H.B. 419 Environmental Legal Action Amendments

What this bill does

H.B. 419 expands the state's definition of environmental action so that certain permits issued by the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining can be challenged in court. It also restores wording removed last year so state law matches current federal mining rules, and makes technical changes.

Plain-English summary written by AI from the official description. Check the official text below.

Your legislators on this bill

Enter your address to see what your own representative and senator did on this bill.

Quotes come from the official recordings' automatic captions, which can mishear words. Speakers and summaries are identified by AI and can be wrong. Use the ▶ links to check the recording.

Take action

This bill's session is over, but your legislators still want to hear from you. Ideas that died often come back next year.

Enter your address to get your legislators' contact information and a ready-to-send message about this bill.

Every vote

• 8 yes, 0 no, 4 absentHouse Public Utilities and Energy Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 6, 2026Who voted how
• 8 yes, 0 no, 4 absentHouse Public Utilities and Energy Committee: Consent Calendar Recommendation · Feb 6, 2026Who voted how
• 69 yes, 0 no, 6 absentFinal House vote · Feb 11, 2026Who voted how
• 4 yes, 0 no, 3 absentSenate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 18, 2026Who voted how
• 25 yes, 1 no, 3 absentFirst of two Senate votes · Feb 25, 2026Who voted how
• 15 yes, 5 no, 9 absentFinal Senate vote · Feb 26, 2026

Hearings and debates

• Feb 6, 2026 House Public Utilities and Energy Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (23 turns)

  1. Committee chair (presiding)48:13speaker not certain

     All right. Representative Jack, thank you. Have HB four 19 Environmental legal action. Uh, go ahead.

  2. Rep. Colin W. Jack48:19

     Thank you. So I have HB 19, 1 19 and four 19. My only regret is I don't have two 19 and three 19. So I'm feeling, I'm feeling like there was a mistake in numbering somewhere. So this is a very simple bill. You may have some deja vu from last year, um, if you go back a few years. Oh. And I have, uh, director Thomas with us from the division of Oil, gas and Mining. Um, but this, this bill takes us back a number of years, uh, to a law that was passed here in the house last year. We had to modify the law under the rules of the former administration on their way out. Uh, we did this at the end of the last session because we already had a new administration, but we didn't have time for them to change the rules. So we had to change our law to match the last administration. We have a new administration. They have changed the rules, so now we have to change our law back to match the current rules. That's the engineer's understanding, but I will turn it over to the director so he can give us the more technical explanation. Welcome, director.

  3. Mick Thomas, Director, Division of Oil, Gas and Mining49:45

     Uh, good afternoon. My name's M**k Thomas. I'm the Director of Oil, gas and Mining, uh, within the agency of the Department of Natural Resources. Um, frankly, Representative Jack was very eloquent in his explanation. I don't have any additional comments to make, but I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Great. Thank you. I guess that concludes our presentation, other than whatever comments or questions the committee may have for us.

  4. Committee chair (presiding)50:06

     Thank you. So we'll open up to the committee for questions. Looks like we have, uh, Representative Peck.

  5. Rep. Nicholeen P. Peck50:11

     Thank you, Mr. Chair Pro Tim, um, just one, does this have anything to do with the recent, uh, situation at Mag Core?

  6. Mick Thomas, Director, Division of Oil, Gas and Mining50:24

     Uh, thank you for the question, though. It has nothing to do with that. This, okay. This, this was a law that was passed like 15 years ago. We just, we just had to change it to match federal law last year. This now changes it back to match the new, I guess I shouldn't have said law, the federal rules.

  7. Rep. Nicholeen P. Peck50:46

     Okay. Thank you. Just, just checking. No, not Mag Core. Okay.

  8. Committee chair (presiding)50:51

     Thank you. Seeing no other lights from the committee will open up to the will open up to the public. Anybody here that'd like to speak to this? Seeing none in the room. Is there any online? None online will bring it back to the committee for further action. Representative Watkins.

  9. Rep. Christine F. Watkins51:11

     Thank you Mr. Uh, chair. Um, I'd like to make a motion that we move house bill four 19 Environmental legal Action Amendment out with a favorable recommendation. That Motion is appropriate. We'd like to speak to it. Nope. Pretty easy.

  10. Committee chair (presiding)51:28

      Okay. To the committee for any clarifying questions, Representative Peck?

  11. Unknown speaker51:35speaker not certain

      Colleen, did you want to No. Go for it.

  12. Committee chair (presiding)51:39

      That's my comment. Thank you. See no other discussion. Back to the sponsor.

  13. Rep. Colin W. Jack51:46

      Uh, thank you committee. This, this is very simple. Bill, you notice there's like five words we took out last year. We're putting the five words back. Um, hopefully, hopefully we get to a place where we don't have to do this every four years. So thank you Committee. Thank you. Back to the sponsor. I'll waive right.

  14. Committee chair (presiding)52:05

      So the motion before us is to pass HB 4 1 9 with a favorable recommendation. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Say no. See none. I rule that passage unanimously.

  15. Rep. Colin W. Jack52:17

      Thank you, representative Chair.

  16. Committee chair (presiding)52:18

      Thank you. Is there another motion representative?

  17. Rep. Christine F. Watkins52:22

      I'd like to make a motion that we put it on the consent calendar. I think this is really a really simple thing.

  18. Committee chair (presiding)52:30

      Thank you, representative. Any discussion to that motion? Seeing none to the, uh, to the sponsor.

  19. Unknown speaker52:36speaker not certain

      I, I'm supportive of that motion. We're next week is halfway, and, uh, the clock is expiring on all of us and our pumpkins. Our coaches are turning into pumpkins, so we would love to, we would love this. Thank you. Great. And

  20. Committee chair (presiding)52:52

      To the sponsor or the maker of the motion?

  21. Rep. Colin W. Jack52:55

      Oh, I'll, I'll waive again.

  22. Committee chair (presiding)52:57

      So the motion before us is we move HB four 19 environmental legal action amendments to the consent calendar. Calendar. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Say no. I rule that passes unanimously. We'll move to the consent calendar. Thank you, representative.

  23. Unknown speaker53:12speaker not certain

      Thank you so much, representative.

• Feb 11, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (3 turns)

  1. Speaker (presiding)12:03

     The bill's been circled, Madam Reading Clerk House Bill four 19 Environmental legal Action amendments by Representative Jack. This will will serve in public utilities and energy with the vote of 8 0 4. Representative Jack.

  2. Rep. Colin W. Jack12:15

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, after I presented yesterday, some of my colleagues threatened to call the question on me, so I'll try to make today's, uh, less than 10 minutes. In fact, I promise to do it really short. Uh, this bill looks familiar to you all because it's the same title as what we did last year. And last year we passed a bill to take a few words out of code that had been put in code about 10, 15 years ago for our division of oil, gas and mining. But last year we had to take some of those words out because of the outgoing administration had changed the rules and were going to take away primacy from our own division of oil, gas, and mining. So we took those out. As you know, we had a change of administration and therefore a change of rule. So this Bill four 19, uh, which has the same title as last year, environmental Legal Action puts those words back in. And so this will get our division back in compliance with the new rules. And here's hoping that soon our Congress will be able to set legislation so that we're not changing rules every four years. And with that Mr. Speaker, I would conclude my presentation.

  3. Speaker (presiding)13:56

     Thank you, Representative Jack Voting will now be open on HB four 19 representatives. As we're voting, I just wanna make an announcement after this, we will be going to the Senate calendar, uh, and we'll, uh, we'll do the Senate calendar for about halfway, uh, but probably the last 15, 20 minutes of floor time, we'll go to the House calendar. So we'll be going to the Senate calendar, uh, for about 30 minutes or so, 2030 minutes. And then we'll go to the, uh, house third reading calendar scene all present and voting. Voting is now closed. HB four 19 passed this body with 69 yes votes zero, no votes will be sent to the Senate for its consideration. Let's go, uh, to matter.

• Feb 18, 2026 Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (15 turns)

  1. Committee chair48:03

     Thank you, representative. Next on the agenda is House Bill four 19, environmental legal action amendments. Representative Jack, welcome to our committee.

  2. Rep. Colin W. Jack48:15

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. With your permission, I've invited, uh, director Thomas to present with me. Great. 'cause this is in his area. It's fun. I pull up four 19, you know, I've got Bill 19 and Bill one 19, and I've got four 19. I just need two 19 and three 19 for the set. Everybody Must think you're only 19, I guess. Yeah, I look at, wait, why'd you laugh? But, um, okay. Thank laughing with you. Not at you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, HB four 19 is titled Environmental Legal Action. It may give you some dejavu. Uh, last year we presented a bill with a different number, but the same name, environmental Legal Action. And I'll, I'll give you the engineer understanding of what we've done here. And then Director Thomas will give you the real answer. But, um, last year as, uh, you know, the elect the election had already happened. In fact, the new administration, uh, had taken office before this time last year. But, um, the rules from the outgoing administration were still in place. And as you know, director Thomas is a director of oil, gas and mining, which includes mining. And in the federal government, they have a, something of mining. But, uh, their mining rule was in conflict with Utah state law. And so we were in danger of losing primacy here in the state, uh, that we have through Doum. And so we had to go through and delete out of our law that had been in place for, I don't know, 10, 15 years. We had to delete a few words to, uh, to come back into compliance with the then, uh, rules. But we knew that we were gonna have, or we hoped we were gonna have new rules under the new administration. And, and in fact, that's what's happened. So now, the words we took out to comply with federal rules last year, we have to put back in to comply with federal rules this year. And, um, well, here's hoping that, uh, Congress can sort this out so that we don't have to, yo-yo our laws to, to change every four years as federal rules go back and forth. But anyway, that, that's the engineer's explanation about what we're doing here. And, and if you'd like, I would let Director Thomas give you the better information. I'd like to Shed any light on this engineer view.

  3. Mick Thomas, Director, Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining51:17

     Chairman, members of the board, thank you for your time today. Again, my name's M**k Thomas, director of Oil, gas and Mining. To provide a little bit more background to Representative Jacks, uh, succinct dissertation, the, uh, the bill was actually passed in 2012, which provided a certain amount of, uh, protection against litigation for the stakeholders in Utah as well as the, the, the pop the populace in general. And when that bill was passed, when that law was put into Bill was put into law in 2012, the division then, um, to ensure compliance with our coal primacy, um, gave it to the Office of Surface Mining. And they, in typical federal fashion, rushed to an opinion that they finally gave us in 20 25, 4. Um, it was about 12 years. And it, as Representative Jack said, it was in the, uh, the twilight of the last administration. Um, when that happened, we found ourselves out of compliance with federal law because that administration ruled that it had to be exempted from coal. Uh, mines specifically the new administration came in. We contacted the, um, office of Surface Mining, and they said, please make the changes. I I can offer some light that we do not think this is going to yo-yo back and forth between administrations, because we had been waiting for about 12 years on any decision, right? And now that that has been made and then well changed, um, the likelihood of a yo-yo effect is, is not it, it's minuscule compared to some of the other things that obviously, the national politics have to do. So I think that's just essentially what Representative Jack shared with you about it. I appreciate the opportunity to share that context.

  4. Committee chair53:06

     Thank you, representative that complete your Presentation, that, that would conclude our presentation. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Um, let me bring it to the committee if there's any clarifying questions. I'm not seeing any online or in the room, so I'll go to the public. Is anyone here to speak to the bill? Okay. No, no takers. I'll bring it back to Senator Hinkins.

  5. Sen. David P. Hinkins53:32

     Thank you. Uh, there's nothing more important than staying in, uh, in step with the federal government. We wanna make sure that we're in compliance and that we don't hold up the any, uh, extraction industries or reclamation as well. You know, also the reclamation of Office of surface Mining. 'cause we re we've, we've reclaimed a lot of the old mines that were left vacant by the previous, uh, uh, industries. And so we wanna make sure that we get these things taken care of, especially in the uranium fields and stuff like that. So this is very important, this change and stuff. And, uh, just like to make a motion that we pass out House Bill four 19 with a favorable recommendation.

  6. Committee chair54:11

     Okay. Thank you. Motion's. In order that we pass out House Bill four 19 discussion to the motion, go to Senator Stratton.

  7. Sen. Keven J. Stratton54:23

     Thank you. I do appreciate the motion, the segue into the motion of being in alignment with our federal aid counterpart leads to question to the maker of the motion. We're gonna be doing this if, if a different administration in two years, we're gonna be doing the same thing.

  8. Sen. David P. Hinkins54:42

     I don't think so. I think this is, uh, just that this is their guidelines from Office of Surface Mining, which is the federal agency, and we're just complying. And that's not gonna, that shouldn't change. It's in the federal register, that that's what the change is. And so I think we'll be in compliance. You know, we get a lot of money from the coal industry to reclaim these old mines and stuff like that. So we wanna make sure that these, or you know, we've had people get in some of these old mines that we had to send in rescue to get people out of 'em. And so to get these things, and you gotta be able to allow the bats to fly in and out of it and stuff that you've been using it as habitat. So you can't shut 'em clear off. You have to screen 'em off so the animals can still use the mice and the rats and the bats and every other thing. And so there, we just wanna make sure that we're in compliance with federal regulations, so we're not in violation. And so this, this is, uh, basically what the federal register, If I'm reading this right,

  9. Sen. Keven J. Stratton55:33

     if I may just follow up, thank you. You, if I'm reading this right, we had the language that we're adopting before, and then we rules changed with the previous administration, and now we have a new administration, more friendly to this. And we're, we're changing again, the challenge we have is we need certainty here. And, Uh, we're hoping this brings Certainty that that's a real ch I it will certainly in the current, I just, you know, this whiplash back and forth is a challenge, is, is a good sponsor of the bill set. I hope a Congress can get their act together. And I maybe we could add something or, or let's just put this on our list when we're visiting with our delegation that, Hey, get this, get this solidified so we don't have this, uh, whiplash going on.

  10. Unknown speaker56:18speaker not certain

      Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I support the motion. I just, just comment, Mr. Chairman, Thank you. I might, if I might, you know, know all 50 states have some form of extraction industry that these regulations of mining and stuff like that. So it's up to, you know, the federal government needs to have a standard that they can go by too, because every state would be, you know, here or there, everywhere. And so this kind of brings uniformity to it. And so we're in compliance with all other states as well as, and that's the federal regulations that does it. So anyway, just because, you know, operators that's, uh, in the industry, you might be in Texas and you might be in North Dakota, and you might be in Utah, and it'd be nice to have uniformity to the laws and the compliance. And so that's why there is federal regulations. So every state's not out wandering by theirselves. So

  11. Committee chair57:03

      Thank you for the questions and discussion. Further discussion.

  12. Unknown speaker57:06speaker not certain

      You just comment, it'd be nice if we could cement it in for 30 years, then not, not have them keep changing back and forth. Oh, Thank you. Well, this may give another legislature something to do and if, when we're long gone.

  13. Committee chair57:18

      So Let me bring it back to the sponsor for any summation.

  14. Sen. David P. Hinkins57:24speaker not certain

      Uh, thank you. I'll, I'll Waive. Thank you, Senator. I'll waive Thank you. Motion and waive.

  15. Committee chair57:29

      So I'll place the motion. All in favor of passing out house Bill four 19 to the full body of the Senate. Um, environmental legal action amendments indicate by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Grover. Aye. Opposed? If any, thank you'll rule. Let passage unanim unanimously. Thank you, Representative Jack. Stay wearing your seat. I think we have another one.

• Feb 25, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (4 turns)

  1. Rep. Colin W. Jack41:56

     Thank you Mr. President. This expands the definition of environmental action to include the judicial review of certain permits issued by the division of oil, gas and mining and makes technical changes. It makes us, uh, more in compliance with the federal regulations. And so it just basically changes, uh, uh, on lines 30, 31 and 32. It just changed definitions of the Trust Lands Department of Transportation and that Department of Natural Resources. With that, I'm open to questions. Thank you. Senator Hinkins.

  2. Sen. David P. Hinkins42:32

     See no questions. Call The question. Question is, shall house Bill four 19 be read A third time roll call vote.

  3. Unknown speaker42:38speaker not certain

     Senator Spery Lewin Brammer bus Comore es Camia Fillmore Grover Harper Kinins Sson Johnson Juab McKay Mikel Milner Musselman Owens Pitcher Lum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers Weiler Wilson Winterton, president Adams

  4. Senate presiding officer (presiding)43:41

     Aye. House Bill four 19, having received 25 yay votes, one na vote three being absent shall be read A third time,

• Feb 26, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (4 turns)

  1. Sen. David P. Hinkins30:04

     of environmental actions to include judicial review of certain permits issued by the Department of Gas, oil and Mining. And it makes technical changes confirm conforming changes. Uh, with that I'm open to questions, Discussion to the bill. Seeing none back to you.

  2. Sen. Ronald M. Winterton (presiding)30:20

     Senator Hinkins for summation of motion Call the question. The question is, shall house Bill four 19 pass, roll call vote.

  3. Senate clerk30:28

     Senator Baldy Flu in Rammer bus Aye. Comore Escamilla Fillmore Aye. Grover Aye. Harper Hankins Aye. Ipson a Johnson Juab McKay Mikel Milner Mussman Owens Cher Lum Lum Rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers Weiler Wilson Winterton, president Adams

  4. Sen. Ronald M. Winterton (presiding)31:14

     House Bill four 19 having received 15 yay votes, five nay votes and nine being absent passes and will be signed by the President and returned to the house for the signature of the speaker.