BEFORE THE BOARD OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

AND THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

 

 

            TO: All Concerned Persons

 

            1. On December 23, 2016, the Board of Environmental Review and the Department of Environmental Quality published MAR Notice No. 17-389 regarding a public hearing on the proposed amendment of the above-stated rules at page 2372, 2016 Montana Administrative Register, Issue Number 24.

 

            2. The board and the department have amended ARM 17.24.645, 17.24.646, 17.30.502, 17.30.607, 17.30.608, 17.30.609, 17.30.610, 17.30.611, 17.30.619, 17.30.621, 17.30.622, 17.30.623, 17.30.624, 17.30.625, 17.30.626, 17.30.627, 17.30.628, 17.30.629, 17.30.641, 17.30.646, 17.30.650, 17.30.651, 17.30.652, 17.30.653, 17.30.654, 17.30.655, 17.30.656, 17.30.657, 17.30.702, 17.30.715, 17.30.1001, 17.30.1007, 17.30.1322, 17.36.345, 17.55.109, 17.56.507, and 17.56.608 exactly as proposed.

 

            3. The following comment was received and appears with the board's response:

 

COMMENT NO. 1:  Commenter stated that the reference dose used by the department to calculate the revised human health standard for the pesticide pinoxaden was significantly lower than the reference dose reported by the EPA in their 2017 Human Health Benchmarks for Pesticides.  Commenter requests that the water quality standard for pinoxaden be recalculated using EPA’s current reference dose of 0.3 milligrams per kilogram per day.

 

            RESPONSE:  EPA's Office of Pesticides updated its Human Health Benchmarks for Pesticides in drinking water in January 2017 to reflect the latest scientific information.  The board is updating the human health standard for pinoxaden in DEQ-7 based on the January 2017 reference dose.  The proposed rule language remains unchanged.

 

            4. No other comments or testimony were received.

 

Reviewed by:                                    BOARD OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

 

 /s/ John F. North                              By:        /s/ Joan Miles                                 

JOHN F. NORTH                                         JOAN MILES,

Rule Reviewer                                             Chairman

 

 

                                                            DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

 

 

 

BY:      /s/ Tom Livers                                 

 TOM LIVERS

 Director

 

 

 

            Certified to the Secretary of State, May 1, 2017.