82-4-424. Receipt and expenditure of funds — disposition of penalties and other money. (1) The department may receive any federal funds, state funds, or any other funds for the reclamation of affected land. The department may cause the reclamation work to be done by its employees, by employees of other governmental agencies, by soil conservation districts, or through contracts with qualified persons.

Terms Used In Montana Code 82-4-424

  • Affected land: means the area of land and land covered by water that is disturbed by opencut operations. See Montana Code 82-4-403
  • Department: means the department of environmental quality provided for in 2-15-3501. See Montana Code 82-4-403
  • Person: means :

    (a)a natural person;

    (b)a firm, association, partnership, cooperative, or corporation;

    (c)a department, agency, or instrumentality of the state or any governmental subdivision; or

    (d)any other entity. See Montana Code 82-4-403

  • Reclamation: means the reconditioning of affected land to make the area suitable for productive use, including but not limited to forestry, agriculture, grazing, wildlife, recreation, or residential or industrial development. See Montana Code 82-4-403
  • Soil: means the dark or root-bearing surface matter that has been generated through time by the interaction of biological activity, climate, topography, and parent material and that is capable of sustaining plant growth and is recognized and identified as such by standard authorities and methods. See Montana Code 82-4-403
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201

(2)All penalties and other money paid under the provisions of this part, except fees provided for in 82-4-437, must be deposited in the environmental rehabilitation and response account in the state special revenue fund provided for in 75-1-110. Funds held by the department as bond or as a result of bond forfeiture that are no longer needed for reclamation and for which the department is not able to locate a surety or other person who owns the funds after diligent search must be deposited in the environmental rehabilitation and response account in the state special revenue fund.