Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Environmental Management Bureau records records
Scope and Contents
This collection is a sub-subgroup (Bureau) of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality records, RS 494. The Mining Bureau (formerly named Hard Rock Bureau and Environmental Management Bureau) currently (as of 2024) operates within the Air, Energy, and Mining Division. Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of Environmental Quality records. This collection (1970-1998) is comprised of records documenting the work of the Mining Bureau and includes case files and subject files.
This collection is primarily composed of retired case files, most of which come from the Hard Rock Bureau when it was a part of Department of State Lands. These case files consist of operating permits for larger mines; denied operating permits for larger mines; and the files of small miners that did not disturb the land, successfully completed reclamation, did not complete reclamation, or whose claim was released due to death.
An operating permit file may include application materials, operating permit, maps and drawings, reclamation plans, and correspondence. A denied operating permit file can include the application, maps and drawings, reclamation plans, amendments, deficiencies responses, and correspondence.
A small miner file may include the Small Miner Exclusion Statement, annual reports filed by the miner, field inspection reports, maps and drawings, and correspondence. The small miner files occasionally include information about the death of the miner, such as a note from the spouse or an obituary, indicating that the file should be closed.
Also contained in this collection are subject files that document the application process of larger mines/mining companies, namely Noranda’s Montanore Mining project, Crown Butte Mines Inc.’s New World Mining project, the Montana Gold project (“Seven-Up Pete Joint Venture Gold Mine”), and a Zortman and Landusky mining project. These subject files include draft Environmental Impact Statements, public comment letters regarding proposed mining applications, and technical papers.
Dates
- Creation: 1970-1998
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
Collection open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Biographical / Historical
From the 1970s to the early 1990s (1993-1994) the Hard Rock Bureau was part of the Reclamation Division of the Department of State Lands. The State Board of Land Commissioners delegated its authority for administering hard-rock and placer mining laws in Montana to the Department of State Lands. The Reclamation Division was responsible for administering and enforcing Montana’s mined land reclamation statutes and administrative rules. This responsibility included regulating all mining activities on state, federal, and private lands (excluding Indian Reservation and Tribal lands), and reclaiming abandoned mines. Four bureaus within the division administered various programs to meet statutory requirements: the Coal and Uranium Mining Bureau, the Hard Rock Bureau (HRB), the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Bureau, and the Opencut Mining Bureau. In 1994, the HRB was composed of four sections/functions: Exploration, Mine Permitting, MEPA Coordination, and Small Miners.
With the reorganization of the states’ natural resource permitting programs, what had been known as the Department of State Lands, Reclamation Division, Hard Rock Bureau, moved to the Department of Environmental Quality. From 1998 to the present, the former Hard Rock Bureau has fallen under umbrella of DEQ’s Permitting and Compliance Division’s Environmental Management Bureau. Renamed the Hard Rock Mining Program, it regulates the mining of all ore, rock, or substances except oil, gas, bentonite, clay, coal, sand, gravel, peat, soil materials and uranium. The Hard Rock Mining Program also issues permit modification decisions for mining and reclamation of hard rock minerals, while ensuring that any mining that does occur does so with adequate protection of environmental resources. The program also conducts compliance inspections to assess compliance with applicable mining and reclamation requirements and to offer compliance assistance. Finally, the Hard Rock Bureau ensures public involvement in their functions by complying with the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) and other public notice and public participation statutes.
Extent
18.8 linear feet
Abstract
This collection is a sub-subgroup (Bureau) of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality records, RS 494. The Mining Bureau (formerly named Hard Rock Bureau and Environmental Management Bureau) currently (as of 2024) operates within the Air, Energy, and Mining Division. Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of Environmental Quality records. This collection (1970-1998) is comprised of records documenting the work of the Mining Bureau and includes case files and subject files.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged by series.
Physical Location
43: 2-7
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquisition information available upon request
Alternate Forms Available
Montanore Mine files are also available on microfiche( SMF 19).
Processing Information
In 2024, the various collections of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 494, in order to help facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog, and to follow best archival practices.
Collections from Montana Department of Environmental Quality's various Divisions and Bureaus that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into this collection, RS 494. Rather than reprocessing over 150 linear feet of DEQ materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of those collections/finding aids, and provide access to them via links through the central finding aid. This decision has allowed the MTHS archival staff to maintain intellectual control over the collection, while removing the need to reprocess it. It also keeps State Agency finding aids at manageable sizes. Please read the scope and content note carefully to determine if this subgroup/sub-subgroup pertains to your research needs.
Geographic
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Environmental Management Bureau (Hard Rock Mining Bureau) records 1970-1998
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Rachel Lilley
- Date
- 2012
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)
Repository Details
Part of the Montana Historical Society, Research Center Archives Repository
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT 59620-1201 United States
406-444-2681
406-444-2696 (Fax)
mhslibrary@mt.gov