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House Advances Trust-lands Package, Ending Certain Noncompetitive Sales and Narrowing Appeals
Summary
Lawmakers passed a set of measures changing school trust-land management: HB40 removes a 20% cap on land-grant maintenance account deposits; HB42 eliminates noncompetitive 'determinable fee' sales after audit findings of abuse; HCR2 urges congressional action on in-holdings; and HB43, as amended, narrows UAPA applicability until final agency action. Votes were recorded for each measure.
The Utah House heard and approved a package of trust-land bills intended to change how school trust lands are managed and sold. Lawmakers voted to (1) remove a 20% cap on deposits to a land grant maintenance account (HB40), (2) repeal a noncompetitive determinable-fee sale process for public entities (HB42), (3) send a concurrent resolution urging congressional action on federal in-holdings (HCR2), and (4) exempt certain trust-land management actions from the Utah Administrative Procedures Act until final agency action while preserving appellate rights for contested final actions through an amendment (HB43 as amended).
Representative Melvin R. Brown framed the package as a set of practical changes to improve management of trust lands for the benefit of schoolchildren. On HB40 he said, "What we're proposing here is that we remove the 20% cap and allow all of the money that generated from these resources go into this land grant maintenance account." He said the change would permit more active, long-range management and give the Division of State Lands and Forestry more oversight in budgeting and approval of expenditures.
On HB42, Brown described audit findings that noncompetitive "determinable fee" sales to political subdivisions had in some cases resulted in trust lands ending up in private fee-simple ownership and said the repeal of the noncompetitive sale provision would help "plug the loophole." "The audit revealed that there have been problems ... where lands have been sold on this determinable fee basis," he said, urging the change to competitive sales.
Debate on HB43 centered on the proposed exemption from the Utah Administrative Procedures Act (UAPA) for trust-land management actions. Representative Proxman offered an amendment to clarify that UAPA procedures would govern appeals of final agency actions, preserving public hearing rights for contested matters. "What this does is create, particularly, after the division process ... an adequate adjudicative remedy after decisions have been made," Proxman said in support of the amendment; the amended language was adopted.
Recorded House votes: HB40 passed the House with 71 yes votes (HB40 vote recorded on the floor); HB42 passed with 73 yes votes; House Concurrent Resolution 2 passed with 68 affirmative votes; HB43 as amended recorded 73 yes votes. Each bill will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration (HCR2 is a concurrent resolution requesting federal action).
