A legal document, approved by a judge, that formalizes an agreement reached between EPA and potentially responsible parties (PRPs) through which PRPs will conduct all or part of a cleanup action at a Superfund site; cease or correct actions or processes that are polluting the environment; or otherwise comply with EPA initiated regulatory enforcement actions to resolve the contamination at the Superfund site involved. The Consent Decree describes the actions PRPs will take and may be subject to a public comment period.

Consent Decrees have been issued for portions of the Superfund sites in western Montana. Some sites and issues remain in ongoing negotiations, and additional Consent Decrees should be forthcoming, although in some cases Consent Decree negotiations have been ongoing for more than a decade.