House panel kills one measure to limit appeals on development

By MIKE DENNISON

A House panel has killed one of the session’s major bills that would narrow environmental appeals of development projects, but another such measure is still alive - and likely headed for passage.

The bill that bit the dust Monday in the House Federal Relations, Energy and Telecommunications Committee is Senate Bill 387, sponsored by Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter.

Rep. Harry Klock, R-Harlowton, joined the panel’s seven Democrats in voting to “table” or kill SB387, on an 8-6 vote.

Klock said Wednesday that he likes the bill, but it was obvious that Democrats on the evenly split committee weren’t going to support it, so he saw no need to keep discussing it.

“We could have voted all night and it would have come out 7-7 (on every vote),” he said. “It was going to go nowhere.”

The death of SB387 means that the legislative focus on environmental appeals shifts entirely to House Bill 483, which has passed the House and awaits a hearing next week in the Republican-controlled Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee.
Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad and the sponsor of HB483, has said he wants to streamline the appeals process for developers who have already obtained permits for energy projects such as power plants and power lines.

Limiting these appeals so that developers face fewer delays has been a top priority for Republican legislative leaders this session.

HB483, like the bill killed in the House committee on Monday, narrows who can challenge the appeal, makes it easier for developers to take the appeal directly to court instead of the state Board of Environmental Review, and narrows what issues can be brought up on appeal.

However, HB483 applies only to major energy projects, while the Senate bill applied to all types of projects.

That breadth apparently was what led Democrats to vote against SB387 Monday in the House committee.

“What we’re being asked to do is expand that language to fit to a whole wide range of projects from everything from small air-quality projects to whatever might happen to be permitted,” said Rep. Art Noonan, D-Butte and chairman of the House committee. “It drove me to the place of saying ‘We just don’t know what the consequences are.’ ”

Bales said Wednesday he was disappointed that his bill was killed in the House, because he felt that projects other than energy projects also might be having problems with lengthy appeals.

Jones’ bill is expected to get a good reception in the Senate, which last month endorsed Bales’ even broader bill.

The administration of Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer also has been consulting with Jones about HB483 and has said it supports the idea of making the appeals process more predictable for energy projects.