Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 471 (2024GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Lyman, P.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/12/2024

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• asserts ownership and jurisdiction over roads included on a county's class B and class D road map or a county travel plan unless the road has been closed through proper adjudicative proceedings;
• allows the state or a county to disregard any attempted closure of a road without due process;
• asserts that the burden of proof to show the need to close a road or to claim ownership falls on the federal government; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

This document includes House Committee Amendments incorporated into the bill on Mon, Feb 26, 2024 at 11:00 AM by housengrossing.
PUBLIC LANDS POSSESSION AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Phil Lyman
Senate Sponsor: 
 Curtis S. Bramble
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill asserts ownership and exclusive jurisdiction of roads included on a county
travel plan and requires due process before the federal government may close a road.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ asserts ownership and jurisdiction over roads included on a county's class B and
class D road map or a county travel plan unless the road has been closed through
proper adjudicative proceedings;
▸ allows the state or a county to disregard any attempted closure of a road without due
process;
▸ asserts that the burden of proof to show the need to close a road or to claim
ownership falls on the federal government; and
▸ makes technical changes. 
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
63C-4a-403
, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapter 101
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
63C-4a-403
 is amended to read:
63C-4a-403.
Plans for R.S. 2477 rights and constitutional defense -- Contents.
(1) (a) Any road
Ĥ→ 
on or across federally managed property and
 ←Ĥ
that is found on
32a 
a county's class B and class D road map or a county
travel plan is presumed to be a public road open for public use unless the road has been closed
through an appropriate action of the state or federal government properly adjudicated and with
due process.
(b) If the federal government attempts to close a road on a county's class B and class D
road map or county travel plan without proper adjudication and due process:
(i) the closure is invalid and has no effect; and
(ii) the state and county may disregard the alleged closure.
(c) In an adjudication to determine ownership of a disputed road that is included in a
county travel plan, including an R.S. 2477 claim, the federal government has the burden of
proof to show that the disputed road is not a public road and warrants closure.
[
(1)
] 
(2)
 The council may approve an R.S. 2477 plan if the R.S. 2477 plan:
(a) provides for a good faith, cooperative effort between the state and each
participating county;
(b) allows a county to formally agree to participate in the R.S. 2477 plan by adopting a
resolution;
(c) provides that the state and a participating county are equal partners in determining
litigation strategy and the expenditure of resources with respect to that county's rights under
R.S. 2477; and
(d) provides a process for resolving any disagreement between the state and a
participating county about litigation strategy or resource expenditure that includes the
following requirements:
(i) the governor or the governor's designee and a representative of the Utah Association
of Counties shall first attempt to resolve the disagreement;
(ii) if the county and the state continue to disagree, the county, the governor, and the
Utah Association of Counties shall present their recommendations to the council for a final
decision about the strategy or expenditure in question; and
(iii) the county may pursue a strategy or make an expenditure contrary to the final
decision of the council only if the county does not claim resources provided to fund the R.S.
2477 plan.
[
(2)
] 
(3)
 The council shall ensure that the R.S. 2477 plan contains:
(a) provisions identifying which expenditure types require approval of the R.S. 2477
plan committee and which expenditure types may be made without the R.S. 2477 plan
committee approval;
(b) provisions requiring that financial statements be provided to members of the R.S.
2477 plan committee and members of the council, and the frequency with which those financial
statements must be provided; [
and
]
(c) provisions identifying those decisions or types of decisions that may be made by the
R.S. 2477 plan committee and those decisions or types of decisions that must be referred to the
council for decision[
.
]
; and
(d) procedures to assert claims and respond to attempted closures as described in
Subsection (1).
[
(3)
] 
(4)
 (a) The Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, in consultation with the
committee, the Office of the Attorney General and the School and Institutional Trust Lands,
shall prepare and submit a constitutional defense plan to the council for the council's approval.
(b) The constitutional defense plan shall contain proposed action and expenditure for:
(i) the council's or the commission's duties; or
(ii) an action filed in accordance with Section 
67-5-29
.
[
(4)
] 
(5)
 The council shall:
(a) review expenditures, at least quarterly, made to further a plan approved under this
section;
(b) approve an update to a plan under this section at least annually, or more often, if
necessary; and
(c) jointly, with the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, present a R.S. 2477 plan
approved under this section, with any updates, to:
(i) the Legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim
Committee by July 1 of each calendar year, after providing the R.S. 2477 plan to the committee
at least seven days before the presentation;
(ii) the commission, which may be by mail; and
(iii) the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives, which
may be by mail.
Section 2. 
Effective date.
This bill takes effect on May 1, 2024.