Montana changed the legal definition of water pollution to keep coal mines open

The US Interior Department approved an overhaul of Montana’s surface mining program. The update narrows the definition of "material damage" to local water supplies and allows mining companies to submit their own environmental data for permits if state agencies lack the records.

Under federal law, a mining company can only get a permit if regulators find the operation will not cause permanent damage to the local water supply outside the mine. For decades, if a mine violated basic state water quality standards, it was flagged as environmental damage and the permit was blocked.
That's changed. Under the new rules, violating a water quality standard is no longer enough to halt a permit. The pollution must now cause a "quantifiable adverse impact" that completely prevents a neighbor from using the water.


So a coal mine can pollute a local stream, but as long as the water remains clean enough to keep livestock alive, it is not legally considered damage. 


Ranchers, local landowners, and neighboring Indigenous Tribes opposed the rule, stating it shifts the burden of proof to the public. If a landowner notices their water quality dropping, they can no longer point to a standard state water violation. They must now show the pollution meets a complex new threshold of statistical significance.