Environment, energy, and public lands

This bill adds about $1.2 billion in spending for the state's fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1, including $366 million from the general and income tax funds.

H.B. 3 is the state's main spending bill for the coming year, setting a total budget of about $31.6 billion from all sources, with increases for public and higher education, social services, and criminal justice.

This bill sets the yearly budget for the state's agriculture, environmental quality, and natural resources agencies, plus the Colorado River Authority of Utah, for fiscal year 2027, about $1.1 billion total.

This bill sets state agency fees and internal service fund rates for the coming year, many of which are unchanged and must be reauthorized each year.

The bill says that a vehicle running on diesel fuel alone is not enough reason for police to dip its fuel tank to check for dyed fuel.

H.B. 16 would stop the state from giving solar-power incentives to large solar plants built on productive farmland or grazing land.

The bill would require community drinking water systems to have an emergency response plan and to report security breaches to the Utah Cyber Center within two hours.

H.B. 37 raises the used oil recycling fee to 4 cents per quart and 16 cents per gallon, since the fund set up in 1993 has not been adjusted and has been subsidized by other division programs.

The bill would require crypto ATM operators to show fraud warnings, limit daily transactions to $2,000 for the first three days and $5,000 a day after that, and provide a customer service line.

H.B. 76 would require operators of large data centers, defined as facilities of about 10,000 square feet or more, to submit a water use report to the state water engineer between 180 and 360 days before construction begins.

H.B. 78 would create a nuclear energy regulatory office within the state's Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control.

The bill would create the Goshen Bay Waterfowl Management Area on state-owned land at the south end of Utah Lake, one of four such areas in Utah.

The bill caps the late fee for failing to report big game hunt harvests at $25.

The bill exempts non-motorized inflatable vessels, such as paddle boards, from boater education and aquatic invasive species requirements.

The bill requires government entities and special districts to check operational technology in critical systems such as water, communications, and electrical systems for malware and to block remote access to it.

The latest version of H.B. 185 would remove the proposed 5% carbon credit tax, the state's right of first refusal, private reporting requirements, and the attorney general litigation fund.

The bill gives lower Colorado River basin water districts, including Washington County's, more time to develop water rights they have set aside, so Utah does not lose them to other states.

H.B. 195 would let state vendors and service providers choose to be paid in gold or silver through an open competitive bidding process instead of dollars.

The bill strengthens a 2011 Utah law that shields companies from lawsuits over carbon emissions, limiting such liability to parties not in full compliance with their permits.

H.B. 238 would require the Public Service Commission to take part in regional transmission organizations and independent system operators that Utah utilities belong to.

H.B. 276 would require large online platforms to get consent from people shown in AI-generated intimate images, or take those images down, with a safe harbor for companies acting in good faith.

H.B. 289 splits child sexual abuse material into three categories: real children, AI-generated images that appear to show children under 12 or prepubescent, and obscene material depicting minors or adults.

This bill would let water suppliers include a commitment of available water for uses on the Great Salt Lake in their water conservation plans.

H.B. 313 would require landscape contractors to take two of their six required continuing education hours every two years on water conservation and fire safety landscaping.

H.B. 319 would let counties propose secure digital methods to verify the identity of people submitting records, as an alternative to notarization.

H.B. 320 changes the Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy so it can make agreements with other state agencies, the judiciary, and educational institutions, not just the Department of Commerce and private companies, and adds joint interpretation agreements on how state law applies to AI.

The bill sets up a process for disposing of worn-out solar panels, with the Department of Environmental Quality running it and setting fees to pay for it.

The bill creates a new "dedicated water" application that lets water be set aside for instream flows, sovereign lands, or Colorado River Basin uses, such as getting water to the Great Salt Lake, without separating it from the underlying water right.

This bill would create the Utah Forest Restoration Institute at Utah State University and tie it to the Watershed Restoration Initiative so the two coordinate forest and watershed priorities, long-term monitoring, and emergency funding after wildfires.

H.B. 378 would let the state environmental agency raise the yearly compliance fee charged to gravel pits, up to a set cap, to pay for two more inspectors.

The bill directs the Office of Energy Development, working with the Utah Geological Survey, to study whether geothermal energy facilities could be built at or near current or decommissioned coal power plant sites, including temperatures, electricity potential, infrastructure, and costs.

H.B. 408 would tighten Utah's 2025 Digital Choice Act, which lets users move their data from one online platform to another.

H.B. 410 would create a voluntary, temporary state-run program that lets agricultural water users lease their water rights, with leased water required to reach the Great Salt Lake.

For large solar and wind projects, the developer would have to consult the Division of Wildlife Resources, which would have 30 days to report wildlife impacts to the local government that licenses the project.

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.

The bill would bar cities and other local governments from charging general fees for broadband and public safety.

H.B. 437 would let permit applicants, if they choose, hire qualified and vetted third-party professionals such as engineers, land surveyors, geologists, and landscape architects to prepare certain environmental permit applications before they go to the Department of Environmental Quality or the oil, gas and mining division.

The bill limits when a road crossing private land can be closed, keeping roads open if they have long been used to reach public land or other private property.

In its latest version, the bill changes state data privacy rules so complaints go to the responsible agency before the ombudsman, and it removes the state data privacy auditor position while keeping audit duties with the state auditor's office.

H.B. 498 amends Utah's app store age-verification law by delaying most of its requirements to May 6, 2027, and limiting enforcement to private lawsuits, with the state regulator's role removed.

H.B. 507 would end four existing state-created tax increment tools and replace them with one new tool that can capture up to 60% of added property tax for up to 25 years.

This bill would require a state study of how a 2023 federal Supreme Court ruling on non-connected wetlands could change Utah's wetland policy, covering only four Wasatch Front counties.

H.B. 514 would expand the Utah Energy Council from five to seven members, add a co-chair structure, and designate it as the State Energy Financing Institution for certain federal energy grants and financing.

The bill expands the crime of defacing archaeological features on public land to cover other alterations or destruction, not just graffiti.

This annual budget bill renames two state funds, deletes five obsolete accounts while moving their money to the divisions that used them, and bars grant funds from paying administrative costs unless approved.

H.B. 546 would have the state map public lands by the four federal jurisdiction categories and monitor them for conditions such as overgrown forests, then report the findings to a legislative committee.

The bill would require large utilities, including Rocky Mountain Power and Enbridge Gas, to submit an annual report to the Office of Energy Development on their energy efficiency rebate programs.

The bill would allow outdoor recreation infrastructure grant money to be used to improve or restore bodies of water that algal blooms or other water quality problems have made unusable.

H.B. 575 would cut the state gas tax by about 6 cents per gallon, starting in July, as a one-time reduction that brings forward a scheduled drop, with local road funds held harmless.

H.B. 582 would put Utah's asbestos testing rules for residential buildings of four or fewer units into state law.

This concurrent resolution would express the Legislature's support for advanced nuclear manufacturing in Utah, including nuclear equipment and parts production.

This bill adds about $454.7 million in supplemental spending to the state's 2026 fiscal year budget for various state agencies, and reduces general fund and income tax fund spending by $25.8 million.

This bill appropriates money for state employee pay and benefits for fiscal year 2026, including a 2.5% labor market pay increase for state and higher education employees and a similar increase for judicial branch and constitutional offices.

The bill would make geothermal resources belong to the surface owner on non-government land, unless the rights were expressly sold or reserved separately.

This bill creates a separate licensing path for applicators doing more concentrated and challenging pesticide or herbicide applications.

This bill keeps the School and Institutional Trust Lands advocacy office instead of eliminating it, and makes conforming changes to the law governing that office based on a 2024 state audit.

S.B. 44 updates the state's Resource Management Plan, which covers how state and public lands and resources are managed, by making about 32 recommended changes.

S.B. 46 adds definitions for terms such as active use, canopy, functional turf, and waterwise landscaping.

S.B. 69 would set a statewide default that students may not use cell phones during school hours, from the opening bell to the closing bell.

SB 73 would require websites where at least a third of content is adult material to verify visitors' ages, and would place a 2% excise tax on paid access to such content, collected by the Tax Commission.

The bill creates a restricted account that state funds could be appropriated into to pay for cybersecurity support for K-12 schools and local governments.

The bill expands an existing invasive weed removal program so it can operate along the full length of the Jordan River, not just in three cities, to reduce plant water use and increase flow to the Great Salt Lake.

The bill lets Utah's state energy offices and the Utah Energy Council coordinate, assess, and report on the development of nuclear fuel recycling facilities.

S.B. 139 would require notaries to keep a journal recording their notarizations, with exceptions for law firms and title companies.

S.B. 146 would allow municipalities, not just the Utah Department of Transportation, to use approved industrial byproducts such as steel slag, including the remaining slag pile at the former Geneva Steel site, in city projects like sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and parking lots as aggregate base.

The bill would clarify that streamed and downloaded digital products, such as audio, books, and gaming services, are both subject to Utah sales tax.

The bill directs the state parks division to study whether a state park could be created at Gooseberry Narrows, an area in the mountains near Scofield Reservoir.

This bill would require the Legislature, rather than state environmental agencies, to approve any state rules that go beyond federal environmental standards.

SB 251 creates a process for local governments and local health departments to recover extraordinary costs from responding to environmental enforcement, working with the Department of Environmental Quality.

S.B. 275 would create a state-endorsed digital identity program run by a state-appointed program manager, with rulemaking, public comment, and annual reports to the Legislature.

This bill changes Utah city and county rules on incorporation, model homes, planning commissions, land use fees and conditional use permits, cash bond interest, and land use checklists.

This resolution expresses the Legislature's support and intent for Utah to pursue an agreement with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to take on additional parts of the nuclear fuel cycle.

This bill removes the scheduled expiration date for Utah's lead acid battery disposal rules, so those rules would stay in state law permanently.

This bill would require large AI companies to publish plans for keeping users safe and to disclose risks.

The bill bans hunting feral swine in Utah, classifies them as nuisance predators, and adds stronger enforcement and penalties for them, including impounding vehicles used in feral swine hunting.

The bill would require decontamination of properties, such as hotel rooms, where meth or fentanyl is found, adding drug use as a trigger alongside drug labs.

The bill would require cities in the Great Salt Lake drainage that lack a water-efficient landscaping ordinance for new construction to adopt one.

The bill requires the state, through the Attorney General's office, to begin seeking federal approval from the FCC for a three-digit phone number that would connect callers to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

The bill would require affected electric utilities to study surplus interconnection service, which means using existing grid connections for additional power, in their integrated resource plans and in the action plan.

The bill would regulate companion chatbots, meaning AI chatbots designed to act as relationships, and would require them to let users request copies of saved conversations and get clear permission before using sensitive personal data.

The bill would require cities and counties in the Great Salt Lake drainage basin to use detention basins, which drain stormwater over time, instead of retention basins, which hold water, where detention basins are available.

This resolution asks the state to work with federal agencies, including the Forest Service and BLM, on possibly taking over or managing federal recreation sites such as Antelope Flats, Little Sahara, Pine View Reservoir, and Mueller Park Canyon as state parks or campgrounds.

This bill adds the State Historic Preservation Officer and the director of the TLA to the Public Land Management Advisory Board.

This bill would require retailers that use personalized, or surveillance, pricing to disclose that practice on their webpages.

The bill extends by 10 years, to 2037, the sales and use tax exemption for alternative energy production equipment, which would otherwise expire June 30, 2027.

This bill would limit when private companies can use eminent domain to build natural gas pipelines that supply energy facilities, allowing it only along routes within or next to existing easements.

This bill would remove the authorization for the Bear River Development, a planned water project.

The bill would let municipalities keep sending newsletters or similar communications within 60 days of an election, provided all candidates receive equal coverage.

The bill would require companies with very large electricity needs, over 100 megawatts, to post financial security such as bonds or letters of credit before connecting to the grid.

This resolution would encourage other Utah state departments to explore responsible ways to use artificial intelligence, following a small pilot by the Legislative Research and General Counsel office.

This bill would direct the state cybersecurity commission to write rules setting minimum cybersecurity standards for Utah schools, with a timeline for adopting them.