SB 368 Montana Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Allow correction of minor maintenance items at mines

SB 368 establishes a new process for addressing minor maintenance issues at mines in Montana, directly affecting mine operators and the state department responsible for inspections. The bill introduces a "minor maintenance correction letter" for permit violations that do not pose an imminent danger or significant environmental harm. Mine permittees are given 14 days to correct these minor items, with verification occurring at the next regular inspection. If the minor issue is not corrected within the timeframe, the department can then issue a notice of noncompliance or a cessation order.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Signed into Law

Apr 2025

Introduced Feb 19, 2025 Signed Apr 18, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB0368_2(10).pdf → SB0368_X.pdf · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was finalized into its enrolled version, removing draft markings and updating the title to include an immediate effective date. The core policy change involves tightening enforcement for minor maintenance violations at mines, reducing the correction window from 30 days to 14 days and clarifying that failure to correct triggers a formal notice or cessation order.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on mine safety and maintenance, but the applicability of the new minor maintenance rules is now strictly limited to violations within the permit boundary.

TIMELINE

The deadline for correcting minor maintenance items was reduced from 30 days to 14 days.

REQUIREMENT

The definition of a minor maintenance item was updated to explicitly require the violation to be within the permit boundary.

ENFORCEMENT

The process for handling uncorrected minor maintenance was clarified to automatically trigger a notice of noncompliance or cessation order if the item is not fixed within the new 14-day window or by the next inspection.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was cleaned of draft annotations, and the title was updated to reflect an immediate effective date.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 6, 2025 · House Mar 31, 2025

How they voted

47–3

Passed

Total votes 50

Mar 6, 2025

D Democratic18

15 Yea 3 Nay

83% Yea

R Republican32

32 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 17, 2025

Signed into law

(S) Signed by Governor

upper

Apr 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Signed by Speaker

lower

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Signed by President

upper

Mar 31, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (99-0-1)

house

Mar 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Report - (H) Natural Resources

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Natural Resources

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Committee

(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Natural Resources

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (47-3)

senate

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Report - (S) Natural Resources

upper

Mar 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Natural Resources

upper

Feb 20, 2025

Committee

(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Natural Resources

upper

Feb 19, 2025

Introduced

(S) Introduced

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors