Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environmental Fees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House approves consensus waste‑fee package to shore up DEQ budget
Summary
A second substitute to HB 331 creates a restricted DEQ account, retains $400,000 to the general fund, inserts remediation fee schedules, and includes a one‑year fee increase for Energy Solutions; the bill passed 66‑3 with a positive fiscal note.
The House passed Second Substitute HB 331 to address a shortfall in the Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) oversight budget.
Representative Penny Menlove, sponsor, said the measure establishes an Environmental Quality Restricted Account to hold roughly $4,000,000 as a reserve to smooth fee fluctuations and preserve industry competitiveness. The bill keeps an existing $400,000 transfer to the general fund and adds a remediation fee schedule for hazardous‑waste processors (modeled on Idaho) to support in‑state processing capacity. Menlove said Energy Solutions agreed to a temporary, one‑year 100 percent fee increase to fund a full review of oversight structures; that increase is included in the bill as an agreed‑upon measure.
Sponsor and committee testimony characterized the bill as consensus legislation developed with industry stakeholders and DEQ; Menlove said the measure carries a positive fiscal note of about $2.5 million and would reduce out‑of‑state processing of Utah waste. The House passed the bill 66‑3 and transmitted it to the Senate.
