Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Brine Mining topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances HB 478 to create regulatory framework for brine mining
Summary
HB 478 (Brine Mining Amendments), sponsored by Representative Bolander, passed the committee with a favorable recommendation after sponsor and agency witnesses described it as an initial regulatory framework giving the Board of Oil, Gas and Mining rulemaking authority and permitting provisions.
The Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee on June 12 advanced HB 478, the brine mining amendments, with a favorable recommendation.
Representative Bolander, the bill sponsor, told the committee the bill “is not a Great Salt Lake bill” but instead focuses on brine mining generally and implements what he described as the Brine Conservation Act. The bill would provide the Board of Oil, Gas and Mining jurisdiction and rulemaking authority for brine mining, add permitting requirements and well, storage, refining and transportation regulations, and create civil and criminal penalties and surety/bonding provisions.
Mick Thomas, director of the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining at the Department of Natural Resources, said the proposed changes “provide clarity on the regulatory structure and enable the board to adjudicate and resolve conflicts between operators on how to utilize and get to the resource,” and that the bill borrows processes analogous to existing oil and gas regulations. Thomas also noted that some water‑rights issues related to brine extraction are outside his division's authority.
Committee members and several in‑room and online stakeholders — including Brian Summers, president of the Utah Mining Association; Theresa Wilhelmsen, Utah State Engineer and director of the Division of Water Rights; and Mark Stratford from the Utah Water Task Force — offered support and urged continued interagency work on water rights and transparency. Steve Erickson of Great Basin Water Network recommended stronger language requiring the board to adopt rules (“shall” rather than “may”) and asked that information collected under the bill be made publicly available, particularly to the state engineer.
Representative Owens moved the favorable recommendation; the committee recorded the bill's passage with a favorable recommendation and no recorded opposition in the committee transcript.
Sponsor and agency witnesses said they view HB 478 as a start in a series of bills to create a regulatory framework for an industry that is already operating in the state.
