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House adopts amendment and passes public-lands coordination bill
Summary
The House amended and passed S.B. 239 to establish a council coordinating public-lands policy; a floor amendment changed language to require cooperation and conjunction with political subdivisions rather than a simple compilation of county plans.
The Utah House debated and passed Senate Bill 239, which sets up a council to coordinate public-lands policy. Representative Urquhart, the sponsor on the floor, described the measure as a centralizing effort to streamline state engagement on public-lands issues.
Representative Becker moved an amendment to replace language that said the statewide land-use plan would be "based on a compilation of county plans" with language that the plan be developed "in cooperation and in conjunction with political subdivisions." Supporters said the change aligns the bill with recent related language and avoids suggesting the state will simply adopt county plans wholesale. Representative Noel explained the substituted wording preserves deference to the governor while ensuring cooperation.
Representative Johnson voiced concern about the practical difficulty of achieving true concurrence with every county plan, saying the state needs an effective mechanism for federal negotiation and unified responses where county plans conflict. After debate, the amendment was adopted and S.B. 239 as amended passed the House (71 yes, 0 no).
The bill will be signed by the Speaker and referred to the Senate for further action. Implementation details — such as the council’s membership, exact coordinating mechanisms and whether specific county plans would trigger state action — will be set in the bill text and subsequent rulemaking.
