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Department of Environmental Quality

Montana DEQ's mission is to champion a healthy environment for a thriving Montana.

Goals

Agency Goals and Objectives

State Strategic Plan Goal Reference: Digitization, Reduce Technical Debt.

Objectives

  • Reduce technical debt by focusing on Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications whenever feasible.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Streamline and elevate customer interactions, Enable Strategic Solutions, Improve Business Value, Improve Service Delivery, Provide Security by Design, Improve Digital Transformation.
  • Retire legacy systems requiring vendor specific development.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Streamline and elevate customer interactions, Enable Strategic Solutions, Improve Business Value, Improve Service Delivery.
  • Improve utilization of system integration opportunities between agency applications.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Design for Human Experience, Streamline and elevate customer interactions, Enable Strategic Solutions, Improve Business Value, Improve Service Delivery.

State Strategic Plan Goal Reference: Digitization, Be Business Consultants, Become Business Partners.

Objectives

  • Utilize agency tools to shift paper-driven assessments to more efficient digital process.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Design for Human Experience, Streamline and elevate customer interactions, Improve Business Value, Improve Digital Transformation.
  • Shift manual permit processing to digital automation/processing.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Design for Human Experience, Streamline and elevate customer interactions, Improve Business Value, Improve Digital Transformation.
  • Continue utilization of SAFe Agile methodology for appropriate projects requiring high visibility and transparency.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Improve Financial Transparency, Improve Business Value, Improve Service Delivery, Improve Digital Transformation.

State Strategic Plan Goal Reference: Be Business Consultants, Become Business Partners.

Objectives

  • Leverage program knowledge and ITB experience creating a team approach to projects.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Improve Business Value, Improve Service Delivery, Improve Strategic Partnerships.
  • Ensure future maintenance planning for State and federal requirements/changes are consistently included with project planning.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Improve Business Value, Improve Service Delivery, Improve Strategic Partnerships.
  • Take an agency system view when planning for future projects to ensure proper resource availability.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Enable Strategic Solutions, Improve Business Value, Improve Service Delivery, Improve Strategic Partnerships.

State Strategic Plan Goal Reference: Digitization, Reduce Technical Debt.

Objectives

  • Further GIS integration with agency data sources to provide spatial reporting and visual representation.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Design for Human Experience, Streamline and elevate customer interactions, Enable Strategic Solutions, Improve Business Value, Improve Digital Transformation.
  • Develop agency document storage system enabling appropriate public access to reduce information requests.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Design for Human Experience, Streamline and elevate customer interactions, Enable Strategic Solutions, Improve Business Value, Improve Digital Transformation.
  • Integrate customer dashboards into permit applications allowing instant knowledge of status and progress.
    State Strategic Plan Objective Reference: Design for Human Experience, Streamline and elevate customer interactions, Improve Business Value, Improve Digital Transformation.

Information Technology Resources and Capabilities

Number of FTE: 2

The mission of Air, Energy & Mining is to: protect human health and the environment by promoting clean air and minimizing pollution; work with Montana communities and stakeholders to permit and regulate hard rock, coal and opencut mining; and to provide information to Montanans on the full spectrum of energy resources, including production, conservation, and renewable opportunities.

Number of FTE: 21

The function of Operations is to provide quality products and professional services to Department of Environmental Quality staff and programs.

Number of FTE: 3

The mission of Waste Management and Remediation is to protect human health and the environment by preventing exposure to contaminants; work with Montana communities and businesses to implement effective material management and cleanup strategies; and oversee compliance with state and federal laws and regulations.

Number of FTE: 3

The mission of Water Quality is to create support and implement measures to conserve water resources and ensure that clean lakes, streams, and rivers remain part of Montana’s natural heritage.

Projects

Division AEM / Opencut
Project / Program Purpose and Objectives The Opencut Mining Section (Opencut) currently regulates over 1,700 opencut mine sites that are operated by over 500 individuals and companies. Additionally, Opencut manages data and records for almost 2,000 legacy sites that are no longer in operation. An electronic system is needed to more manageably track application processes, reclamation bonds, annual production reports, and other workflows. Opencut’s current database system was created through a small in-house development effort in 2011 to get data out of the Microsoft Access database they were previously using. In 2023, they were supposed to go into the DEQ FACTS system but, due to development issues, they were removed from the project as the mandatory program requirements could not be met by FACTS. Opencut’s current system is out of compliance with SITSD and would require a major development effort to meet all necessary requirements. Currently, no changes can be made to the system without the risk of breaking the code and rendering the database inoperable. Opencut currently has minimal reporting capabilities and no developer, instead relying on staff within the Mining Bureau to make necessary changes to permissions. Opencut currently uses multiple spreadsheets outside of its database in order to accurately track core business functions, which is extremely time consuming and difficult to accurately maintain. Thus, Opencut needs a dependable software that includes assignment tracking capabilities that can track 14 different application types, reclamation bonds, annual production reports, fees, inspections, enforcement, and workflow.
State Strategic Plan Goal/Objective Reference State Strategic Goal: Digitization, Reduce Technical Debt, Be Business Consultants; State Objective: Citizen Experience, Financial Stewardship, Internal Process through Designing for Human Experience, Streamline and elevate customer interactions, Enable Strategic Solutions, Improve Business Value, Improve Service Delivery, Provide Security by Design, and Improve Digital Transformation.
Estimated Start 7/15/2024 Estimated Delivery 12/31/2025
Estimated Cost 713,491 Comment Estimated cost includes SaaS annual fee and Professional Services to have Tyler Technology implement the solution.
HB 10 Request No Funding Sources : - Comment:
Annual Costs Upon Completion 94,594 Comment
Status of the project as of March 31, even numbered years. Indicate % completed and status of funds expended.

Summary of Hardware

I have reviewed all of my agency's systems in Assurance CM and certify that it is accurate: Yes

Total Number of Appliances
Total Number of Physical Servers 0
Total Number of Virtualized Servers 0
Total Usable Storage Space 0 GB
Device Type Quantity Estimated Replacement Value Comments
Desktop 49 2,091 $102,500 (Combination of standard and power desktops.)
Laptop 331 1872 $619,800 (Combination of standard and power laptops.)
iPad 31 500 $15,500
Printer/Copier 48 Existing HP printers will not be replaced, Kyocera copiers on lease agreements.

Agency Contact Information

Agency Director / Administrator
Christopher Dorrington
(406) 444-6815
cdorrington2@mt.gov
P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620
IT Contact (CIO / IT Manager)
DJ Howell
(406) 444-7424
dj.howell@mt.gov
P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620
Information Security Manager
Wil Ky
(406) 444-7994
wil.ky@mt.gov
P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620