Monkeypox

DPHHS announces first confirmed case of Monkeypox in Montana

News from DPHHS

FLATHEAD COUNTY — The Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) and Flathead City-County Health Department today confirmed a single presumptive case of monkeypox virus infection in a Flathead County adult.

Initial testing was completed August 5, 2022, at the Montana State Public Health Laboratory and confirmatory testing will occur next with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

DPHHS is working closely with local public health and the patient’s health care provider to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient while they were infectious. The local public health jurisdiction is performing contact tracing and will communicate with individuals identified as a close contact. The patient did not require hospitalization and is isolating at home. To protect patient confidentiality, no further details related to the patient will be disclosed.

As of Aug. 4, 2022, CDC reports 7,102 cases of monkeypox/orthopoxvirus in 48 other U.S. states. In recent months, more than 26,519 cases have been reported in 81 countries where the disease is not typically reported.

Symptoms of monkeypox can include fever, headache, muscle aches and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and a rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appear on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body.

The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks and most people get better on their own without treatment. At times, monkeypox can cause scars from the sores, the development of secondary infections, such as pneumonia, or other complications.

The virus does not easily spread between people with casual contact, but transmission can occur through contact with infectious sores and body fluids; contaminated items, such as clothing or bedding; or through respiratory droplets associated with prolonged face-to-face contact.

“Early recognition of the characteristic monkeypox rash by patients and clinicians is necessary to minimize transmission of this virus,” said DPHHS acting State Medical Officer Dr. Maggie Cook-Shimanek. “Anyone with symptoms of monkeypox should isolate from others and immediately consult a healthcare provider.”

Because monkeypox transmission requires close and prolonged contact, close-knit social networks have been particularly impacted.

There is no treatment specifically for monkeypox. But because monkeypox and smallpox viruses are closely related, antiviral drugs (such as tecovirimat) and vaccines developed to protect against smallpox may be used to prevent and treat monkeypox virus infections. The need for treatment will depend on how sick someone gets or whether they are likely to get severely ill. DPHHS is pre-positioning a supply of tecovirimat in the state for use, if necessary. CDC does not recommend widespread vaccination against monkeypox at this time. However, vaccination may be recommended for some people who have been exposed to the monkeypox virus.

According to the CDC, the monkeypox virus is spreading mostly through close, intimate contact with someone who has monkeypox.

Montanans can take steps to prevent getting monkeypox.

Anyone with a rash that looks like monkeypox should talk to their healthcare provider, even if they don’t think they had contact with someone who has monkeypox.

A person who is sick with monkeypox should isolate at home. If they have an active rash or other symptoms, they should be in a separate room or area from other family members and pets, when possible.

To learn more about this virus, visit the CDC website: https://www.cdc. gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/.

Commissioners take action to cease fee collection

News from Lake County Commissioner Gale Decker

LAKE COUNTY — Mission Valley irrigators will notice a significant change in their tax statements beginning in tax year 2023. Fees for operation and maintenance of the three irrigation districts will no longer be collected by the County Treasurer and distributed to the districts as has been done previously. A Resolution of Intent to discontinue the collection of the fees was considered by the Lake County Commissioners in July of 2021, but action was tabled after the Commissioners received comment from the districts requesting more time to put in place an alternative method of collecting the fees. Another public hearing was conducted on July 20 of this year for the Commissioners to again consider action on the Resolution of Intent. After considerable discussion, the Commissioners passed the Resolution effectively ending the collection of irrigation fees by the County.

Numerous irrigation projects like the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project were financed and built by the Federal government decades ago. The Feds wanted to ensure that the irrigators benefited by the projects paid back the dollars spent in construction, so liens were placed on individual irrigator’s properties. In addition, the State Legislature enacted laws requiring County Treasurers to add irrigation fees to landowner tax statements knowing that the fees would have to be paid at the same time the property taxes were paid. The collected irrigation fees were then distributed to the irrigation districts who used the funds to operate and maintain the district with the understanding the project would be owned by the irrigators when construction costs were fully repaid.

The Commissioner’s decision to discontinue the collection of fees by the Treasurer was based on language in the Montana Water Rights Protection Act that was signed into law by President Trump in Dec. 2020. That language provides that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior, are “the entity with the legal authority and responsibility to operate the Mission Valley division of the project...” The Act also establishes that the Tribes are now responsible for rehabilitation, modernization, and operational improvements to the infrastructure of the FIIP. One billion dollars is to be initially deposited in the Settlement Trust Fund established by the Act, and an additional ninety million dollars is to be added to the fund on Oct. 1 of each calendar year through 2029 to carry out improvements to the project. The CSKT will be given the money to fund the improvements to the project, but the improvements will be owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The FIIP is now owned and

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operated by the BIA and the CSKT, leaving the districts with only being able to offer advice and comment on how they would like to see the project operated. Since the BIA sets the fees for irrigation project operation and maintenance, the Commissioners felt that those fees should be collected by that agency. In the opinion of the Commissioners, it is no longer necessary, or appropriate, for the County to collect fees that are then distributed to the irrigation districts who hand those dollars off to the BIA. There are other BIA operated irrigation districts on reservations in Montana and the BIA collects the fees assessed to irrigators. The Commissioners believe that process could be used for the Mission Valley Irrigation District.

Another factor in the Commissioners’ decision is that the fee information received from the districts and added to the individual irrigator’s tax statement is often incorrect. When an irrigator discovers incorrect information, they contact the Treasurer’s Office demanding corrections that cannot be done by the Treasurer. Significant staff time is spent explaining the process to correct errors to the irrigators. Dedicating staff time in the Treasurer’s Office to try to correct errors in BIA information sent to the districts and then to the County does not seem to be a good use of that time.

The MWRPA does establish a process by which the Mission Irrigation District and the CSKT could enter into a cooperative agreement to operate and maintain the FIIP, but according to minutes from the irrigation districts no such agreement has been reached.

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Government increases access to affordable housing

News from the office of Governor Gianforte

HELENA — Governor Greg Gianforte and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Director Chris Dorrington announced on Aug. 2 the state is streamlining review processes and cutting red tape to accelerate the development of affordable, attainable housing.

Amid a record number of subdivision applications, Gov. Gianforte and Dir. Dorrington have heard concerns from home builders and contractors about the longstanding, complicated regulatory processes in state government that delay housing construction.

In coordination with the Montana League of Cities and Towns, DEQ consequently developed a template contract to delegate responsibility for some public water supply plan approval to municipalities.

“We’re taking another step forward,” DEQ Director Chris Dorrington said. “Qualified engineers across the state can now share in delivering efficient public water plan reviews while maintaining environmental protections.”

Specifically, the contract covers plan and specification review of extensions or alterations of existing public water and sewer systems that involve 50 or fewer connections.

“We’re committed to getting applications processed as quickly as possible so folks can get shovels in the ground,” Gov. Gianforte said.

Prior to the reform announced today, DEQ had success working with counties to delegate sanitarian review of subdivision applications. Gov. Gianforte and Dir. Dorrington emphasize that extending delegation to include public water plan review by municipal engineers is a commonsense next step.

DEQ is in dialogue with several cities and towns to work toward implementing the delegation agreement.

Existing applicants may check on the status of their application by contacting Margarite Juarez Thomas at: deq-eoc@ mt.gov.

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Biden-Harris administration announces funding will create good-paying union jobs, catalyze economic revitalization in coal communities

News from U.S. Dept. of the Interior

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced that nearly $725 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is available to 22 states and the Navajo Nation to create good-paying union jobs and catalyze economic opportunity in coal communities by reclaiming abandoned mine lands (AML). The Notice of Funding Opportunity opened today and follows the release of final guidance for how eligible states and Tribes can apply for the historic funding.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates nearly a total of $11.3 billion in AML funding over 15 years, which will help communities eliminate dangerous environmental conditions and pollution caused by past coal mining. This funding is expected to address the vast majority of inventoried abandoned mine lands in this country and prioritize jobs for current and former coal industry workers.

“President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law delivers the largest investment in cleaning up abandoned mine lands in history. Through this program, we are investing in coal communities through job creation -- including for current and former coal workers -- and economic revitalization, all while addressing harmful environmental impacts from these legacy developments,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “We encourage all eligible states and Tribes to apply for this funding so we can reduce hazardous pollution and toxic water levels that continue to impact our communities.”

The funding opportunity advances the Biden-Harris administration’s unprecedented investments in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities and workers, including through the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization. This effort also advances the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which commits to delivering 40 percent of the benefits of certain climate and clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities.

AML reclamation projects support vitally needed jobs by investing in projects that close dangerous mine shafts, reclaim unstable slopes, prevent releases of harmful gases, including methane, improve water quality by treating acid mine drainage, and restore water supplies damaged by mining. AML reclamation projects also enable economic revitalization by rehabilitating hazardous land so that it can be used for recreational facilities or other economic redevelopment uses like advanced manufacturing and renewable energy deployment.

States and Tribes that apply for the funding should: — Prioritize projects that invest in disadvantaged communities consistent with the President’s Justice40 Initiative; — Incorporate public review and comment into the selection of projects to be funded; — Consider prioritizing projects in a manner that maximizes the amount of methane emissions that can be reduced; and — Prioritize the employment of current and former coal industry workers, among other provisions.

Applications for the fiscal year 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law AML funds must be submitted by eligible states and Tribal AML programs on: home.grantsolutions.gov/home/ no later than March 31, 2023. States and Tribes are not required to complete the AML Reclamation Plan update, review and approval process as a prerequisite to receiving these funds. According to the department Montana is eligible for $4,601,000