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Utah House approves bill to expand state NEPA review for major transportation projects

Utah House of Representatives · February 9, 2015
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The House passed HB 80 to let the Utah Department of Transportation assume Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Statement reviews now handled by federal agencies, requiring the state to waive sovereign immunity for NEPA suits; supporters said it will speed projects and save time, while members pressed the sponsor on litigation risk.

The Utah House on Feb. 9 passed HB 80, a transportation bill that would expand the state's delegated review authority under the National Environmental Policy Act to allow the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to conduct Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) previously reviewed by federal authorities. The bill passed the House 73-0 and will be transmitted to the Senate.

Representative Snow, sponsor of the bill, told the chamber HB 80 builds on a 2007 delegation that already lets Utah handle categorical exclusions…

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