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Committee approves bill to expand lodging decontamination authority for drug contamination
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Summary
HB388 was advanced with a favorable recommendation. The bill extends existing decontamination standards to include contamination from drug use (not only clandestine labs) in lodging units and clarifies police‑health department coordination for testing and closure.
Representative Shepherd introduced HB388 to address contamination of motel and hotel rooms from drug use (methamphetamine and fentanyl), arguing current law ties health-department response to 'laboratory' contamination and can miss contamination from use. Officer Vai Kawo (Provo Police) recounted repeated police responses to motel rooms where use left residues and where later occupants might be exposed.
Anna Adkins, owner of Meth Mob decontamination specialists, described a decade of experience (about 2,000 decontaminations in Utah) and said contamination from use is common and sometimes more concentrated than old labs; cleaning requires scrubbing non‑permeable surfaces, disposing of permeable materials (carpet, padding), and then clearance testing by health departments.
Stakeholders including the Utah Association of Realtors and police chiefs supported the bill; the committee adopted the measure with a favorable recommendation by voice vote.
