Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 538 Third Substitute (2023GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Owens, D.

Final action

House/ filed 3/3/2023

Outcome

Failed / filed without passage

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• defines terms;
• addresses civil citations for watering lawn or turf during a restricted period; and
• provides for use of water for the Great Salt Lake.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

WATER USAGE AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Doug Owens
Senate Sponsor: 
 Michael K. McKell
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses the conveyance of water and establishes penalties for watering lawn
or turf during a restricted period.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ defines terms;
▸ addresses civil citations for watering lawn or turf during a restricted period; and
▸ provides for use of water for the Great Salt Lake.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
ENACTS:
73-10-38
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
78B-6-2401
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
78B-6-2402
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
78B-6-2403
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
78B-6-2404
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
78B-6-2405
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
73-10-38
 is enacted to read:
 73-10-38.
Conveyance of water.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Great Salt Lake basin" means the same as that term is defined in Section
78B-6-2401
.
(b) "Large retail water supplier" means a retail water system that serves at least 10,000
people.
(c) "Large secondary water retail supplier" means a secondary water supplier that
supplies more than 5,000 secondary water connections.
(d) "Lawn or turf" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
78B-6-2401
.
(e) "Public benefit property" means the same as that term is defined in Section
78B-6-2401
.
(f) "Retail water supplier" means a person that:
(i) supplies water for human consumption and other domestic uses to an end user; and
(ii) has more than 500 service connections.
(g) "Secondary water" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
78B-6-2401
.
(h) "Secondary water connection" means the location at which water leaves a
secondary water supplier's pipeline and enters into the pipes owned by another person to supply
water to an end user.
(i) "Secondary water supplier" means an entity that supplies pressurized secondary
water to the end user of the secondary water.
(j) "Shoulder season" means the time period that begins on October 1 of a calendar
year and ends on May 1 of the following calendar year.
(k) "Wholesale water supplier" means a person that provides most of the person's water
to:
(i) a retail water supplier;
(ii) a secondary water supplier; or
(iii) a combination of a retail water supplier and a secondary water supplier.
(2) Except as provided in Subsection (3)(b), a retail water supplier or a secondary water
supplier within the Great Salt Lake basin shall adopt an ordinance, resolution, rule, or
regulation that prohibits the use of culinary water or pressurized secondary water for the
irrigation of lawn or turf within the Great Salt Lake basin during a shoulder season.
(3) An ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulation described in Subsection (2):
(a) shall be adopted on or before October 1, 2023;
(b) may include an exemption for water used during a shoulder season on lawn or turf
that is:
(i) located on public benefit property;
(ii) for a reasonable period after new sod has been laid or new grass seed germinates;
or
(iii) grown as part of a commercial agricultural operation, including a sod farm; and
(c) may adjust the definition of a shoulder season to begin earlier than October 1 or end
later than May 1 based on local growing conditions.
(4) A large retail water supplier or a large secondary water retail supplier shall:
(a) on or before June 15 of each year, calculate:
(i) the amount of water that, but for the immediately preceding shoulder season, would
otherwise have reasonably been depleted during the immediately preceding shoulder season for
the irrigation of non-exempt lawn or turf within the water supplier's service area; and
(ii) of the amount calculated under Subsection (4)(a)(i), the amount that is attributable
to surface water that would have passed through a reservoir, including surface water that would
have been delivered to the water supplier through a reservoir by a wholesale water supplier;
(b) file an instream flow change application in accordance with Section 
73-3-30
 to
convey an equivalent amount of water calculated under Subsection (4)(a) to the Great Salt
Lake;
(c) prepare a written explanation of how the calculation described in Subsection (4)(a)
was made, including the share of water attributable to a wholesale water supplier under
Subsection (4)(a)(ii); and
(d) include the written explanation described in Subsection (4)(c) with the change
application described in Subsection (4)(b).
(5) A wholesale water supplier shall:
(a) assist a larger retail water supplier, or a large secondary retail water supplier, that
receives water from the wholesale water supplier in making the calculation described in
Subsection (4)(a);
(b) sign the change application described in Subsection (4)(b); and
(c) allow to be conveyed to the Great Salt Lake the share of the amount calculated
under Subsection (4)(a)(i) that would be attributable to the wholesale water supplier's deliveries
to the large retail water supplier or large secondary water retail supplier as identified in the
written explanation described under Subsection (4)(c).
(6) In making the calculation described in Subsection (4)(a):
(a) water that is imported from outside the Great Salt Lake basin shall be excluded; and
(b) the amount of water that would have been depleted may be determined using any
reasonable basis, including accounting for variability due to temperatures and precipitation
during the period water would have reasonably been used.
(7) A large retail water supplier, large secondary water retail supplier, or wholesale
water supplier:
(a) need not use the same source of water for the change application described in
Subsection (4)(b) that would have been used to deliver water to an end user; and
(b) shall use an alternate source of water to meet the deliveries of water to the Great
Salt Lake if water stored in a reservoir is unavailable.
(8) A retail water supplier, secondary water supplier, or wholesale water supplier may
only receive state funds for water development or secondary water meters if the retail water
supplier, secondary water supplier, or wholesale water supplier complies with the requirements
of this section.
(9) Nothing in this section prohibits a retail water supplier or a secondary water
supplier from adopting or enforcing limitations or prohibitions on the use of water for lawn or
turf during times outside of the shoulder season.
Section 2. Section 
78B-6-2401
 is enacted to read:
 78B-6-2401.
Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Authorized officer" means:
(a) a law enforcement officer as defined in Section 
53-13-103
; or
(b) a local entity inspector.
(2) "Great Salt Lake basin" means the area within:
(a) the drainage areas of the Bear River or the Bear River's tributaries;
(b) the drainage areas of Bear Lake or Bear Lake's tributaries;
(c) the drainage areas of the Weber River or the Weber River's tributaries;
(d) the drainage areas of the Jordan River or the Jordan River's tributaries;
(e) the drainage areas of Utah Lake or Utah Lake's tributaries;
(f) other water drainages lying between the Bear River and the Jordan River that are
tributary to the Great Salt Lake and not included in the drainage areas described in Subsections
(2)(a) through (e); and
(g) the drainage area of Tooele Valley.
(3) "Lawn or turf" means nonagricultural land planted with mowed or managed
grasses.
(4) "Local entity" means the municipality or county where the real property is located.
(5) "Local entity inspector" is a person appointed by a local entity for the purpose of
enforcing the provisions of this chapter.
(6) "Non-owner occupant" means a person:
(a) who is not an owner of record of the real property and who occupies the property
under a lease, contract, or other agreement with the owner;
(b) who manages the property; or
(c) who is responsible for the property, including a manager or agent of the owner.
(7) "Public benefit property" means real property that is dedicated primarily to public
use, regardless of ownership, and is limited to:
(a) a school;
(b) an amphitheater;
(c) a park or play field;
(d) a cemetery;
(e) a golf course; or
(f) a stadium or other venue that uses lawn or turf for professional, semi-professional,
or collegiate sports.
(8) "Restricted period" means:
(a) within the Great Salt Lake basin, the period of time before May 1 and after October
1;
(b) within a particular county, a day on which the Division of Water Resources posts a
notice on a website administered by the division indicating that no irrigation of lawn or turf
should be conducted on that day; or
(c) a day that irrigation of lawn or turf is prohibited by an ordinance, resolution,
regulation, or rule of the municipality, county, retail public water supplier, or secondary water
supplier where the real property is located.
(9) "Secondary water" means water that:
(a) is delivered to and used by an end user for the irrigation of landscaping or a garden;
and
(b) is not culinary water or water used on land assessed under Title 59, Chapter 2, Part
5, Farmland Assessment Act.
Section 3. Section 
78B-6-2402
 is enacted to read:
 78B-6-2402.
Citation - Civil penalty.
(1) Except as provided in Subsection (4), an owner or non-owner occupant of real
property may not knowingly conduct, aid, or allow the use of culinary water or pressurized
secondary water for the irrigation of lawn or turf during a restricted period.
(2) An authorized officer may issue a written citation to an owner or non-owner
occupant who violates Subsection (1).
(3) An individual who receives a citation under this section is subject to a civil penalty
of:
(a) a fine of $45 for the first citation; or
(b) double the fine imposed for an immediately preceding citation in the same calendar
year.
(4) This section does not apply to:
(a) public benefit property;
(b) an owner or non-owner occupant of real property for a reasonable period after new
sod has been laid or new grass seed germinates; or
(c) a commercial agricultural operation, including a sod farm.
(5) An owner or non-owner occupant of real property is subject to the provisions of
this part regardless of whether the individual is directly responsible for the operation of the
irrigation system serving the lawn or turf.
(6) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (7), an authorized officer shall serve written
notice, as a warning, in accordance with Subsection (6)(b) at least three days before the day on
which the authorized officer issues a citation under this part, to:
(i) a property owner of record according to the records of the county recorder; or
(ii) a non-owner occupant of the property if the property owner is not an occupant of
the property.
(b) The written notice described in Subsection (6)(a) shall be served:
(i) on the owner of record by posting on the property, or by mailing the notice to the
last-known address of the owner, according to the county recorder's records; or
(ii) subject to Subsection (6)(a)(ii), on a non-owner occupant of the property, by
posting on the property or by mail to the property address.
(c) In the written notice described in Subsection (6)(a), the authorized officer shall:
(i) identify the property owner of record according to the county recorder's records;
(ii) identify the relevant ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule, or notice establishing
the restricted period;
(iii) describe the violation of the relevant ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule, or
notice; and
(iv) describe the fine that may be imposed.
(d) If an owner or non-owner occupant that is served a notice described in Subsection
(6)(b) ceases violation of the provision described in the notice within three days after the day
on which the notice is served, the authorized officer may not issue a citation, unless, after the
three-day period described in this Subsection (6)(d), the owner or non-owner occupant violates
a provision described in Subsection (6)(c)(iii).
(7) An authorized officer is not required to make more than one written notice under
Subsection (6) for each calendar year.
Section 4. Section 
78B-6-2403
 is enacted to read:
 78B-6-2403.
Collection of civil penalty.
(1) A local entity shall mail a notice of the civil penalty amount, for a citation issued
under Section 
78B-6-2402
, by first-class or certified mail within 14 days after the day on which
a citation is issued under Section 
78B-6-2402
.
(2) (a) An individual liable under Section 
78B-6-2402
 shall remit payment of a civil
penalty to the local entity that provides the notice required by Subsection (1) within 90 days
after the day on which the notice is sent.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (2)(a), a local entity may:
(i) reduce the amount of a civil penalty; or
(ii) negotiate a payment schedule for a civil penalty.
(3) (a) A civil penalty imposed under this section may be appealed as provided in
Section 
78B-6-2405
.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (2), the payment of a civil payment is stayed pending
an appeal made under Section 
78B-6-2405
.
(4) The amount of a civil penalty owed under this part is considered a debt owed to the
local entity by the person cited under this part.
(5) Upon receiving the notice required by Subsection (1), a person owing a civil
penalty under this section is liable in a civil action brought in the name of the local entity for
recovery of:
(a) the civil penalty; and
(b) reasonable attorney fees.
Section 5. Section 
78B-6-2404
 is enacted to read:
 78B-6-2404.
Reservation of legal options - Ordinances.
(1) The provisions of this part are provided for in addition to any other civil or criminal
statute.
(2) A local entity may adopt by ordinance stricter provisions controlling the use of
water on lawn or turf, including a different or higher fine schedule, than those provided in this
part.
Section 6. Section 
78B-6-2405
 is enacted to read:
 78B-6-2405.
Appeals.
A person that receives a civil penalty under this part may appeal the penalty under the
procedures used by the local entity for appealing a violation of an ordinance.