Conservation districts are the designated local 

 management agency for nonpoint source pollution control 

 programs in Montana, and they have been involved in water 

 quality improvement programs for many years. Districts will 

 again play a vital role in the state NPS program proposed 

 under Section 319. They will provide guidance and assistance 

 in the implementation of selected BMPs by district cooper- 

 ators, sponsor projects on selected watersheds, and cooperate 

 in a water quality education program. Several districts have 

 independently expressed interest in developing local NPS 

 control programs on selected streams or watersheds within 

 their boundaries, in addition to the initial activities 

 proposed under the Section 319 programs. 



Resource Extraction Programs 



EPA-Super f und . The Superfund law requires EPA to 

 identify, investigate, and clean up uncontrolled hazardous 

 waste sites not regulated under other programs. There are 

 nonpoint source problems at many of the Superfund sites in 

 the Clark Fork Basin, which were discussed earlier in this 

 chapter. Effective management of these sites by EPA and the 

 DHES-Solid and Hazardous Waste Bureau (SHWB) is crucial to 

 controlling NPS pollution in the upper basin and in improving 

 water quality in the Clark Fork. 



State Agencies . Montana's mining laws and regulations 

 are administered by a variety of agencies led by the 

 Department of State Lands. The DSL-Reclamation Division is 

 comprised of the Coal and Uranium Bureau, Hard Rock Bureau, 

 Open Cut Bureau, and Abandoned Mine Lands Bureau. The DHES- 

 WQB administers the Water Quality Act that includes the 

 MPDES permit program addressing surface and ground water 

 quality and maintenance of water quality standards. The DNRC 

 administers the Water Use Act dealing with water rights. 



Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation . This program expends 

 funds received from the federal Office of Surface Mining 

 (OSM) for reclamation of lands disturbed by the mining of 

 coal, uranium, hard rock minerals, and open cut minerals. 

 The program is crucial to the control of NPS pollution 

 associated with historical mining in the basin (at sites 

 other than those designated under Superfund law) . 



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