Bill Requiring Further Review of Water Bottling Plants Dies in Committee

Bigfork Republican Sen. Bob Keenan’s final effort to adopt a more stringent environmental review process for water-bottling facilities failed on Friday, dealing a blow to residents in his district who are desperately trying to halt plans for a large-scale bottling plant in Creston from moving forward.

Keenan’s Senate Bill 215 would have required that “large-scale facilities that package water or water-based products for human consumption” be subject to the Major Facilities Siting Act, which currently regulates pipelines, electric transmission links, pump stations, and other facilities associated with the delivery of energy.

The Montana Legislature put the act into effect in the 1980s to ensure that the state’s environmental resources are protected, the socioeconomic impact of using that resource is considered, citizens have a say in siting such projects, and to establish effective methods for processing the authorizations for these projects.

On March 7, the Senate Natural Resources Committee tabled the bill, and on March 24 Keenan attempted to blast the bill out of committee for a second reading on the senate floor. The motion failed on a 31-19 vote.


http://flatheadbeacon.com/2017/03/25/bill-requiring-review-water-bottling-plants-dies-committee/