Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Agriculture topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Utah House approves bill allowing property owners to bury horses on private land
Summary
Second-substitute House Bill 261 consolidates committee amendments to allow owners to bury horses on their property, removes the term 'domestic' to cover livestock, and drops an expensive study; sponsors said the changes reduce regulatory burden and cost.
The Utah House passed a substitute version of House Bill 261 on Feb. 12 to allow owners to bury horses on their property and to fold several committee amendments into a clean substitute.
Representative Anderegg, sponsor of the substitute, told the chamber the second substitute simply consolidated about seven committee amendments and did not substantively change the bill. He explained changes including extending timing allowances (replacing a strict "2 days" requirement with a more flexible reasonable period), removing the word "domestic" to avoid implying the animals are pets when they are often livestock, deleting an express provision referring to the Division of Environmental Quality (since DEQ already has rulemaking authority), and removing a proposed study with a $165,000 fiscal note in favor of gathering information from horse and veterinarian associations.
Representative Sagers offered a colorful floor statement but did not propose an amendment. Sponsor Anderegg reiterated that the bill "allows owners to bury a horse on their own property." The substitute passed by voice vote; the announced tally was 69–0 and the bill will be transmitted to the Senate.
