{"data":{"id":"us-mt/69-4-522","jurisdiction":"us-mt","citation":"69-4-522","heading":"Duties of department -- rulemaking.","body":"(1) The department shall:\n(a) assess civil penalties pursuant to 69-4-524 and 69-4-525;\n(b) maintain incident reports;\n(c) collect fees from underground facility owners in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to 69-4-502(4)(a) and subsection (2)(c) of this section;\n(d) collect fines for failures to file incident reports in accordance with 69-4-529;\n(e) award grants in accordance with 69-4-528; and\n(f) conduct mediation and contested cases regarding disputed civil penalties in accordance with 69-4-526.\n(2) The department shall adopt rules to implement this part. Rules must provide for the:\n(a) assessment and collection of civil penalties provided for in 69-4-524 and 69-4-525;\n(b) reporting and collection of incident reports pursuant to 69-4-529;\n(c) collection of annual fees of up to $0.10 per outgoing locate request issued to each individual underground facility owner by a notification center. The fee must be based on the number of outgoing locate requests that an underground facility owner received in the previous 12-month period.\n(d) procedures, including but not limited to application and filing requirements for mediation and the review of disputed penalties; and\n(e) procedures for grant funding authorized in 69-4-528. The rules for grant funding must include but are not limited to:\n(i) eligibility requirements for notification centers applying for grants;\n(ii) criteria for awarding grants; and\n(iii) reporting procedures for grant recipients.\n(3) Rules must be adopted pursuant to the Montana Administrative Procedure Act.\n(4) The department may take into account and rely on findings made by a notification center or other nonprofit entities to assist in making determinations necessary for the assessment of a civil penalty.","path":["TITLE 69. PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS","CHAPTER 4. UTILITY LINES AND FACILITIES","Part 5. Excavations Near Underground Facilities"],"source_url":"https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0690/chapter_0040/part_0050/section_0220/0690-0040-0050-0220.html","current_through":"Montana Code Annotated 2025","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:58:17Z","sha256":"8f409d2ecedcf76f717212b0b2be7986f214b41ef7412213c9944437b1254af5","source_id":"us-mt","stale":false,"prev":"us-mt/69-4-521","next":"us-mt/69-4-523"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}