Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 92 First Substitute (2020GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Snider, C.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/24/2020

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• requires certain fires be exempted from certain regulation;
• prohibits a governmental agency from prohibiting fires being started when the United States National Weather Service clearing index for the area where the fire is to occur is above a certain level; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

FIRE AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Casey Snider
Senate Sponsor: 
____________
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses fires.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ requires certain fires be exempted from certain regulation;
▸ prohibits a governmental agency from prohibiting fires being started when the
United States National Weather Service clearing index for the area where the fire is
to occur is above a certain level; and
▸ makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
19-2-114
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2015, Chapter 154
RENUMBERS AND AMENDS:
19-2a-105
, (Renumbered from 19-2-107.6, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter
51)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
19-2-114
 is amended to read:
19-2-114.
Activities not in violation of chapter or rules.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Land manager" means a person who administers, directs, oversees, or controls the
use of public land, including the application of fire to the land.
(b) "Pile burn" means a fire or fires that a land manager ignites for fuel mitigation
designed to keep wildland healthy and prevent dangerous wildfires by burning leaves, pine
needles, downed trees, standing trees, thick vegetation, or similar other organic material.
(c) "Prescribed fire" means a fire that a land manager ignites to meet a specific public
safety objective.
(d) "Wildland" means an area in which development is essentially nonexistent other
than the existence of a pipeline, power line, road, railroad, or other transportation or
conveyance facility or one or more structures that are widely scattered.
(2)
 The following are not a violation of this chapter or of a rule made under [
it
] 
this
chapter
:
[
(1)
] 
(a)
 burning incident to horticultural or agricultural operations of:
[
(a)
] 
(i)
 prunings from trees, bushes, and plants; or
[
(b)
] 
(ii)
 dead or diseased trees, bushes, and plants, including stubble;
[
(2)
] 
(b)
 burning of weed growth along ditch banks incident to clearing these ditches
for irrigation purposes;
[
(3)
] 
(c)
 controlled heating of orchards or other crops to lessen the chances of their
being frozen so long as the emissions from this heating do not violate minimum standards set
by the board; [
and
]
(d) a prescribed fire;
(e) a pile burn; and
[
(4)
] 
(f)
 the controlled burning of not more than two structures per year by an
organized and operating fire department for the purpose of training fire service personnel
[
when the United States Weather Service clearing index for the area where the burn is to occur
is above 500
].
Section 2. Section 
19-2a-105
, which is renumbered from Section 19-2-107.6 is
renumbered and amended to read:
[
19-2-107.6
].
 19-2a-105.
Prescribed fires, pile burns, and nonfull
suppression events.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Board" means the Air Quality Board.
[
(a)
] 
(b)
 "Burn plan" means the plan required for each fire application ignited by a land
manager.
[
(b)
] 
(c)
 "Burn window" means the period of time during which the prescribed fire is
scheduled for ignition.
(d) "Division" means the Division of Air Quality created in Section 
19-1-105
.
[
(c)
] 
(e)
 "Land manager" means a person who administers, directs, oversees, or
controls the use of public land, including the application of fire to the land.
[
(d)
] 
(f)
 "Large prescribed fire" means a 
prescribed
 fire that [
a land manager ignites to
meet a specific objective, including
] 
has
 a resource benefit that covers 20 acres or more per
burn.
[
(e)
] 
(g)
 "Large prescribed pile fire" means a fire that a land manager ignites to meet a
specific objective, including a resource benefit, that exceeds 30,000 cubic feet per day.
[
(f)
] 
(h)
 "Nonfull suppression event" means a naturally ignited wildland fire for which
a land manager secures less than full suppression to accomplish a specific prestated resource
management objective in a predefined geographic area.
(i) "Pile burn" means the same as that term is defined in Section 19-2-114.
(j) "Prescribed fire" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
19-2-114
.
[
(g)
] 
(k)
 "Wildland" means an area in which development is essentially nonexistent
other than the existence of a pipeline, power line, road, railroad, or other transportation or
conveyance facility or one or more structures that are widely scattered.
(2) (a) The division may not permit a land manager to conduct a large prescribed fire or
large prescribed pile fire if the land manager does not comply with the rules made by the board
in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act.
(b) In the rules made by the board under this Subsection (2), the board shall require the
land manager to:
(i) describe the use of a state, county, or municipal resource in the large prescribed fire
or large prescribed pile fire;
(ii) provide the division the burn plan for a large prescribed fire or large prescribed pile
fire by no later than one week before the day of the burn window; and
(iii) notify the division of a nonfull suppression event once a fire becomes a nonfull
suppression event.
(c) In the rules made by the board under this Subsection (2), the board may not prohibit
a land manager from igniting a fire on the basis that the United States National Weather
Service clearing index for the area in which the prescribed fire or pile burn is to occur is above
a certain level.
(3) A state or local government entity other than the board with jurisdiction over a fire
may not prohibit a land manager from igniting a fire on the basis that the United States
National Weather Service clearing index for the area in which the prescribed fire or pile burn is
to occur is above a certain level.