Legislation

Recommended by Public Utilities, Energy, and Tech Interim Committee. Reduces or removes state incentives for solar power facilities over 1 MW located on certain prime farm or agricultural land.

Removes emissions testing requirements for older vehicles without adding meaningful use limits, mileage caps, or emissions safeguards, allowing some of the highest-emitting vehicles on Utah roads to continue operating unchecked.

The Legislative Water Development Commission recommended this bill, which requires large data centers to demonstrate where they will attain water.

Eliminates the Alternative Energy Development Incentive and makes other changes to the Dept. of Natural Resources.

Modifies Utah statute to shield individuals from criminal or civil liability related to damages from generating greenhouse gas emissions under any principle of law or equity, unless explicitly related to a state or federal law.

Redirects revenue generated by the brine shrimp tax to support activities that benefit the Great Salt Lake.

Establishes a registration and renewal fee of $175 for a "high emissions heavy duty vehicle", a heavy duty vehicle older than 2009 and over 14,000 pounds. The revenue from the fee would go into the Transportation Fund.

Removes a key policy barrier by allowing conserved water to be dedicated to the Great Salt Lake, which is necessary for reducing lakebed dust over time. Allows water conservation plans to include committing conserved or available water to the Great Salt Lake, creating a pathway for water savings to be directed to lake inflows rather than exclusively to future development or consumptive use.

Addresses nonfunctional turf, encourages water waste land use regulations including prohibition of overhead irrigation in certain cases.

Addresses fugitive dust mitigation at aggregate operations.

Requires new development in the GSL basin to have water efficient landscaping to reduce waste and protect lake inflows.

Directs USU to study geologic and environmental impacts of developing geothermal energy in Utah, including at or near existing coal plants.

Updates Utah's water leasing amendments to make it easier for water rights holders to lease water to the GSL, helping direct more water back into the lake's system to support lake levels and ecology.

Requires Dept. of Environmental Quality and the Division of Oil Gas and Mining Board to establish rules for expedited permitting.

Requires Utah's commuter rail systems, including FrontRunner to transition to electric hybrid by 2031.

Requires new large data centers to estimate and report energy use before construction and provide annual reports.

Urges federal assistance to restore the great salt lake and recognizes the lake as vital to Utah's economy, idustries, ecology, and communities.

Promotes water-wise landscaping practices and establishes landscaping requirements for state government facilities.

2nd substitute allows an exemption if cost is determined to be prohibitive. SB 176 requires state agencies, when replacing end-of-life gasoline-powered landscaping equipment used on smaller state properties in Utah’s most populated counties, to purchase electric-powered equipment where practical, reducing air pollution from routine maintenance while allowing exemptions for safety, terrain, and emergency needs.

Strengthens Utah’s vehicle emissions inspection program by closing loopholes that allow drivers to avoid required testing through improper vehicle registration, giving the state clear authority to investigate, penalize, and suspend registrations to ensure cleaner air and fair compliance.

Changes how state agencies make rules by limiting when they can set new numeric standards and requiring stronger scientific justification for those rules. It generally prevents agencies from adopting rules that go beyond federal standards unless specific conditions are met and allows the Legislature to delay certain rules before they take effect. The goal is to add consistency and oversight to the state rulemaking process.

Redirects major state water infrastructure funding to the Great Salt Lake by transferring roughly $200 million into the Great Salt Lake Account and authorizing its use to acquire or lease water and water rights to stabilize lake levels. Clarifies funding purposes and supports the Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s work to manage lake levels and long-term water conservation.

Prohibits certain non-disclosure agreements beetween prospective data centers and state and local governments.