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Meth‑contamination Disclosure Bill Fails After Amendment Narrowing Standard
Summary
After extended debate and a successful amendment to remove a proposed 'reasonable diligence' reporting trigger, the House rejected HB190, which would have expanded disclosure duties for owners/lessors where reliable, credible information suggests meth contamination; final vote was 29-52 against.
House Bill 190, which would have changed disclosure duties for owners or lessors who obtain information that would lead a reasonable person to believe property is or may be contaminated by methamphetamine, failed after extended floor debate and an amendment that removed the bill’s 'reasonable diligence' reporting trigger.
Sponsor Representative Mascaro framed the bill as a correction to unintended gaps in prior law. The original text required property owners with "actual knowledge" to disclose contamination; the introduced amendment would have created a lower, civil-law informed standard — requiring an owner who, in the ordinary course of business, obtains reliable and credible information that would lead a reasonable person to believe the property may be contaminated to exercise reasonable diligence and potentially report contamination. The sponsor cited committee testimony, case law and endorsements from the Utah Chiefs of Police Association and criminal justice commissions; he said the revised language did not require testing in every case but set a reasonableness standard tied to reliable information.
Opponents — including Representatives Hughes, Morley, Ford and others — warned that the 'reasonable' formulation was vague, could open owners to liability suits and would impose large clean-up costs that could be passed on to renters and affect affordable housing. Several property-owner and industry concerns were raised during the debate, and multiple members disclosed conflicts of interest as property owners or managers. Representative Morley moved to delete lines 49–52 (the reasonable-diligence language) and restore the stricter "actual knowledge" trigger; the motion to amend passed, and the sponsor decried having the core change removed.
After summations and further debate, the House voted on the amended measure and HB190 failed, 29 yes to 52 no. The clerk recorded the failure and filed the bill.
