Montana Code 75-7-123. Penalties — restoration
75-7-123. Penalties — restoration. (1) A person who initiates a project without written consent of the supervisors, performs activities outside the scope of written consent of the supervisors, violates emergency procedures provided for in 75-7-113, or violates 75-7-106 is:
Terms Used In Montana Code 75-7-123
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- District: means :
(a)a conservation district under Title 76, chapter 15, in which the project will take place;
(b)a grass conservation district under Title 76, chapter 16, where a conservation district does not exist; or
(c)the board of county commissioners in a county where a district does not exist. See Montana Code 75-7-103
- Person: means any individual, corporation, firm, partnership, association, or other legal entity not covered under 87-5-502. See Montana Code 75-7-103
- Project: means a physical alteration or modification that results in a change in the state of a natural, perennial-flowing stream or river, its bed, or its immediate banks. See Montana Code 75-7-103
- Stream: means any natural, perennial-flowing stream or river, its bed, and its immediate banks except a stream or river that has been designated by district rule as not having significant aquatic and riparian attributes in need of protection or preservation under 75-7-102. See Montana Code 75-7-103
- Supervisors: means the board of supervisors of a conservation district, the directors of a grass conservation district, or the board of county commissioners where a proposed project is not within a district. See Montana Code 75-7-103
- Written consent of the supervisors: means a written decision of the supervisors approving a project and specifying activities authorized to be performed in completing the project. See Montana Code 75-7-103
(a)guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $500; or
(b)subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each day that person continues to be in violation.
(2)Each day of a continuing violation constitutes a separate violation. The maximum civil penalty is the jurisdictional amount for purposes of 3-10-301. A conservation district may work with a person who is subject to a civil penalty to resolve the amount of the penalty prior to initiating an enforcement action in justice’s court to collect a civil penalty.
(3)In addition to a fine or a civil penalty under subsection (1), the person:
(a)shall restore, at the discretion of the court, the damaged stream, as recommended by the supervisors, to as near its prior condition as possible; or
(b)is civilly liable for the amount necessary to restore the stream. The amount of the liability may be collected in an action instituted pursuant to 3-10-301 if the amount of liability does not exceed $15,000. If the amount of liability for restoration exceeds $15,000, then the action must be brought in district court.
(4)Money recovered by a conservation district or a county attorney, whether as a fine or a civil penalty, must be deposited in the depository of district funds provided for in 76-15-523, unless upon order of a justice’s court the money is directed to be deposited pursuant to 3-10-601.