Montana Coal Endowment Program

As a result of the 2021 Legislative session, the Treasure Statement Endowment Program (TSEP) name has been changed to the Montana Coal Endowment Program (MCEP). Documents will contain the previous name until a public hearing has been held to update the Administrative Rules of Montana.

The Montana Coal Endowment Program (MCEP) is a state-funded program that is designed to help address the "affordability" of local infrastructure projects by providing grants to lower the cost of constructing public facilities.

Are your city's water lines leaking? Have you reached the capacity of your town's wastewater treatment plant? Do you have a bridge that has deteriorated to the point that it may have to be closed? These issues, along with other infrastructure problems, are a dilemma for local governments trying to maintain their community's vital infrastructure. Local officials, staff and engineers are encouraged to consider whether MCEP could help finance a local infrastructure project.

Commerce's research findings, along with comments from local government officials and citizens, indicate that the principal reason why so many local public facilities are deficient is that most options for correcting deficiencies are simply not considered affordable by local residents. MCEP is a state-funded program that has been designed to help address that affordability problem by providing grants to lower the cost of constructing public facilities projects. The program was authorized by Montana’s voters with the passage of Legislative Referendum 110 on June 2, 1992. The law has been codified as Sections 90-6-701 through 90-6-710, MCA.