A Montana court to regulators: the public gets a real say

A Montana judge has fully vacated the permit for a Clearwater gravel mine and asphalt plant, ruling that the state's permitting process violated residents' constitutional right to meaningful public participation. The court rejected regulators' bid for a softer, conditional vacatur. "Public participation cannot simply depend on whether a project applicant chooses to ask for it," said Protect the Clearwater president Gayla Nicholson. Sometimes the most hopeful headline is a quiet one: the rules apply to everyone.