Policy that would change Montana’s bedrock environmental law will be taken up when lawmakers resume their work later this week.
Montana’s Environmental Policy Act, or MEPA, is called the “look before you leap” clause. It establishes a process for state agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of a proposed action.
The policy was also at the center of the youth-led climate case, Held v. Montana, after lawmakers tried to omit climate impacts from MEPA analyses. The two bills that would change the policy the most have both passed on to the second chamber.
One would change the legislative intent of the 54-year-old policy so that its purpose would no longer be to carry out Montanan’s constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. Instead, it would become a mechanism to inform the Legislature of potential impacts.
The other would limit how greenhouse gas emissions are measured as part of a project’s environmental review. For example, it would exclude emissions like the out of state transportation and burning of fossil fuels extracted in Montana.
Both bills passed out of their initial chambers before lawmakers transmittal break.
