Issue 3 - the Montana Secretary of State Website

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a definition of "underground drinking water source."
NEW RULE XXXVII
For the same reason discussed in the Response to Comment No. 45, the
department has revised New Rule XXXVII(2) to refer to "the uppermost aquifer, or
underground drinking water source," as required in New Rule XXXIII. For the same
reason, similar revisions have been made to New Rule XXXVIII and New Rule XLV.
NEW RULE XXXVIII
COMMENT NO. 53: A commentor suggested adding the following language
as (1)(c), to coordinate this rule with the requirements of other agencies and
Montana laws: "Ground water monitoring wells must be drilled by a driller licensed
according to the requirements of ARM Title 36, chapter 21, subchapter 4. Ground
water monitoring wells at solid waste management facilities must be installed by a
person licensed under ARM Title 36, chapter 21, subchapter 7."
A commentor stated that (3) should be replaced with: "Ground water
monitoring wells must be constructed according to the standards found in ARM Title
36, chapter 21, subchapter 6." The rules from the Board of Water Well Contractors
provide necessary construction requirements and provide a single, uniform source
of regulation.
A commentor stated that (4)(a) should be revised to read: "submit a ground
water monitoring plan, prepared by a qualified ground water scientist,". The
necessity for department approval should be removed from this rule because state
approval is not required by EPA. The plans simply need to be prepared by a
competent person and placed in the operating record and submitted to the
department. To do more, would place an undue regulatory burden on the facilities.
The commentor stated that (4)(a)(iv) and (d), which authorize the department
to require any other information determined to be necessary, should not be adopted
because they are vague and overly broad.
Commentors stated that they disagreed with the requirement in (4)(b) of
updating ground water monitoring plans at least every five years. A commentor
stated that monitoring networks need to be updated only if new units are added that
are outside the monitoring network approved in (2). A commentor requested that
the requirement be revised to read: "to be reviewed and updated if necessary every
five years," and that an update not be automatically required every five years. A
commentor stated that it costs up to several thousand dollars to update a network,
that, especially at smaller landfills, it takes 10 to 15 years to fill a cell, and there isn't
really anything that changes at these landfills. A commentor stated that, while
ground water monitoring plan updates may be needed every five years at other
facilities, they were not needed at the 16 facilities where the commentor worked.
A commentor stated that (4)(c) is duplicative of (6)(b) and should be deleted.
A commentor stated that (6)(b) should read: "be certified by a qualified
ground water scientist or approved by the department," which would conform to the
requirements of 40 CFR 258.51(d)(2).
RESPONSE: In (1)(b) the word "disposal" has been stricken in response to
Montana Administrative Register 3-2/11/10