July 2008, NorthWestern Energy submitted an application for a Certificate of Compliance under the Montana Major Facility Siting Act (MFSA) to allow for construction and operation of the MSTI line. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is the lead agency and is conducting an environmental review know as an Environmental Impact Statement as is required by the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). The BLM is the federal agency in charge of the federal study through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The BLM is working with the DEQ on the routing decision and will jointly issue a Record of Decision for the project.
There is no state siting law in Idaho, and the Federal environmental review process described above will guide the public and agency review in Idaho. Construction cannot commence until all local, state and federal permits and regulatory requirements are met. This review has been ongoing with studies, public meetings and reviews.
A final draft EIS is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2010 that will outline the route for the MSTI line that through independent study has been determined to create the fewest impacts to human activities and the environment. When the final draft EIS is released another series of public meeting will be conducted to collect comments from those impacted by the final route determination. Those comments will be reviewed by federal and state agencies before the Certificate of Compliance or Record of Decision are released by the state and federal agencies respectively.