BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

 

In the matter of the amendment of ARM 8.94.3814 and 8.94.3815 pertaining to governing the submission and review of applications for funding under the Treasure State Endowment Program (TSEP)

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NOTICE OF AMENDMENT

 

TO: All Concerned Persons

 

           1. On February 28, 2020, the Department of Commerce published MAR Notice No. 8-94-180 pertaining to the public hearing on the proposed amendment of the above-stated rules at page 350 of the 2020 Montana Administrative Register, Issue Number 4.

 

2. The department has amended the above-stated rules as proposed.

 

3. The department has thoroughly considered the comments and testimony received. A summary of the comments received and the department's responses are as follows:

 

COMMENT NO. 1:  Due to concerns and response to COVID-19, the department received numerous comments requesting an extension of the Treasure State Endowment Program (TSEP) application deadline of May 1, 2020, and a waiver or extension of any requirements or ranking criteria relating to the public meetings requirements.

 

RESPONSE NO. 1: Due to the repercussions of COVID-19, the department agrees to extend the application deadline for TSEP to June 12, 2020, and will allow any required TSEP Construction Application public meeting documentation to be submitted any time before August 3, 2020.

 

COMMENT NO. 2:  A commenter requested that an application checklist be included in the application, so the applicant can make sure all components are included in the submittal of the application.

 

RESPONSE NO. 2: Appendix D provides a list of all required materials to be submitted and how the application should best be organized. The link will be fixed.

 

COMMENT NO. 3:  Does the PER or Environmental Review need to be adopted before the application is submitted on June 12th or before the August 3rd deadline of public meeting information?

 

RESPONSE NO. 3: Due to the repercussions of COVID-19, the Department of Commerce agrees to extend the application deadline for TSEP to June 12, 2020, and allow any required TSEP Construction Application public meeting documentation be submitted any time up until August 3, 2020. The public meeting documentation includes the process for Preliminary Engineering or environmental review processes.

 

 

/s/ Amy Barnes                                                         /s/ Tara Rice                                    

Amy Barnes                                                              Tara Rice

Rule Reviewer                                                           Director

                                                                                  Department of Commerce

 

Certified to the Secretary of State April 7, 2020.