H.B. 296 Water Commitment Amendments: transcript

I respect the Second Amendment, and I also believe that rights come with responsibility. This bill goes beyond protecting lawful gun owners. It expands legal immunity for manufacturers and sellers, and makes it significantly harder for victims to even bring a claim. It requires courts to dismiss cases early unless they meet extremely narrow conditions. And if a family's case is dismissed, they could be forced to pay the defendant's attorney fees, the manufacturer's attorney fees. This should give us pause. No industry in America should receive special protection from accountability, especially when negligence contributes to the harm. We hold car manufacturers accountable. We hold pharmaceutical companies accountable, cigarette companies accountable. The firearms industry should not be uniquely shielded from scrutiny in our courts. This bill also prevents cities and counties from responding to challenges in their own communities. I believe in local control. As a former city council member, I also believe in fair access to justice. I also believe in balancing constitutional rights with basic responsibility. We can protect the Second Amendment and still ensure that victims are not shut out of the courthouse. I urge all of you to reconsider this approach and try to strike a better balance. I appreciate the time.

Uh, thank you Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. My name is Clark Apoian. I represent the Utah Shooting Sports Council, as well as the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Um, this is an important bill. HB two 14 is, is is not gonna make it harder to sue. It'll make it harder to sue frivolously to engage in frivolous lawsuits. Uh, it's a clarification and a, and an alignment bill, not a policy expansion. It ensures that Utah law in which we have right now, we have the P-L-C-A-A or the, there was a federal version of that that was passed in 2005. We have our own, uh, which essentially mirrors it. Uh, the protection of lawful commerce and arms acts. It ensures that Utah law is applied consistently with that act, uh, which is governed, uh, firearm related civil liability nationwide since 2005. Uh, the litigation record prior to the federal law and Utah law was enacted. Over 36, uh, 30 cities and counties filed coordinated lawsuits against firearm manufacturers and dealers, including, uh, Chicago, New York, uh, Los Angeles, Connecticut, seeking to hold lawful businesses liable for generalized criminal violence, not for defective products, not for illegal sales. Uh, Congress found that these cases were problematic because they did not allege traditional fault on proximate causes. They sought to regulate lawful commerce through litigation, not legislation. Several plaintiffs openly stated prior

Thank you Mr. Chair. I'm gonna invite Laura briefer here to join me.

Good afternoon everyone. Representative Hong Winn. Some of you may know I'm in kind of a unique position where I live in Salt Lake City, represent the east bunch of Salt Lake City, but I also go travel the state quite a bit, where I have a lot of agriculture business in several different counties. Um, that puts me in a really unique position to be able to speak with folks in rural Utah and kind of see what those issues that they have out there are. I was having a conversation with one of them recently, um, a rancher, uh, where he says, you know, we are doing our best out in rural Utah to conserve water and the ways that we are, uh, farming and ranching our, our property out here. But then when it comes to urban, the the valley and urban areas around the state, they're just dumping the water on their lawns. Interesting. This Bill, HB 2 96 is something that I think will be a good win for us, where it will allow water suppliers to include the commitment of water to the Great Salt Lake as information in con their conservation plans. This change will help water suppliers account for water that's committed to Great Salt Lake in the development and implementation conservation goals and strategies. But most important thing is it will also help improve accountability and transparency to, to the public as water suppliers continue to undertake policies and actions to the Great Salt Lake. I have with me here today, Laura Briefer, who is the director of Salt Lake Public Utilities, who works a great deal in this area and can explain a little bit more to you what places like Salt Lake Public Utility has to do when we come up with conservation plans and how adding this simple line to it can make us more accountable to the water that we're using here in the Valley and how it can help the Great Salt Lake. Go ahead, state your name and who you represent.

Uh, thank you. I'm Laura Briefer and I am, uh, the director of Salt Lake City, department of Public Utilities. We're a Department of Salt Lake City Municipality. Um, my department in particular is charged with providing, uh, drinking water to, uh, nearly 400,000 people in the Salt Lake Valley, including Salt Lake City, Millcreek, Cottonwood Heights, holiday, and other communities. Um, we're also a wastewater and stormwater, uh, provider for the city as well. Um, so thank you Representative Wynn for that great description and for being willing to, uh, look at this potential legislation to help protect Great Salt Lake. And thank you, uh, committee for hearing this, uh, potential legislation. Uh, I'll start by saying that a major driver of the decline of Great Salt Lake is that more water is being diverted away from the lake than is replenishing the lake. Uh, this imbalance, uh, poses existential risks to the lake and economic, environmental, and public health risks to our greater community. One of the most important ways to ensure that more water makes its way to great Salt Lake is to reduce water demand and commit those water savings to Great Salt Lake under Utah Code 73, 10 32, in which this legislation, uh, proposes to amend retail water suppliers, which are water suppliers like Salt Lake City, um, and Water Conservancy Districts are required to prepare and update water conservation plans. These conservation plans include required documents such as clearly stated conservation goals, uh, public notifications of the plan, and formal adoption by the water suppliers governing bodies such as boards or city councils. Um, pursuant to the this same law, conservation plans might include other information such as landscape changes, industrial water use, efficiency, public education programs, or changes in water rate structures, um, as well as others. Um, so as Representative Wynn mentioned, uh, this change would really help water suppliers include in their short and long range planning dedications to Great Salt Lake. Uh, a quick example of what this could look like would be if a water supplier entered into, for instance, a long-term lease agreement or donation agreement to commit a portion of their local water supplies, um, in their portfolio to Great Salt Lake. This in turn would change the water available for the suppliers existing and or future uses, and require decisions about more aggressive conservation goals and strategies. It could ensure those goals and strategies are transparent to the public, um, and more aggressive strategies that might include additional landscape regulation efficiency requirements or, or for indoor or industrial uses, or changes in rate structures and other types of strategies. Um, so the change, the change to allow, uh, great Salt Lake commitments in the water conservation plan could lead to other important policies that would protect the future of Great Salt Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And this to the representative from Salt Lake. I know you guys, uh, guys the city mm-hmm. Holds, uh, lots of reserve water for the future, which you lease out to various entities throughout the drainage area. Uh, is that what you plan? I mean, are you planning to use some of those resources in this way, or can you elaborate on the use of those as it relates to this bill?

Yeah, that's a great question. Uh, we actually don't have great amounts of reserves. We conduct our long-term planning out, uh, over 40 years and forecast population growth and changes in land use. Uh, what we are looking at actually is taking some sources of supply that would potentially serve those future uses. And an example I'll share that we're doing right now is wastewater reuse. So we operate a water reclamation facility. We treat that water, uh, that treated water, 35 million gallons per day, goes directly into Farmington Bay of Great Salt Lake. Uh, that treated wastewater has long been on our long range, uh, supply to meet future requirements as, as, uh, reuse. Um, because Farmington Bay is in such need of additional water supplies, we would take, potentially take that amount of water, um, away from a future water supply such as reuse, which would then have the impact of us increasing our water conservation goals and being more aggressive to water conservation goals so that that water stretches further.

Can you clarify, I've got a question. Um, I know Salt Lake City holds lots of water rights up to canyons. Is that correct? That's correct. Is Salt Lake City growing or not?

Yes. Salt Lake City is growing.

Um, I know you have a tremendous amount of water filings for future growth, I would suspect. Can some of those water filings above what your growth estimates are, be implemented and used to supplement the great Holy?

Uh, that, that's a really good question too. And based on our long range water supply and demand planning, uh, out to the year 2060, we actually don't have excess water. Um, for growth. We are hitting about, we're by the year 2060, uh, Salt Lake City for its projected population and land use, um, is about at the limits of those water supply. And so one of the ways in which we would be able to commit more water to Great Salt Lake is to increase conservation.

So beyond that date, your supply is conservation, is that correct?

That's correct. Okay.

Thank you Chair. Um, just to make sure that I'm understanding this, this bill correctly, it's, it's, this is a, just a small piece. It's just adding an information item onto a list of pieces that a water conservation plan may already include. So this is not mandating any sort of usage, it's just saying that a water conservation plan may include information on how uh, water could be committed for use in the Great Salt Lake. Is that correct?

That's correct. Okay.

And to be clear with this bill, the areas that are required to have a water conservation plan, this would be affecting the Great Salt Lake Basin. So it's not just Salt Lake City that would be able to take advantage of a, a change such as this. It's gonna be the Weber Basin and, and which other ones were we talking about as well?

So, uh, as part of the process of developing this policy, uh, we did vet this with experts, uh, on the Utah Water Task Force, um, and as well as, uh, water managers through, like Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, Weber Basin, water Conservancy District, and Central Utah Water Conservancy District, given their role within the Salt, Salt Lake Basin, great Salt Lake Basin as well.

Okay. So just to be clear, this is, this is just giving more options to, to folks in developing their, their plans. That's

Correct. It is another tool in their tool. Bill. Yeah.

Thank you. Representative Nguyen, did you take this, the water task force?

It was taken prior to my time. This exact bill was taken to the Water Task Force with, um, Laura presenting it to them.

Okay. And that's where they, they are Supported, bill. And did it go to the Water Development Commission?

The wa No, at that time we did not have it at the Water Development Commission. I couldn't get it on there on time.

Yeah, I know I did. I'm getting, getting the use out of it, you know, high mileage vehicle here. Um, I totally appreciate what we're trying to do with conservation. It's imperative, uh, water's going away. Growth. We gotta do everything we can. I am going to say, I don't see where running it to the Salt Lake to Great Salt Lake really helps society. Uh, as far as, as far as that goes, I'm gonna make a suggestion. I'm a pretty simple guy. Um, if you want to have individuals get an education and especially kids, till your lawn up and plant a garden, teach 'em something and use the water and you're helping society all the way around and the education is priceless.

Willis Lafe, you in the county.

Thank you Mr. Chair. I'd like to ask the committee, or a motion that we make a motion to make a favorable recommendation to the full house on HB 2 96.

Yeah, I would like to comment briefly. Uh, I just think it lets, it's, it's a deliberative process that it, uh, authorizes and don't see it, you know, making any fundamental, uh, policy shifts. It's just suggesting that we start taking account of that issue and seems timely and, uh, appropriate. And I don't see it being an expense, so why not think about it? So I, I like the bill. Thank

Thank you, chair. I would just like to echo the comments made by, uh, the good representative from Salt Lake. Uh, I think that this bill provides, especially in a truly pressing time, just another option and reminder that as much as humanly possible when we're thinking about conservation, we need to be thinking about how we can make commitments of dedicating available water to use on the Great Salt Lake. Um, and so I just wanna thank the, the sponsor for bringing it.

I think this is a simple modification or simple add to this build this water conservation plan code. Um, there's a, there's no fiscal impact on this. I think this is a bill that will, like I said, make it a little bit more easy for our conservation plans to start thinking about the Great Salt Lake, especially with the Governor's 2034 Great Salt Lake Initiative. This is one of the things that we'll start working towards that. So with that, I'll conclude.

I'll place that motion that we pass out with a favorable recommendation. HB 2 96, water commitment amendments by Representative Nguyen.

You so much everyone. Thank you.

House Bill 2 96, water Commitment amendments by Representative Wynn. This bill was heard in Natural Resources, agriculture, and Environment with a vote 10 0 4

Hello, Mr. Hello, Mr. Speaker HB 2 96 is a very simple bill and an effort to leave no rocks unturned to save our wa bodies of water here. What HB 2 96 does is allow our Conservation Conservancy water districts in the Great Salt Lake Basin, which is the Central Utah Water District, the Jordan Valley Conserv Conserv. I cannot say that word. Cons. Help me here. Conservation Cons. I can't say it. Thank you. Conservancy District. Thank you. The Weber, uh, district and the Salt Lake District be able to take into, into account and allocate any available dedicated water to the Great Salt Lake. This does not mandate them to allocate water, but it helps them in their five year water conservation plans to take into consideration the Great Salt Lake. And that's all the bill does. There is no fiscal note on this bill. It's just a very simple bill that gives them another tool in their tool belt.

Thank you Mr. President. Uh, this bill simply, uh, suggests if you look on line 52, that a water conservation plan may include informa the following information and added to that list is the commitment of available water to uses on the Great Salt Lake. It simply allows conservation plans to look at com water that could be committed to the lake without it be open to questions.

Thank you. I'd move the house. Bill 2 96. Be read a third time.

Senator Vickers Baldy Lewin Bremmer Bremmer Aye. Bus colmore Escamilla Aye. Fillmore Grover Harper Hankins Ipson Johnson Quan McKay Mikel Milner Musselman Owens Aye. Pitcher Lum rebi A Sandal Aye. Stevenson Stratton Aye. Yes. Yes. Bickers Aye. Weiler Aye. Wilson Aye. Winterton Aye. President Adams Aye.

Thank you. Uh, as I uh, described yesterday, a water conservation plan may now include the commitment of avail available water to uses on the Great Salt Lake. Doesn't require anything, it just, uh, adds it to a, a plan if they so choose without it be open to any questions.

I'll move that HB 2 96 pass. Thank you.

Senator Vickers Baldry Lewin Brammer Bus Kalimore Aye. Escamilla Aye. Fillmore Aye. Grover. Grover. Aye. Harper Aye. Hankins Ipson Johnson. K Juab McKay Aye. Mikel Milner Musselman Owens Pitcher Plum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Bickers Weiler Aye. Aye. Wilson Winterton, president Adams Aye. House