BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

 

In the matter of the amendment of ARM 42.25.501, 42.25.512, 42.25.513, 42.25.514, 42.25.1801, 42.25.1809, 42.25.1813, and the transfer of ARM 42.32.101 (42.25.1501), 42.32.102 (42.25.1502), 42.32.103 (42.25.1503), 42.32.104 (42.25.1504), 42.32.105 (42.25.1505), 42.32.106 (42.25.1506), and 42.32.107 (42.25.1507), relating to natural resource taxes

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NOTICE OF AMENDMENT AND TRANSFER

 

TO:  All Concerned Persons

 

1.  On November 23, 2012, the department published MAR Notice Number 42-2-890 regarding the proposed amendment and transfer of the above-stated rules at page 2366 of the 2012 Montana Administrative Register, Issue Number 22.

 

2.  A public hearing was held on December 17, 2012, to consider the proposed amendment and transfer.  Gail Abercrombie, of GAILA Consulting for the Montana Petroleum Association, appeared and testified at the hearing.  No written comments were received.  The oral comments are summarized as follows, along with the responses of the department:

 

COMMENT NO. 1:  With regard to ARM 42.25.1809, Ms. Abercrombie asked if the date in 7-1-05, MCA, was incorrect and if that was the reason for the proposed change.  She further inquired about the history being stricken from the rule and whether that information would be available to the public in the future if needed.

 

RESPONSE NO. 1:  The department appreciates Ms. Abercrombie's interest and participation in this rulemaking process.  As part of the biennial review of all its rules, the department determined the need to amend the effective date of the table that would remain in ARM 42.25.1809(1), to match with the October 1, 2006 date in the current Board of Oil and Gas rules.  There were no changes to the actual percentage rates in the table, only the date was revised.

The history will be maintained in the department's records for this rulemaking action.  The department also maintains copies of all its past amended and repealed rule language for historical research purposes.  This is public information and is available upon request.

 

COMMENT NO. 2:  Ms. Abercrombie asked if the department would continue to change the rules in the future and how long rules are kept.  For example, if the Board of Oil and Gas were to change the amount of privilege and license tax, would the department then adopt a new rule or add a new part?

 

RESPONSE NO. 2:  Current rules will remain in effect until such a time that a statutory or Board of Oil and Gas administrative rule necessitates a revision by the department.  Depending on the nature of the change, the current rules will remain on the books during any transition period and until the expiration of the five-year statute of limitations.  If needed, a new table with a new effective date could be added.

 

COMMENT NO. 3:  Ms. Abercrombie asked what the process would be for transferring the resource indemnity rules from one chapter to another, relative to renumbering the rules and maintaining the history.

 

RESPONSE NO. 3:  The purpose of the amendment is to relocate all of the natural resource related rules into a single chapter.  The newly assigned ARM numbers will be placed numerically behind those already being used in chapter 25, in the most logical order.  The rules, both new and transferred, will forever cross-reference with each other in the history section for each respective rule.

 

3.  The department amends ARM 42.25.501, 42.25.512, 42.25.513, 42.25.514, 42.25.1801, 42.25.1809, and 42.25.1813; and transfers ARM 42.32.101 (42.25.1501), 42.32.102 (42.25.1502), 42.32.103 (42.25.1503), 42.32.104 (42.25.1504), 42.32.105 (42.25.1505), 42.32.106 (42.25.1506), and 42.32.107 (42.25.1507), as proposed.

 

4.  An electronic copy of this notice is available on the department's web site at www.revenue.mt.gov.  Select the "Laws and Rules" link in the left hand column, and click on the "Rules" link within to view the options under the "Current Rule Actions – Published Notices" heading.  The department strives to make the electronic copy of this notice conform to the official version of the notice, as printed in the Montana Administrative Register, but advises all concerned persons that in the event of a discrepancy between the official printed text of the notice and the electronic version of the notice, only the official printed text will be considered.  While the department also strives to keep its web site accessible at all times, in some instances it may be temporarily unavailable due to system maintenance or technical problems.

 

 

/s/ Cleo Anderson                                         /s/ Mike Kadas

CLEO ANDERSON                                      MIKE KADAS

Rule Reviewer                                               Director of Revenue

 

 

Certified to Secretary of State January 22, 2013