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Senate approves changes to underground storage-tank program, adds temporary environmental surcharge
Summary
Senate Bill 26 amends the state's underground storage-tank program: it removes a previously required soil test for program eligibility, creates an insurance fund supported by a half-cent-per-gallon environmental surcharge estimated to raise about $5 million annually, and sets triggers and corrective-action criteria.
Senate Bill 26, taken up as unfinished business, drew extended floor debate before final passage. Sponsor explanation and questions from senators laid out the principal elements: removal of a previously required soil-test prerequisite for tank-insurance participation, a proposed environmental surcharge (a half-cent per gallon) to raise roughly $5 million a year, and a fund-trigger mechanism that will suspend the surcharge when the fund reaches $17.5 million and reinstate it if the fund falls to $12.5 million.
The bill also tightens timelines for required testing and establishes corrective-action criteria for cleanup decisions, requiring that remediation prioritize threats to public health, environmental harm and cost-effectiveness. The sponsor said the surcharge proceeds and a revised fee structure are designed to make an insurance program workable while reducing burdens on smaller owners and jobbers.
Several senators raised concerns on the floor. One senator declared a conflict of interest because their law firm represents an owner of an underground storage tank. Other senators asked how previously contaminated sites left by older tank removals would be addressed; the sponsor replied that the bill provides for a corrective-action program that considers public-health risk and cost-effectiveness and that the secretary would develop remediation criteria. A legal-note in the bill file was also noted: the sponsor acknowledged counsel had flagged a potential constitutional issue regarding the proposed fuel surcharge and Article XIII, Section 13 of the Utah Constitution, though the sponsor observed that other states use similar surcharges.
When the question was called, the clerk recorded a final tally of 23 ayes, 4 nays and 2 absent; the bill was placed on the third-reading calendar. One senator explained publicly that, while he praised the bill's objectives, he could not support a gasoline tax increase requested of his constituents and therefore voted no.
Ending: SB26 passed on the floor with administrative triggers for the surcharge and directive language for corrective-action priorities; implementing agencies will need to develop the fund-management and remediation procedures specified in the bill.
