Governor Signs Suite of Bills Changing Montana’s Environmental Laws
The Legislature passed five new laws in response to the Held v. Montana climate change decision handed down last year
By Micah Drew, Daily Montanan
Three state representatives joined Montana Governor Greg Gianforte for a bill signing ceremony for five new laws making changes to the Montana Environmental Policy Act.
“At its simplest, MEPA is a process that ensures that we think about the potential environmental impacts of our decisions,” Gianforte said in remarks to press. “Last year, the Montana Supreme Court issued a series of rulings that led us to develop solutions to reduce potential litigation and provide certainty to Montana businesses, large and small, that are trying to make a living here in our state.”
The suite of laws came as a direct response to the decision in the Held vs. Montana lawsuit, in which a district court judge found that the state could not limit the analysis of greenhouse gas emissions during the environmental review process.
When the Montana Supreme Court upheld the ruling last December, incoming Republican legislative leaders told the courts to “buckle up” and brought a number of bills aimed at changing the judicial system as well as addressing the Held decision.
“In the Held v. Montana court case, they tried to twist MEPA into something it was never meant to be — a tool to deny permits and block development,” House Speaker Brandon Ler, R-Savage, said at the signing ceremony. “With the signing of this MEPA reform package, we’re making it clear that Montana’s environmental policy is about reform decision making, not weaponizing and litigation.”
Earlier during the session, House Democrats pushed back against many of the bills related to MEPA, including one brought by Ler.
“Montanans expect us to defend their Constitutional right to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and that’s exactly what House Democrats did,” said Representative Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, in a press release. “But some Republican politicians are determined to erode what makes Montana the last best place. We will continue to fight those efforts every step of the way.”
The Held lawsuit, brought by 16 youth plaintiffs from across the state, was the nation’s first constitutional climate change trial. A district court judge in Lewis and Clark County sided with the plaintiffs in 2023, and in December 2024, the Montana Supreme Court upheld the decision.
The court found in a 6-to-1 decision that Montana’s constitutional guarantee of a “clean and healthful environment” includes a stable climate system.
“Plaintiffs showed at trial — without dispute — that climate change is harming Montana’s environmental life support system now and with increasing severity for the foreseeable future,” the order stated.
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision Democrats introduced bills that sought to strengthen MEPA’s role in protecting the environment, although none passed.
The majority of bills introduced, including the five signed on Thursday sponsored by Republicans, put sideboards on the environmental review process and clarified the state’s existing laws.
Speaker Ler introduced House Bill 285, which he said was designed to provide clarity and efficiency to MEPA.
The bill emphasizes that MEPA is a tool for assessing environmental impacts, not a regulatory mechanism.
“House Bill 285 sets the record straight: MEPA is procedural,” Ler said. “It’s a way to gather facts, weigh impacts and then make informed decisions, not dictate them. This bill reaffirms the Legislature’s intent.”
Ler’s bill passed both Legislative chambers along party lines.
Other MEPA-related bills drew more bipartisan support.
House Bill 270, introduced by Representative Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, updates MEPA language to remove the parts invalidated by the Held decision, alters the process if someone fails to comply with the act, and prevents state agencies from vacating permits without considering the economic effects.
Her bill saw unanimous support in the House and saw only a handful of opponents in the Senate.
Similarly, Senate Bill 221, carried by Senator Wylie Galt, R-Martinsdale, also drew support from both parties.
His bill directed the Department of Environmental Quality to develop guidance on greenhouse gas emission assessments while aiming to prevent industry and development from getting bogged down in litigation.
“Our next steps will be to develop that guidance document that will outline exactly how we will do greenhouse gas assessments for fossil fuel activities, as well as what parameters we’ll look at for non-fossil fuel activities,” said Sonja Nowakowski, director of DEQ. “These will be very open and transparent processes, and we look forward to engaging with the public and getting everyone’s input as we move forward.”
Gianforte also signed House Bill 291, which prevents the state from adopting more stringent standards for air pollutants than the federal government; and House Bill 466, which defines “categorial exclusions” for projects that do not require environmental assessments, similar to the National Environmental Policy Act.
Combined, Gianforte said the package of bills would help protect the state’s environment while bolstering the economy.
“Left unchecked, the rulings would have impacted our energy sector at a time when Americans have seen the cost of electricity soar nearly 30% over the last four years,” Gianforte said.
Anne Hedges, director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, criticized many of the bills Gianforte signed, especially SB 221 and HB 285, saying they reduced MEPA to a “paper exercise.”
“Without the requirements in MEPA to fully analyze a project’s impacts, the state does not have a mechanism to comply with the public’s constitutional rights to know, to participate, and to have a clean and healthful environment,” Hedges said in a prepared statement. “The people of this state will not stand for a loss of these constitutional rights, and so these bills will only result in conflict and wasted state resources.”
Gianforte has signed 222 bills into law, as of Thursday afternoon, out of a total 878 passed by the Montana Legislature, according to the state’s bill tracker.
The guy in the picture is Speaker of the House?? Doesn’t inspire confidence or look very professional.