Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Vehicle Conversion topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utah House passes incentives for converting vehicles, members debate funding levels
Summary
The House passed two bills to incentivize conversions of public and private sector vehicles, with sponsors calling the measures a clean-air step and some members warning available funds may be insufficient to meet demand.
The Utah House passed two bills on Feb. 19 aimed at encouraging vehicle fleets to adopt cleaner technologies. House Bill 207, aimed at public-sector fleets, and House Bill 206, targeted at private-sector fleets, won bipartisan support and were referred to the Senate after final passage in the House.
Supporters described the bills as practical steps toward cleaner air. Representative Evans, sponsor of the bills, told the chamber HB206 is “very similar” to HB207 but focuses on private fleets and said the laws are designed to encourage gradual conversion rather than require whole-fleet makeover. Representatives praised the measures as timely investments in future clean-air approaches.
Some members cautioned the Legislature is underfunding the programs. Representative Goodfellow said the bill’s $20,000 appropriation will not cover conversions at scale, noting the program’s structure requires $3,000 per vehicle and that a 10-vehicle fleet would not be fully funded by the appropriation. “It requires $3,000 per car…a fleet of 10 cars will not be covered in this bill,” he said, urging a larger appropriation.
Sponsors and other supporters responded that the grants are intended as incentives to convert individual vehicles or to test conversions rather than to cover entire fleets at once. They said last year the Legislature put $10,000 into each of two related programs and this year added $20,000 to each program, yielding $60,000 in program funding; with a matching contribution from Mountain Fuel, sponsors said the total program funding reaches about $100,000.
House Bill 207 was recorded as receiving 6 yes votes and 0 negative votes and was referred to the Senate for further action; House Bill 206 passed the House with 69 affirmative votes and 0 negative votes. Lawmakers said the measures are intended to be initial, incentivizing steps rather than comprehensive funding solutions; critics urged larger appropriations if uptake proves greater than anticipated.
The House waved summation on the bills and moved them to the Senate. The rules committee and additional committees later considered related bills and calendar placements.
