Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
State presenter outlines HB 48 plan for high‑risk WUI mapping, lot assessments and fees
Summary
Joseph Brave told the Tooele Council of Governments on March 19 that House Bill 48’s high‑risk wildland‑urban‑interface program uses a state map (top 5% risk), delays fee collection until 2027, requires owner-requested lot assessments by certified assessors and will tier fees by structure size and triage score.
Joseph Brave, a division presenter for the state wildland fire program, briefed the Tooele Council of Governments on March 19 on implementation of House Bill 48 and related 2026 legislation aimed at addressing wildfire risk to structures.
Brave said the law was prompted by growing wildfire frequency and severity, rising taxpayer suppression costs and insurance-market volatility. “This last season in Utah, wildfires cost taxpayers $192,000,000,” he said, and added the objective of HB 48 is to reduce risk at the structure level so neighborhoods aren’t dependent on a fire engine at every house.
Why this matters: the legislation creates a state high‑risk WUI map (the top 5% of modeled structure exposure) and requires municipalities in the cooperative wildfire system to adopt the WUI code. Counties will use the state map to identify parcels for a new lot‑assessment program and to assess a structure‑based fee that is intended to fund the lot‑assessment program.
Key elements Brave described: - High‑risk map: Focuses on where structures currently sit and models ember travel from nearby fuels; it differs from…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
