The announcement hit like a welcome thunderstorm in the drought. FOX 13 News was the first to report that Utah’s Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands had successfully won an auction for the bankruptcy assets of U.S. Magnesium, a company branded one of Utah’s top polluters and located on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. The state wanted the water to help save the shrinking lake. Lawmakers rushed through $30 million in funding to make it happen.
Rep. Jill Koford passed a major bill that seeks to solve a big problem of ensuring that water that is conserved actually makes it to the Great Salt Lake. It ensures that the water is released in a timely manner for the lake and gives the state more power to find water sources to prop up the lake.
Rep. Ray Ward proposed a shift of tax revenues coming in from Utah’s lucrative brine shrimp industry toward an account aimed at helping the lake that passed.
Rep. Hoang Nguyen’s bill to allow local water districts to include the Great Salt Lake in their planning for growth and water demands passed.
Rep. Thomas Peterson passed a bill that cuts back on “retention basins” and instead sends that water down to the Great Salt Lake. It didn’t get through the Senate.
Rep. Joseph Elison had a resolution complaining about federal spending. After President Trump expressed support for saving the Great Salt Lake, House leadership hijacked it for a resolution urging the feds to get involved in the effort.
Sen. Lincoln Fillmore passed a bill to allow for more work to be done to improve the Jordan River.
Some environmental groups lobbied hard for it, but Sen. Nate Blouin’s bill to shift money from an account for the controversial — and stalled — Bear River Pipeline project toward the Great Salt Lake got dammed up in the legislature.
On the final night of the session, House Majority Leader Casey Snider filed a resolution that trades land inside the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge that’s been the subject of litigation. As part of the settlement, Utah gets $60 million he intends to put back into lake rescue efforts. It passed.
THE COLORADO RIVER —
In the middle of the legislative session, Gov. Cox and other governors were summoned to Washington D.C. in hopes of reaching a deal between the seven states on the Colorado River that supplies life to more than 40 million people. No deal could be reached by Feb. 14, a deadline set by the Trump administration for a framework agreement. That ratcheted up the stakes dramatically. Lawmakers began socking away $1 million for potential lawsuits and passed a bill adding some fangs to the Colorado River Authority of Utah’s mission to defend the state’s interests on the water.
A bill by Rep. Colin Jack on the Colorado River Compact would let local water districts the right to develop water, even if they don’t necessarily want to.
THE ENVIRONMENT —
A bill some environmental groups objected to passed. They argued It would limit the power of people to protest water rights applications before the Utah State Engineer. Rep. David Shallenberger argued it would tell the engineer to “stay in her lane” and she requested it.
Sen. Keven Stratton passed a bill pushing for more water-wise landscaping at all government facilities. Sen. Stephanie Pitcher’s bill to have future state purchases of landscaping equipment be electric-powered failed to pass the House on a close 35-34 vote (you need 38 votes to pass the House). A bill to have state facilities start using water saving landscaping and irrigation systems passed.
A bill that would have allowed for culturally sensitive sites to be purchased within state school trust lands passed the House, but then failed in the Senate.
A bill to demand data centers disclose how much water they use won a lot of support on Utah’s Capitol Hill and from the public. Rep. Jill Koford even amended it to make that data public after environmentalists asked for it, but it failed in a close Senate vote. Then it was reconsidered and passed. Rep. Rosalba Dominguez’s bill on energy use by data centers was introduced, but didn’t advance.
Rep. Doug Owens passed a bill authorizing a study on wetlands in an effort to protect them.
A bill that allowed for hunting of grizzly bears in Utah passed. “Buffalo” are now “bison” in Utah code.
A bill that would have cracked down on “chemtrails” by making it a felony crime to release them did not pass.
A bill requires most boaters to take a class on the dangers of quagga mussels, but non-motorized watercraft like paddle boats will no longer face the same requirements.
A bill to study how much loss there is in public water systems did not pass.
Rep. Doug Owens’ bill to increase residential water rates blocks was introduced, but never got a hearing.
Rep. Troy Shelley passed a bill on carbon tax credits. Through the process, the tax was dropped and now the state will start to track carbon credits, which are bought and sold to offset emissions.
Rep. Thomas Peterson passed a bill blocking HOAs from blocking the removal of vegetation in a wildland urban-interface area in an effort to prevent wildfires.
A bill passed the legislature aimed at blocking lawsuits over climate change, demanding that liability be tied to actual violations of harm.
Rep. Doug Owens proposed a bill to require local wildlife impacts be calculated into a city’s planning. It didn’t go anywhere.
Rep. Clint Okerlund proposed a ban on sprinklers that seem to water everything but the grass and plants. The bill cleared the House, but didn’t clear the Senate in time.
A bill to allow neighbors to get more notice if a government entity like a school installs artificial turf in order to push for heat and smell mitigation efforts failed to pass a House committee.
Sen. Derrin Owens passed a bill for a study to create a Gooseberry Narrows State Park in central Utah.
Forest and watershed health will be studied at Utah State University under a bill that passed.
More public disclosures will be made about “fugitive dust” from construction projects and things like that. Rep. Stephanie Gricius’ bill also imposed new fees on those behind such dust events.
A bill to establish PM2.5 standards in counties across the Wasatch Front was introduced, but never got a hearing.
Some environmental groups fought a bill from Sen. Brady Brammer that tweaked rules on environmental health and waste management, saying it limits Utah’s ability to enact protections for land, water, air and radiation. It tied Utah’s rule-making to federal standards. The bill passed.
AGRICULTURE —
Rep. Kristen Chevrier passed a bill making it easier to purchase raw milk, but it holds producers responsible for testing and sanitary measures. Utah’s Dept. of Agriculture & Food has continued oversight of it.
Farms no longer have to specifically register their names with the Utah Dept. of Agriculture & Food under a bill that passed.
Sen. Heidi Balderree passed a bill offering $75,000 to displaced farms, nonprofits or businesses for road projects.
Sen. Scott Sandall passed a resolution to promote “the integration of agricultural features into the fabric of traditional residential neighborhoods” like gardens and small farms.
