The transmittal deadline was right around the corner, and the Montana Legislature was working hard to wrap up any general bills remaining before the March 3 deadline. The Montana Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) advocated on over a dozen bills ahead of the deadline, but right to repair and exempt water wells legislation were the most critical to its members.
On Jan. 8, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with John Deere to ensure farmers’ and ranchers’ right to repair their own farm equipment. This MOU is the product of several years of discussion between AFBF and John Deere and serves as the first of what MFBF believes will be agreements with multiple original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
On Feb. 21, Senate Bill (SB) 347, Revise right to repair laws relating to agriculture, sponsored by Sen. Willis Curdy (D-MT-49); and House Bill (HB) 475, Generally revise laws related to agricultural equipment repair, sponsored by Rep. Tom France (D-MT-94) were heard by their respective agriculture committees.
HB 475’s language is specific to the pricing of tools and information that can be shared by OEMs, while SB 347’s language closely resembles the AFBF and John Deere MOU, but adds troubling language regarding embedded software. So why oppose state legislation similar to Farm Bureau’s MOU? MFBF’s opposition is based on their members’ preference to pursue a free market solution instead of state or federal legislation. Its members support and believe that a private-sector agreement between farmers, ranchers and OEMs is the best approach and legislation is not needed at this time.
There is also a concern that if states across the country start passing their own right-to-repair legislation it would create a patchwork of legislation that is difficult to navigate for OEMs and farmers alike. The MOU is not intended to serve as a “template” for state or federal legislation but is a negotiated document between members of Farm Bureau and an individual company and MFBF believes more agreements like the AFBF-John Deere MOU are coming soon.
HB 642, Revise exempt wells laws, sponsored by Rep. Casey Knudsen (R-MT-33) was introduced at the last minute before the transmittal deadline and looks to revise exceptions to water rights permit requirements. MFBF, along with many of the stakeholders that participated in the Comprehensive Water Review and other organizations, adamantly oppose HB 642 as introduced because it significantly expands the exemption so municipalities, large-scale industrial and large-scale commercial users will be able to pump more water without any consideration to the harm it causes to existing water users.
Exempt water users do not have to go through the normal permitting process, which means there is no opportunity for water users to challenge new water uses if there are implications to their water rights. Exempt wells cannot be challenged or revoked, even if there are negative impacts to other water users. HB 642 also allows the development of at least 10 acre-feet per 20 acres, or enough water to cover every 10 acres 2 feet deep, every year.
This could “stack” multiple exemptions together and will result in a massive increase of water usage with no sideboards to protect agriculture’s senior water rights. As this bill was introduced at the last minute, it must be voted on rapidly. MFBF is in strong support for collaborative efforts to solve such complex issues. The Comprehensive Water Review process is the best place to do this and create solutions similar to the work that went into other water issues we have seen this session.
For more legislative updates and details on these issues, follow MFBF’s Live with Your Lobbyist broadcast each Friday at noon on the Montana Farm Bureau Facebook Page. — Rachel Cone and Nicole Rolf, MFBF
