Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 183 (2017GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Hawkes, T.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/22/2017

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• establishes the Environmental Mitigation and Response Act, including establishing an expendable special revenue fund;
• states that the director of the Department of Environmental Quality may administer the expendable special revenue fund;
• states that, in certain circumstances, vehicle registration may not be denied on the basis of:
• a defeat device; or
• an Environmental Protection Agency-approved modification; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

EMISSIONS SETTLEMENT AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Timothy D. Hawkes
Senate Sponsor: 
 Brian E. Shiozawa
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill enacts the Environmental Mitigation and Response Act and modifies vehicle
registration requirements. 
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ establishes the Environmental Mitigation and Response Act, including establishing
an expendable special revenue fund;
▸ states that the director of the Department of Environmental Quality may administer
the expendable special revenue fund;
▸ states that, in certain circumstances, vehicle registration may not be denied on the
basis of:
• a defeat device; or
• an Environmental Protection Agency-approved modification; and
▸ makes technical changes. 
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
19-1-202
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2009, Chapter 377
41-6a-1642
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2015, Chapter 258
ENACTS:
19-1-601
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
19-1-602
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
19-1-603
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
19-1-604
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
19-1-202
 is amended to read:
19-1-202.
Duties and powers of the executive director.
(1) The executive director shall:
(a) administer and supervise the department;
(b) coordinate policies and program activities conducted through boards, divisions, and
offices of the department;
(c) approve the proposed budget of each board, division, and office within the
department;
(d) approve all applications for federal grants or assistance in support of any
department program;
(e) with the governor's specific, prior approval, expend funds appropriated by the
Legislature necessary for participation by the state in any fund, property, or service provided by
the federal government; and
(f) in accordance with Section 
19-1-301
, appoint one or more administrative law
judges to hear an adjudicative proceeding within the department.
(2) The executive director may:
(a) issue orders to enforce state laws and rules established by the department except
where the enforcement power is given to a board created under Section 
19-1-106
, unless the
executive director finds that a condition exists that creates a clear and present hazard to the
public health or the environment and requires immediate action, and if the enforcement power
is vested with a board created under Section 
19-1-106
, the executive director may with the
concurrence of the governor order any person causing or contributing to the condition to
reduce, mitigate, or eliminate the condition;
(b) with the approval of the governor, participate in the distribution, disbursement, or
administration of any fund or service, advanced, offered, or contributed by the federal
government for purposes consistent with the powers and duties of the department;
(c) accept and receive funds and gifts available from private and public groups for the
purposes of promoting and protecting the public health and the environment and expend the
funds as appropriated by the Legislature;
(d) make policies not inconsistent with law for the internal administration and
government of the department, the conduct of its employees, and the custody, use, and
preservation of the records, papers, books, documents, and property of the department;
(e) create advisory committees as necessary to assist in carrying out the provisions of
this title;
(f) appoint division directors who may be removed at the will of the executive director
and who shall be compensated in an amount fixed by the executive director;
(g) advise, consult, and cooperate with other agencies of the state, the federal
government, other states and interstate agencies, affected groups, political subdivisions, and
industries in carrying out the purposes of this title;
(h) consistent with Title 67, Chapter 19, Utah State Personnel Management Act,
employ employees necessary to meet the requirements of this title;
(i) authorize any employee or representative of the division to conduct inspections as
permitted in this title;
(j) encourage, participate in, or conduct any studies, investigations, research, and
demonstrations relating to hazardous materials or substances releases necessary to meet the
requirements of this title;
(k) collect and disseminate information about hazardous materials or substances
releases;
(l) review plans, specifications, or other data relating to hazardous substances releases
as provided in this title; [
and
]
(m) maintain, update not less than annually, and make available to the public a record
of sites, by name and location, at which response actions for the protection of the public health
and environment under Title 19, Chapter 6, Part 3, Hazardous Substances Mitigation Act, or
under Title 19, Chapter 8, Voluntary Cleanup Program, have been completed in the previous
calendar year, and those that the department plans to address in the upcoming year pursuant to
this title, including if upon completion of the response action the site:
(i) will be suitable for unrestricted use; or
(ii) will be suitable only for restricted use, stating the institutional controls identified in
the remedy to which use of the site is subject[
.
]
; and
(n) for purposes of implementing environmental mitigation and response actions:
(i) accept and receive environmental mitigation and response funds from private and
public groups, including as a condition of a consent decree, settlement agreement, stipulated
agreement, or court order; and
(ii) administer the implementation of environmental mitigation and response actions in
accordance with the terms and conditions in which funds were received, including:
(A) disbursing funds to private or public entities, governmental units, state agencies, or
Native American tribes;
(B) expending funds to implement environmental mitigation and response actions; and
(C) returning unused funds to the original source of the funds as a condition of receipt
of the funds, if applicable.
Section 2. Section 
19-1-601
 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 1. ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION AND RESPONSE ACT
 19-1-601.
Title.
This chapter is known as the "Environmental Mitigation and Response Act."
Section 3. Section 
19-1-602
 is enacted to read:
 19-1-602.
Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Environmental mitigation" means an action or activity intended to remedy, reduce,
or offset known negative impacts to the environment.
(2) "Environmental response action" means action taken to prevent, eliminate,
minimize, investigate, monitor, clean up, or remove contaminants in the environment.
(3) "Financial assurance" means a mechanism or instrument intended to provide funds
if necessary to the department to conduct closure, monitoring, or cleanup of a specific facility
or site in accordance with the applicable environmental requirements provided in this title.
(4) "Funding source" means an individual or entity that provides a monetary
contribution to the Environmental Mitigation and Response Fund.
(5) "Natural resource damage" means damages to land, fish, wildlife, biota, air, water,
ground water, drinking water supplies, and other resources that are held in trust for the public
or otherwise controlled by the United States, the state, or local government.
(6) "Unused funds" means the remaining funds from a specific funding source
following the complete implementation of the environmental mitigation or response actions
pursuant to the terms and conditions of the contribution.
Section 4. Section 
19-1-603
 is enacted to read:
 19-1-603.
Environmental Mitigation and Response Fund.
(1) There is created an expendable special revenue fund known as the Environmental
Mitigation and Response Fund.
(2) The fund consists of:
(a) public and private funding sources made under Subsections (3) and (4);
(b) legally binding bankruptcy, financial assurance, or natural resource damage claim
settlements; and
(c) if permissible under the terms of the contribution, interest earnings on cash
balances.
(3) The department may accept contributions for deposit into the fund from public and
private sources, including from a source as a condition of a consent decree, settlement
agreement, stipulated agreement, or court order.
(4) If funds are deposited as part of a consent decree, settlement agreement, stipulated
agreement, or court order, the source of the funding may specify terms and conditions in which
the funds may be used, in accordance with the consent decree, settlement agreement, stipulated
agreement, or court order.
(5) Unless mandated by court order, the department may refuse funds if the department
determines it is incapable of meeting the terms and conditions of the agreement to obtain the
funds, including covering the costs to administer the fund and oversee the implementation of
the specific mitigation or response action.
(6) The fund may account for assets held by the state as trustee or agent for:
(a) an individual;
(b) a private or public entity;
(c) another governmental unit, including a local or federal agency;
(d) a state agency; or
(e) a Native American tribe.
Section 5. Section 
19-1-604
 is enacted to read:
 19-1-604.
Environmental mitigation.
(1) The director shall administer the fund created in Section 
19-1-603
.
(2) The director may:
(a) disburse funds to an authorized individual or public, private, or governmental
entity, or Native American tribe to implement a specified environmental mitigation action in
accordance with any terms and conditions associated with the funding source, as provided in
Subsection 
19-1-603
(4);
(b) expend funds to implement certain environmental mitigation actions in accordance
with any terms and conditions associated with the funding source, as provided in Subsection
19-1-603
(4);
(c) expend funds to implement an environmental response action or site closure, in
accordance with any terms and conditions associated with the funding source, as provided in
Subsection 
19-1-603
(4);
(d) expend funds to cover actual administrative expenditures in accordance with any
terms and conditions associated with the funds as provided in Subsection 
19-1-603
(4); and
(e) return unused funds to the funding source, if required under the terms and
conditions as provided in Subsection 
19-1-603
(4).
(3) For an environmental response action conducted pursuant to Subsection
19-1-604
(2)(c), the director shall comply with applicable environmental cleanup standards
described in this title.
(4) If the director disburses funds to another state agency in accordance with
Subsection (2)(a), that agency may expend the funds in accordance with any terms and
conditions associated with the fund contributions as provided in Subsection 
19-1-603
(4),
including returning any unused funds to the department.
(5) Following the completion of an environmental mitigation and response action, any
excess funds not returned to the funding source as provided in Subsection 
19-1-603
(4) shall be
transferred to the Hazardous Substances Mitigation Fund, in accordance with Section
19-6-307
.
Section 6. Section 
41-6a-1642
 is amended to read:
41-6a-1642.
Emissions inspection -- County program.
(1) The legislative body of each county required under federal law to utilize a motor
vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program or in which an emissions inspection
and maintenance program is necessary to attain or maintain any national ambient air quality
standard shall require:
(a) a certificate of emissions inspection, a waiver, or other evidence the motor vehicle
is exempt from emissions inspection and maintenance program requirements be presented:
(i) as a condition of registration or renewal of registration; and
(ii) at other times as the county legislative body may require to enforce inspection
requirements for individual motor vehicles, except that the county legislative body may not
routinely require a certificate of emission inspection, or waiver of the certificate, more often
than required under Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
; and
(b) compliance with this section for a motor vehicle registered or principally operated
in the county and owned by or being used by a department, division, instrumentality, agency, or
employee of:
(i) the federal government;
(ii) the state and any of its agencies; or
(iii) a political subdivision of the state, including school districts.
(2) A motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program described in
Subsection (1) may not deny vehicle registration based solely on the presence of a defeat
device covered in a partial consent decree or an Environmental Protection Agency-approved
modification, including in the following vehicles:
(a) a 2.0-liter diesel engine motor vehicle in which its life time nitrogen oxide
emissions are mitigated in the state pursuant to a partial consent decree, including:
(i) Volkswagen Jetta, model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015;
(ii) Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen, model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and
2014;
(iii) Volkswagen Golf, model years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015;
(iv) Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen, model year 2015;
(v) Volkswagen Passat, model years 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015;
(vi) Volkswagen Beetle, model years 2013, 2014, and 2015;
(vii) Volkswagen Beetle Convertible, model years 2013, 2014, and 2015; and
(viii) Audi A3, model years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015; and
(b) a 3.0-liter diesel engine motor vehicle in which its lifetime nitrogen oxide
emissions are mitigated in the state to a settlement, including:
(i) Volkswagen Touareg, model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 
2016;
(ii) Audi Q7, model years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016;
(iii) Audi A6 Quattro, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016;
(iv) Audi A7 Quattro, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016;
(v) Audi A8, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016;
(vi) Audi A8L, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016;
(vii) Audi Q5, model years 2014, 2015, and 2016; and
(viii) Porsche Cayenne Diesel, model years 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.
[
(2)
] 
(3)
 (a) The legislative body of a county identified in Subsection (1), in
consultation with the Air Quality Board created under Section 
19-1-106
, shall make regulations
or ordinances regarding:
(i) emissions standards;
(ii) test procedures;
(iii) inspections stations;
(iv) repair requirements and dollar limits for correction of deficiencies; and
(v) certificates of emissions inspections.
(b) The regulations or ordinances shall:
(i) be made to attain or maintain ambient air quality standards in the county, consistent
with the state implementation plan and federal requirements;
(ii) may allow for a phase-in of the program by geographical area; and
(iii) be compliant with the analyzer design and certification requirements contained in
the state implementation plan prepared under Title 19, Chapter 2, Air Conservation Act.
(c) The county legislative body and the Air Quality Board shall give preference to an
inspection and maintenance program that is:
(i) decentralized, to the extent the decentralized program will attain and maintain
ambient air quality standards and meet federal requirements;
(ii) the most cost effective means to achieve and maintain the maximum benefit with
regard to ambient air quality standards and to meet federal air quality requirements as related to
vehicle emissions; and
(iii) providing a reasonable phase-out period for replacement of air pollution emission
testing equipment made obsolete by the program.
(d) The provisions of Subsection [
(2)
] 
(3)
(c)(iii) apply only to the extent the phase-out:
(i) may be accomplished in accordance with applicable federal requirements; and
(ii) does not otherwise interfere with the attainment and maintenance of ambient air
quality standards.
[
(3)
] 
(4)
 The following vehicles are exempt from the provisions of this section:
(a) an implement of husbandry;
(b) a motor vehicle that:
(i) meets the definition of a farm truck under Section 
41-1a-102
; and
(ii) has a gross vehicle weight rating of 12,001 pounds or more;
(c) a vintage vehicle as defined in Section 
41-21-1
;
(d) a custom vehicle as defined in Section 
41-6a-1507
; and
(e) to the extent allowed under the current federally approved state implementation
plan, in accordance with the federal Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7401, et seq., a motor
vehicle that is less than two years old on January 1 based on the age of the vehicle as
determined by the model year identified by the manufacturer.
[
(4)
] 
(5)
 (a) The legislative body of a county identified in Subsection (1) shall exempt a
pickup truck, as defined in Section 
41-1a-102
, with a gross vehicle weight of 12,000 pounds or
less from the emission inspection requirements of this section, if the registered owner of the
pickup truck provides a signed statement to the legislative body stating the truck is used:
(i) by the owner or operator of a farm located on property that qualifies as land in
agricultural use under Sections 
59-2-502
 and 
59-2-503
; and
(ii) exclusively for the following purposes in operating the farm:
(A) for the transportation of farm products, including livestock and its products,
poultry and its products, floricultural and horticultural products; and
(B) in the transportation of farm supplies, including tile, fence, and every other thing or
commodity used in agricultural, floricultural, horticultural, livestock, and poultry production
and maintenance.
(b) The county shall provide to the registered owner who signs and submits a signed
statement under this section a certificate of exemption from emission inspection requirements
for purposes of registering the exempt vehicle.
[
(5)
] 
(6)
 (a) Subject to Subsection [
(5)
] 
(6)
(c), the legislative body of each county
required under federal law to utilize a motor vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance
program or in which an emissions inspection and maintenance program is necessary to attain or
maintain any national ambient air quality standard may require each college or university
located in a county subject to this section to require its students and employees who park a
motor vehicle not registered in a county subject to this section to provide proof of compliance
with an emissions inspection accepted by the county legislative body if the motor vehicle is
parked on the college or university campus or property.
(b) College or university parking areas that are metered or for which payment is
required per use are not subject to the requirements of this Subsection [
(5)
] 
(6)
.
(c) The legislative body of a county shall make the reasons for implementing the
provisions of this Subsection [
(5)
] 
(6)
 part of the record at the time that the county legislative
body takes its official action to implement the provisions of this Subsection [
(5)
] 
(6)
.
[
(6)
] 
(7)
 (a) An emissions inspection station shall issue a certificate of emissions
inspection for each motor vehicle that meets the inspection and maintenance program
requirements established in rules made under Subsection [
(2)
] 
(3)
.
(b) The frequency of the emissions inspection shall be determined based on the age of
the vehicle as determined by model year and shall be required annually subject to the
provisions of Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(c).
(c) (i) To the extent allowed under the current federally approved state implementation
plan, in accordance with the federal Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7401 et seq., the legislative
body of a county identified in Subsection (1) shall only require the emissions inspection every
two years for each vehicle.
(ii) The provisions of Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(c)(i) apply only to a vehicle that is less than
six years old on January 1.
(iii) For a county required to implement a new vehicle emissions inspection and
maintenance program on or after December 1, 2012, under Subsection (1), but for which no
current federally approved state implementation plan exists, a vehicle shall be tested at a
frequency determined by the county legislative body, in consultation with the Air Quality
Board created under Section 
19-1-106
, that is necessary to comply with federal law or attain or
maintain any national ambient air quality standard.
(iv) If a county legislative body establishes or changes the frequency of a vehicle
emissions inspection and maintenance program under Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(c)(iii), the
establishment or change shall take effect on January 1 if the 
State
 Tax Commission receives
notice meeting the requirements of Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(c)(v) from the county prior to October
1.
(v) The notice described in Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(c)(iv) shall:
(A) state that the county will establish or change the frequency of the vehicle emissions
inspection and maintenance program under this section;
(B) include a copy of the ordinance establishing or changing the frequency; and
(C) if the county establishes or changes the frequency under this section, state how
frequently the emissions testing will be required.
(d) If an emissions inspection is only required every two years for a vehicle under
Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(c), the inspection shall be required for the vehicle in:
(i) odd-numbered years for vehicles with odd-numbered model years; or
(ii) in even-numbered years for vehicles with even-numbered model years.
[
(7)
] 
(8)
 The emissions inspection shall be required within the same time limit
applicable to a safety inspection under Section 
41-1a-205
.
[
(8)
] 
(9)
 (a) A county identified in Subsection (1) shall collect information about and
monitor the program.
(b) A county identified in Subsection (1) shall supply this information to an appropriate
legislative committee, as designated by the Legislative Management Committee, at times
determined by the designated committee to identify program needs, including funding needs.
[
(9)
] 
(10)
 If approved by the county legislative body, a county that had an established
emissions inspection fee as of January 1, 2002, may increase the established fee that an
emissions inspection station may charge by $2.50 for each year that is exempted from
emissions inspections under Subsection [
(6)
] 
(7)
(c) up to a $7.50 increase.
[
(10)
] 
(11)
 (a) A county identified in Subsection (1) may impose a local emissions
compliance fee on each motor vehicle registration within the county in accordance with the
procedures and requirements of Section 
41-1a-1223
.
(b) A county that imposes a local emissions compliance fee shall use revenues
generated from the fee for the establishment and enforcement of an emissions inspection and
maintenance program in accordance with the requirements of this section.
Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel