Utah committee amends and advances bill to create state nuclear regulatory office

Representative Carl Albrecht introduced HB 78 on the committee’s opening agenda, saying the bill would establish a nuclear energy regulatory office within the state Division of Waste Management and Radiation and authorize the division—subject to Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval—to regulate activities across the nuclear fuel cycle.

The bill would give the office rulemaking authority over licensing, safety standards, security measures and enforcement, allow fee collection for licensing and inspections, and direct the division to pursue expanded Agreement State status with the NRC. Tim Davis, executive director of the Department of Environmental Quality, told the committee DEQ has already reorganized related programs under a single assistant director "to begin to prepare for this legislation and to prepare Utah for being able to move forward quickly, but also safely on nuclear power."

During markup the committee proposed a technical amendment to align statutory lists: the committee inserted the term "fuel conversion" into the definition of "nuclear fuel cycle." The chair called a voice vote on the amendment; members responded "aye" and the chair ruled the amendment passed unanimously.

The committee reviewed the bill's fiscal note and heard public testimony. Emmy Lesovsky of the Office of Energy Development said the office's creation is important and that her agency "thoroughly support[s] this legislation" as part of preparing the state for nuclear activity. In contrast, Joan Entwistle, speaking for the Utah Sierra Club legislative committee, urged the committee to "vote no" and warned that "the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sets the national standards for nuclear safety for a reason," arguing the state should not rush to assume regulatory roles.

A citizen commenter, Chris Schoppard, raised economic and environmental concerns, saying nuclear projects can be costlier and slower than renewables and stressing the difficulty of managing long-lived radioactive waste. Committee members questioned permitting timelines and interactions with federal processes; Representative Albrecht said the state has discussed assumptions of authority with federal partners and cited Utah facilities (a conventional uranium mill, a low-level radioactive waste disposal site and other local nuclear-related infrastructure) as reasons the state is positioned to seek expanded authority.

Representative Watkins moved that the committee pass HB 78 as amended with a favorable recommendation. The chair called a voice vote; members said "aye" and the chair ruled the bill passed out of committee unanimously.

The committee recorded that the bill sponsor and DEQ would report annually to the legislature on progress toward any expanded regulatory authority. No roll-call vote tally was taken in the committee minutes; the chair characterized passage as unanimous.