---
type: "Bill"
title: "Clarify placement of definitions in water law"
description: "Clarify placement of definitions in water law"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 57"
citation: "Montana HB 57 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Water"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Zach Brown"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 41
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-09-20"
last_action: "2019-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a56f8a7f-f947-4a73-aa85-fe4641fa7b03"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=57&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=HB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20191"
source_hash: "834765d531166a50bb536381f281e0c6d6a68015c6e61f950c1d3602bb449bf3"
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 57 (2019) — Clarify placement of definitions in water law

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0057_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0099//HB0057_1.pdf)
2. **HB0057_x.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0099//HB0057_x.pdf)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/billpdf/HB0057.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Pass — **85–14** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **91–9** (pass) · lower
- BE CONCURRED IN — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **41–9** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **44–6** (pass) · upper
- DO PASS — **15–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Zach Brown — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-09-20** Draft Request Received
- **2018-11-29** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2018-11-29** Draft in Legal Review
- **2018-11-30** Draft in Edit
- **2018-12-03** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [SMH]
- **2018-12-03** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2018-12-04** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2018-12-04** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2018-12-04** Executive Director Review
- **2018-12-05** Draft in Assembly
- **2018-12-06** Pre-Introduction Letter Sent
- **2018-12-11** Introduced `introduction`
- **2018-12-11** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2018-12-15** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-07** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-01-23** Hearing
- **2019-02-04** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-05** Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-07** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-02-07** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2019-02-08** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-02-08** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-08** Transmitted to Senate
- **2019-02-11** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-02-11** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-18** Hearing
- **2019-02-18** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2019-02-19** Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2019-02-21** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-02-21** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2019-02-22** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-02-22** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-22** Returned to House
- **2019-02-25** Sent to Enrolling
- **2019-02-26** Returned from Enrolling
- **2019-02-26** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2019-02-27** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-03-11** Signed by President
- **2019-03-12** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-03-18** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-03-18** Chapter Number Assigned

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a56f8a7f-f947-4a73-aa85-fe4641fa7b03`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).