State Land Office outlines legacy uranium cleanup, leasing stance and bonding updates

Deputy Commissioner Sunilay Stewart briefed the committee on the State Land Office’s role as fiduciary of state trust lands and its approach to remediation and enforcement.

Stewart said the land office uses lease terms and bonding to compel cleanup; it does not operate as a broad regulator. She noted two active but nonproducing uranium leases already in place on trust land and said Commissioner Garcia Richards has not issued any new uranium leases during her term. Stewart highlighted a targeted abandoned uranium-mine cleanup initiative that prioritized sites where no responsible party exists; the first two small pilot sites on state trust land (Schmidt decline and Red Bluff No. 1) are completed or finishing this fiscal year, and the office donated historical equipment to a local mining museum as part of community outreach.

On enforcement, Stewart said the office has filed about 40 lawsuits against lessees or operators to compel cleanup and that roughly 870 wells have been plugged at industry expense, while the land office itself has directly plugged two or three wells at state expense since launching an accountability program in 2020. She emphasized cross‑agency coordination (with the Environment Department and Oil Conservation Division) on assignment, bonds and plugging work.

The deputy commissioner also described the office’s evolving approach to renewable-energy leasing and decommissioning: leases now require independent engineering estimates of end‑of‑life decommissioning costs and staged financial assurance so projects are not left for the state to remediate decades later.

Lawmakers asked about the feasibility of using state funds to backstop federal cleanups and whether more legal staff is needed to enforce obligations; Stewart recommended bolstering legal resources in related agencies to improve enforcement outcomes.