---
type: "Bill"
title: "Clarify criteria for water right permit relying on waiver of adverse effect"
description: "Clarify criteria for water right permit relying on waiver of adverse effect"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 45"
citation: "Montana HB 45 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Property", "Rule Making", "Water"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Zach Brown"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 41
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-09-19"
last_action: "2019-03-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c149964a-61ec-443b-974f-ba8325d9a37f"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=45&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=HB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20191"
source_hash: "c3918b0b99d618305cf25806398d017669d2b0ee497147239b8650a38350cfde"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-mt"]
---

# Montana HB 45 (2019) — Clarify criteria for water right permit relying on waiver of adverse effect

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB0045_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0099//HB0045_1.pdf)
2. **HB0045_x.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0099//HB0045_x.pdf)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/billpdf/HB0045.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Pass — **89–11** (pass) · lower
- DO PASS — **13–2** (pass) · lower
- BE CONCURRED IN — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **87–13** (pass) · lower
- Do Concur — **35–15** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **30–19** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Zach Brown — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-09-19** Draft Request Received
- **2018-11-20** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2018-11-20** Draft in Legal Review
- **2018-11-21** Draft in Edit
- **2018-11-26** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [CMD]
- **2018-11-26** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2018-11-29** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2018-11-29** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2018-11-29** Executive Director Review
- **2018-11-29** Draft in Assembly
- **2018-11-30** Pre-Introduction Letter Sent
- **2018-12-07** Introduced `introduction`
- **2018-12-07** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2018-12-12** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-07** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-01-18** Hearing
- **2019-02-01** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-04** Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-06** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-02-06** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2019-02-07** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-02-07** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-07** Transmitted to Senate
- **2019-02-08** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-02-08** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-15** Hearing
- **2019-02-15** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2019-02-16** Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2019-02-19** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-02-19** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2019-02-20** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-02-20** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-20** Returned to House
- **2019-02-21** Sent to Enrolling
- **2019-02-22** Returned from Enrolling
- **2019-02-22** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2019-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-25** Signed by President
- **2019-02-26** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-03-07** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-03-07** Chapter Number Assigned

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c149964a-61ec-443b-974f-ba8325d9a37f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).