Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 40 First Substitute (2020GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Ballard, M.G.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/31/2020

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• requires the creation of a working group to address how to implement standardized water loss accounting practices;
• requires reporting and recommendations;
• lists concepts to be included in developing recommendations; and
• provides a repeal date.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

WATER LOSS ACCOUNTING
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Melissa G. Ballard
Senate Sponsor: 
David P. Hinkins
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses data related to water including water losses.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ requires the creation of a working group to address how to implement standardized
water loss accounting practices;
▸ requires reporting and recommendations;
▸ lists concepts to be included in developing recommendations; and
▸ provides a repeal date.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
ENACTS:
63I-2-273
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
73-1-20
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
63I-2-273
 is enacted to read:
 63I-2-273.
 Repeal dates -- Title 73.
Section 
73-1-20
 is repealed on July 1, 2021.
Section 2. Section 
73-1-20
 is enacted to read:
 73-1-20.
Study of water loss accounting.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of agriculture and food.
(b) "Executive director" means the executive director of the Department of Natural
Resources.
(c) "Utah Water Task Force" means a task force created by the Department of Natural
Resources to review and make recommendations regarding water issues.
(2) (a) The executive director and the commissioner shall jointly form a working group
from the water community with:
 (i) expertise in the areas of:
(A) water utility service;
(B) water loss accounting and water loss control practices; or
(C) water infrastructure planning; or
(ii) other qualifying experience as considered appropriate by the executive director and
commissioner.
(b) The executive director and commissioner shall jointly designate the working group
chair from the members of the working group. The working group shall comply with Title 52,
Chapter 4, Open and Public Meetings Act.
(3) The working group shall investigate, study, and develop recommendations on how
to implement standardized water loss accounting practices with reporting results and
potentially incorporating the data into a water conservation plan.
(4) (a) The working group is to report the working group's findings and
recommendations to the Utah Water Task Force and the Legislative Water Development
Commission by October 1, 2020.
(b) The executive director and commissioner shall report the Utah Water Task Force's
findings and recommendations to the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim
Committee at either the October or November 2020 interim committee meeting, as determined
by the chairs of the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee.
(5) The concepts that the working group and the executive director and commissioner
shall consider when developing recommendations for the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and
Environment Interim Committee include:
(a) the promotion of improved understanding of water system losses, water delivery
efficiency, and the conservation of water delivered by public retail water suppliers by the use of
water loss accounting practices;
(b) the development of reliable information from consistent reporting requirements,
and to recommend how the information may be used at state wholesale and retail levels;
(c) a recommendation of appropriate roles for the state wholesale and retail public
water suppliers to encourage water delivery efficiency and water conservation from water loss
accounting at each level;
(d) a recommendation of appropriate levels of funding for state wholesale and retail
conservation measures and improved water delivery efficiency resulting from water loss
accounting practices;
(e) a recommendation of potential changes to Section 
73-10-32
, to implement plans for
water conservation from water loss accounting practices, including the authorization of
rulemaking authority, if necessary, and water loss accounting reporting requirements, including
a validity score on submitted data;
(f) a recommendation for the frequency of water loss accounting audits, as well as
recommendation for the use of annual validated water use reports to the state engineer;
(g) a recommendation of which entities should be required to submit water loss
accounting audits based on size, region, or both size and region;
(h) a potential recommendation of the appropriate role for a state technical advisory
committee and whether this state technical advisory committee should have counterparts at the
wholesale and retail levels; and
(i) estimating the amount of water losses and associated revenue losses that can
reasonably be recovered through water loss control activities.