being degraded,” said Guy Alsentzer, Executive Director of Upper Missouri Waterkeeper.
