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Senate adopts compromise amendment to form multi‑party committee on disputed landfill siting
Summary
Facing vocal rural and urban concerns about groundwater protection and 10‑mile siting limits, senators adopted an amendment to House Bill 248 to form a multi‑county committee to seek an alternative site and pause DEQ action until the committee reports; the amendment passed by roll call.
The Utah Senate adopted an amendment to second substitute House Bill 248 that reshapes the bill from an immediate set of siting restrictions into a negotiated, multi‑party process to identify an appropriate municipal landfill site.
Senator Blackham introduced the amendment, which replaces the original text with a mandate to form a committee composed of two senators, two house members, two elected officials from each involved county (or members designated by those elected officials), county waste managers, and two state‑funded at‑large residents. The amendment also directs the Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to defer further action on any covered municipal landfill proposal until the committee reports back to the interim committee in December.
Supporters framed the amendment as a practical compromise to bring disputing counties and stakeholders to the table, while opponents cautioned that the original bill’s technical protections—especially the 10‑mile notification or protection radius and groundwater safeguards—risked being diluted. Senator Blackham said the amendment was designed to keep both parties at the table and produce a workable, county‑sensitive solution.
The Senate called the roll and the amendment passed (floor announcements report the amendment passed with 16 ayes and 13 nays). The amendment language included two technical cleanups (correcting 'third substitute' to 'second substitute' and changing appointed members language to read “two elected officials” rather than “members from governing boards”). Following adoption, the bill was circled for further consideration and the DEQ pause provision took effect as part of the amendment’s terms.
What happens next: the committee is to convene and report to an interim committee by December; if the committee fails to produce good‑faith progress, floor sponsors indicated legislation could be revisited in the next session.
