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Governor Huntsman vetoes bill that would change approval process for waste-disposal sites
Summary
Governor John Huntsman Jr. returned Senate Bill 70 with objections, saying the bill would weaken gubernatorial authority over radioactive and hazardous waste facility approvals and could risk Utah’s image and the health of residents.
Governor John M. Huntsman Jr. on Feb. 28 sent a written veto of Senate Bill 70 to the Utah Senate, objecting to a provision that would shift approval for certain waste-disposal facilities from concurrent resolutions to statutes.
In a communication read into the record, the governor said existing law requires both legislative and gubernatorial approval before certain nonhazardous and hazardous solid-waste facilities operate, and that the bill’s change could “incrementally weaken the governor’s authority to protect Utah’s image and environment as well as the health and safety of its 2,500,000 residents.” The message also said the bill’s statutory route could enable the legislature to override a governor’s refusal by a two-thirds vote and thereby “potentially lead to a proliferation of radioactive waste disposal facilities within our state.”
The veto letter cites Article 7, Section 8 of the Utah Constitution as the constitutional provision under which the governor returned the statute to the Senate and notes the administration’s long-standing pledge to resist efforts to make Utah a storage site for the nation’s radioactive waste. The text concludes: “Consistent with that pledge, I cannot consent to a provision that in my opinion would potentially lead to a proliferation of radioactive waste disposal facilities within our state.”
The communication was acknowledged on the Senate floor and entered into the legislative record. No immediate floor action or vote on an override attempt was recorded in the February 28 session.
Next steps: The Senate may either accept the governor’s objections, amend the bill, or attempt an override by the constitutionally required margin on a later day; no override motion was made during the session recorded in the transcript.
