Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 355 (2025GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Snider, Casey

Final action

Governor Signed 3/26/2025

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• modifies definitions;
• changes vested critical infrastructure materials use provisions including making them more similar to vested mining provisions;
• addresses operations on new land for critical infrastructure materials uses and for mining uses;
• addresses critical dates;
• amends provisions related to vested mining operations;
• repeals study requirements; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

48
10-9a-901
10-9a-902
10-9a-903
10-9a-905
17-27a-1001
17-27a-1002
17-27a-1003
17-27a-1005
17-41-101
17-41-102
17-41-402
17-41-502
78B-6-1101
0
Mining and Critical Infrastructure Materials Amendments
2025 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Casey Snider
Senate Sponsor: Scott D. Sandall
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses mining and critical infrastructure materials operations.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
modifies definitions;
changes vested critical infrastructure materials use provisions including making them 
more similar to vested mining provisions;
addresses operations on new land for critical infrastructure materials uses and for mining 
uses;
addresses critical dates;
amends provisions related to vested mining operations;
repeals study requirements; and
makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
10-9a-901
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 227
10-9a-902
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 227
10-9a-903
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 227
10-9a-905
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 227
17-27a-1001
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 227
17-27a-1002
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 227
17-27a-1003
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 227
17-27a-1005
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 227
17-41-101
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 70
17-41-402
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 227
17-41-502
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2009, Chapter 376
78B-6-1101
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapter 207
REPEALS:
17-41-102
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 87
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1, Section 
10-9a-901
 is amended to read:
10-9a-901
. Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1)
"Commercial quantities," for purposes of this section, means critical infrastructure 
materials:
(a)
extracted or processed by a commercial enterprise in the ordinary course of business; 
and
(b)
in a sufficient amount that the critical infrastructure materials introduction into 
commerce would create a reasonable expectation of profit.
(2)
"Contiguous land" means surface or subsurface land that shares a common boundary 
and is not separated by a highway as defined in Section 
41-6a-102
.
(3)
"Critical infrastructure materials" means sand, gravel, or rock aggregate.
(2)
(4)
"Critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
" means the extraction, excavation, 
processing, or reprocessing of critical infrastructure materials.
(3)
(5)
"Critical infrastructure materials operator" means a natural person, corporation, 
association, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, 
agent, or other organization or representative, either public or private, including a 
successor, assign, affiliate, subsidiary, and related parent company, that:
(a)
owns, controls, or manages a critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
; and
(b)
has produced commercial quantities of critical infrastructure materials from the 
critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
.
(6)
"Existing legal use" means a critical infrastructure materials use that has operated in 
accordance with:
(a)
a legal nonconforming use that has not been abandoned for more than 24 consecutive 
months; or
(b)
a permit issued by the applicable political subdivision.
(7)
"New land" means surface or subsurface land that a critical infrastructure materials 
operator gains ownership or control of on or before January 1, 2026, regardless of 
whether that land is included in any applicable permit issued by a political subdivision 
or a legal nonconforming use.
(4)
(8)
"Vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
" means 
a 
critical 
infrastructure materials 
operations operating in accordance with a legal nonconforming 
use or a permit issued by the municipality that existed or was conducted or otherwise 
engaged in before:
use by a critical infrastructure materials operator that is an existing 
legal use.
(a)
a political subdivision prohibits, restricts, or otherwise limits the critical 
infrastructure materials operations; and
(b)
January 1, 2019.
Section 2, Section 
10-9a-902
 is amended to read:
10-9a-902
. Vested critical infrastructure materials use -- Presumption.
(1)
(a)
Critical 
A critical 
infrastructure materials 
operations operating in accordance 
with a legal nonconforming use or a permit issued by the municipality are 
conclusively
use is
 presumed to be 
a 
vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 if the critical infrastructure materials 
operations permitted by the 
municipality, existed or was conducted or otherwise engaged in before January 1, 
2019 and before when a political subdivision prohibits, restricts, or otherwise limits 
the critical infrastructure materials operations.
use meets the definition of vested 
critical infrastructure materials use in Section 
10-9a-901
.
(b)
A person claiming that a vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations has been
use has not been
 established has the burden of proof to show by the preponderance of 
the evidence that the vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 has
 not
been established.
(2)
A vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
:
(a)
runs with the land; and
(b)
may be changed to another critical infrastructure materials 
operations conducted 
within the scope of a legal nonconforming use or the permit for the vested critical 
infrastructure materials operations
use
 without losing its status as a vested critical 
infrastructure materials 
operations
use
.
(3)
The present or future boundary of the critical infrastructure materials use of a critical 
infrastructure materials operator with a vested critical infrastructure materials use does 
not limit:
(a)
the scope of rights of a critical infrastructure materials operator with a vested critical 
infrastructure material use; or
(b)
the protection for a critical infrastructure materials protection area.
(4)
(a)
A critical infrastructure operator with a vested critical infrastructure materials use 
shall file a declaration for recording in the office of the recorder of the county in 
which the vested critical infrastructure materials use is located.
(b)
A declaration under Subsection (4)(a) shall:
(i)
contain a legal description of the land included within the vested critical 
infrastructure materials use; and
(ii)
provide notice of the vested critical infrastructure materials use.
Section 3, Section 
10-9a-903
 is amended to read:
10-9a-903
. Rights of a critical infrastructure materials operator with a vested 
critical infrastructure materials use.
(1)
Notwithstanding a political subdivision's prohibition, restriction, or other limitation 
on a critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 adopted after the establishment of 
the critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
, the rights of a critical infrastructure 
materials operator with 
a 
vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 include
with respect to that existing legal use
 the right to:
(a)
progress, extend, enlarge, grow, or expand the vested critical infrastructure materials 
use to any contiguous land that the critical infrastructure materials operator owns or 
controls before May 7, 2025;
(b)
expand the vested critical infrastructure materials use to new land that is contiguous 
land to the surface or subsurface land on which the critical infrastructure materials 
operator has a vested critical infrastructure materials use, including the surface or 
subsurface land under Subsection 
(1)(a)
;
(1)
(c)
use, operate, construct, reconstruct, restore, 
extend, expand, 
maintain, repair, 
alter, substitute, modernize, upgrade, and replace equipment, processes, facilities, and 
buildings
; and
on any surface or subsurface land that the critical infrastructure 
materials operator owns or controls before May 7, 2025;
(d)
on any surface or subsurface land that the critical infrastructure materials operator 
owns or controls before May 7, 2025:
(i)
increase production or volume;
(ii)
alter the method of extracting or processing, including with respect to the vested 
use, the right to stockpile or hold in reserve critical infrastructure materials, to 
recycle, and to batch and mix concrete and asphalt; and
(iii)
extract or process a different or additional critical infrastructure material than 
previously extracted or processed on the surface or subsurface land; and
(2)
(e)
discontinue, suspend, terminate, deactivate, or continue and reactivate, 
temporarily or permanently, all or any part of the critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
.
(2)
(a)
As used in this Subsection (2), "applicable legislative body" means the legislative 
body of each:
(i)
county in whose unincorporated area the new land to be included in the vested 
critical infrastructure materials use is located; or
(ii)
municipality in which the new land to be included in the critical infrastructure 
materials use is located.
(b)
A critical infrastructure materials operator with a vested critical infrastructure 
materials use is presumed to have a right to expand the vested critical infrastructure 
materials use to new land.
(c)
Before expanding a vested critical infrastructure materials use to new land, a critical 
infrastructure materials operator shall provide written notice:
(i)
of the critical infrastructure materials operator's intent to expand the vested critical 
infrastructure materials use; and
(ii)
to each applicable legislative body.
(d)
(i)
An applicable legislative body shall:
(A)
hold a public meeting or hearing at the applicable legislative body's next 
available meeting that is no later than 30 days after receiving the notice under 
Subsection (2)(c); and
(B)
provide reasonable, advance, written notice of the intended expansion of the 
vested critical infrastructure materials use and the public meeting or hearing to 
each owner of the surface estate of the new land.
(ii)
A public meeting or hearing under Subsection (2)(d)(i) serves to provide 
sufficient public notice of the critical infrastructure materials operator's intent to 
expand the vested critical infrastructure materials use to the new land.
(e)
After the public meeting or hearing under Subsection (2)(d)(i), a critical 
infrastructure materials operator may expand a vested critical infrastructure materials 
use to new land without any action by an applicable legislative body, unless the 
applicable legislative body finds by the preponderance of the evidence on the record 
that the expansion to new land will endanger the public health, safety, and welfare. If 
the applicable legislative body makes the finding of endangerment described in this 
Subsection 
(2)(e)
, Subsection 
(4)
 applies.
(3)
If a critical infrastructure materials operator expands a vested critical infrastructure 
materials use to new land, as authorized under this section:
(a)
the critical infrastructure materials operator's rights under the vested critical 
infrastructure materials use with respect to land on which the vested critical 
infrastructure materials use occurs apply with equal force after the expansion to the 
new land; and
(b)
the critical infrastructure materials protection area that includes land on which the 
vested critical infrastructure materials use occurs is expanded to include the new land.
(4)
(a)
 If the applicable legislative body makes the finding of endangerment described in 
Subsection (2)(e):
(i)
the critical infrastructure materials operator shall submit to the applicable 
legislative body the critical infrastructure materials operator's plan for expansion 
under this section;
(ii)
by no later than 90 days after receipt of the plan for expansion described in 
Subsection 
(4)(a)
(i), the applicable legislative body shall notify the operator of:
(A)
evidence that the expansion to new land will endanger the public health, 
safety, and welfare; and
(B)
proposed measures to mitigate the endangerment of the public health, safety, 
and welfare; and
(iii)
the applicable legislative body shall hold a public hearing by no later than 30 
days after the date the applicable legislative body complies with Subsection 
(4)(a)(ii) to present mitigation measures proposed under Subsection 
(4)(a)(ii)
.
(b)
The applicable legislative body may impose mitigation measures under this 
Subsection 
(4)
 that are reasonable and do not exceed requirements imposed by 
permits issued by a state agency such as an air quality permit.
(c)
A political subdivision may not prohibit the expansion of a vested critical 
infrastructure materials use if the critical infrastructure materials operator agrees to 
comply with the mitigation measures described in Subsection 
(4)(b)
.
(d)
The process under this Subsection 
(4)
 is not a land use application or conditional use 
application under this chapter.
Section 4, Section 
10-9a-905
 is amended to read:
10-9a-905
. Abandonment of a vested critical infrastructure materials use.
(1)
A critical infrastructure materials operator may abandon some or all of a vested critical 
infrastructure materials 
operations 
use only as provided in this section.
(2)
To abandon some or all of a vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
, a 
critical infrastructure materials operator shall record a written declaration of 
abandonment with the recorder of the county in which the vested critical infrastructure 
materials 
operations
use
 being abandoned is located.
(3)
The written declaration of abandonment under Subsection 
(2)
 shall specify the vested 
critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 or the portion of the vested critical 
infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 being abandoned.
Section 5, Section 
17-27a-1001
 is amended to read:
17-27a-1001
. Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1)
"Commercial quantities," for purposes of this section, means critical infrastructure 
materials:
(a)
extracted or processed by a commercial enterprise in the ordinary course of business; 
and
(b)
in a sufficient amount that the critical infrastructure materials introduction into 
commerce would create a reasonable expectation of profit.
(2)
"Contiguous land" means surface or subsurface land that shares a common boundary 
and is not separated by a highway as defined in Section 
41-6a-102
.
(3)
"Critical infrastructure materials" means sand, gravel, or rock aggregate.
(2)
(4)
"Critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
" means the extraction, excavation, 
processing, or reprocessing of critical infrastructure materials.
(3)
(5)
"Critical infrastructure materials operator" means a natural person, corporation, 
association, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, 
agent, or other organization or representative, either public or private, including a 
successor, assign, affiliate, subsidiary, and related parent company, that:
(a)
owns, controls, or manages a critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
; and
(b)
has produced commercial quantities of critical infrastructure materials from the 
critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
.
(6)
"Existing legal use" means a critical infrastructure materials use that has operated in 
accordance with:
(a)
a legal nonconforming use that has not been abandoned for more than 24 consecutive 
months; or
(b)
a permit issued by the applicable political subdivision.
(7)
"New land" means surface or subsurface land that a critical infrastructure materials 
operator gains ownership or control of on or before January 1, 2026, regardless of 
whether that land is included in any applicable permit issued by a political subdivision 
or a legal nonconforming use.
(4)
(8)
"Vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
" means 
a 
critical 
infrastructure materials operations 
operating in accordance with a legal nonconforming 
use or a permit issued by the county that existed or was conducted or otherwise engaged 
in before:
(a)
a political subdivision prohibits, restricts, or otherwise limits the critical 
infrastructure materials operations; and
(b)
January 1, 2019
use by a critical infrastructure materials operator that is an existing 
legal use
.
Section 6, Section 
17-27a-1002
 is amended to read:
17-27a-1002
. Vested critical infrastructure materials use-- Presumption.
(1)
(a)
Critical 
A critical 
infrastructure materials 
operations operating in accordance 
with a legal nonconforming use or a permit issued by the county are conclusively
use 
is
 presumed to be 
a 
vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 if the 
critical infrastructure materials 
operations permitted by the county, existed or was 
conducted or otherwise engaged in before January 1, 2019 and before when a 
political subdivision prohibits, restricts, or otherwise limits the critical infrastructure 
materials operations.
use meets the definition of vested critical infrastructure 
materials use as defined in Section 
17-27a-1001
.
(b)
A person claiming that a vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations has been
use has not been
 established has the burden of proof to show by the preponderance of 
the evidence that the vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations has been
use 
has not been
 established.
(2)
A vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
:
(a)
runs with the land; and
(b)
may be changed to another critical infrastructure materials 
operations conducted 
within the scope of a legal nonconforming use or the permit for the vested critical 
infrastructure materials operations
use
 without losing its status as a vested critical 
infrastructure materials 
operations
use
.
(3)
The present or future boundary of the critical infrastructure materials use of a critical 
infrastructure materials operator with a vested critical infrastructure materials use does 
not limit:
(a)
the scope of rights of a critical infrastructure materials operator with a vested critical 
infrastructure material use; or
(b)
the protection for a critical infrastructure materials protection area.
(4)
(a)
A critical infrastructure operator with a vested critical infrastructure materials use 
shall file a declaration for recording in the office of the recorder of the county in 
which the vested critical infrastructure materials use is located.
(b)
A declaration under Subsection (4)(a) shall:
(i)
contain a legal description of the land included within the vested critical 
infrastructure materials use; and
(ii)
provide notice of the vested critical infrastructure materials use.
Section 7, Section 
17-27a-1003
 is amended to read:
17-27a-1003
. Rights of a critical infrastructure materials operator with a vested 
critical infrastructure materials use.
(1)
Notwithstanding a political subdivision's prohibition, restriction, or other limitation 
on a critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 adopted after the establishment of 
the critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
, the rights of a critical infrastructure 
materials operator with 
a 
vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 include 
with respect to that existing legal use 
the right to:
(a)
progress, extend, enlarge, grow, or expand the vested critical infrastructure materials 
use to any contiguous land that the critical infrastructure materials operator owns or 
controls before May 7, 2025;
(b)
expand the vested critical infrastructure materials use to new land that is contiguous 
land to the surface or subsurface land on which the critical infrastructure materials 
operator has a vested critical infrastructure materials use, including the surface or 
subsurface land under Subsection (1)(a);
(1)
(c)
use, operate, construct, reconstruct, restore, 
extend, expand, 
maintain, repair, 
alter, substitute, modernize, upgrade, and replace equipment, processes, facilities, and 
buildings
; and
, on any surface or subsurface land that the critical infrastructure 
materials operator owns or controls before May 7, 2025;
(d)
on any surface or subsurface land that the critical infrastructure materials operator 
owns or controls before May 7, 2025:
(i)
increase production or volume;
(ii)
alter the method of extracting or processing, including with respect to the vested 
use, the right to stockpile or hold in reserve critical infrastructure materials, to 
recycle, and to batch and mix concrete and asphalt; and
(iii)
extract or process a different or additional critical infrastructure material than 
previously extracted or processed on the surface or subsurface land; and
(2)
(e)
discontinue, suspend, terminate, deactivate, or continue and reactivate, 
temporarily or permanently, all or any part of the critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
.
(2)
(a)
As used in this Subsection (2), "applicable legislative body" means the legislative 
body of each:
(i)
county in whose unincorporated area the new land to be included in the vested 
critical infrastructure materials use is located; or
(ii)
municipality in which the new land to be included in the critical infrastructure 
use is located.
(b)
A critical infrastructure materials operator with a vested critical infrastructure 
materials use is presumed to have a right to expand the vested critical infrastructure 
materials use to new land.
(c)
Before expanding a vested critical infrastructure materials use to new land, a critical 
infrastructure materials operator shall provide written notice:
(i)
of the critical infrastructure materials operator's intent to expand the vested critical 
infrastructure materials use; and
(ii)
to each applicable legislative body.
(d)
(i)
An applicable legislative body shall:
(A)
hold a public meeting or hearing at the applicable legislative body's next 
available meeting that is no later than 30 days after receiving the notice under 
Subsection (2)(c); and
(B)
provide reasonable, advance, written notice of the intended expansion of the 
vested critical infrastructure materials use and the public meeting or hearing to 
each owner of the surface estate of the new land.
(ii)
A public meeting or hearing under Subsection (2)(d)(i) serves to provide 
sufficient public notice of the critical infrastructure materials operator's intent to 
expand the vested critical infrastructure materials use to the new land.
(e)
After the public meeting or hearing under Subsection (2)(d)(i), a critical 
infrastructure materials operator may expand a vested critical infrastructure materials 
use to new land without any action by an applicable legislative body, unless the 
applicable legislative body finds by the preponderance of the evidence on the record 
that the expansion to new land will endanger the public health, safety, and welfare. If 
the applicable legislative body makes the finding of endangerment described in this 
Subsection 
(2)(e)
, Subsection 
(4)
 applies.
(3)
If a critical infrastructure materials operator expands a vested critical infrastructure 
materials use to new land, as authorized under this section:
(a)
the critical infrastructure materials operator's rights under the vested critical 
infrastructure materials use with respect to land on which the vested critical 
infrastructure materials use occurs apply with equal force after the expansion to the 
new land; and
(b)
the critical infrastructure materials protection area that includes land on which the 
vested critical infrastructure materials use occurs is expanded to include the new land.
(4)
(a)
If the applicable legislative body makes the finding of endangerment described in 
Subsection (2)(e):
(i)
the critical infrastructure materials operator shall submit to the applicable 
legislative body the critical infrastructure materials operator's plan for expansion 
under this section;
(ii)
by no later than 90 days after receipt of the plan for expansion described in 
Subsection (4)(a)(i), the applicable legislative body shall notify the operator of:
(A)
evidence that the expansion to new land will endanger the public health, 
safety, and welfare; and
(B)
proposed measures to mitigate the endangerment of the public health, safety, 
and welfare; and
(iii)
the applicable legislative body shall hold a public hearing by no later than 30 
days after the date the applicable legislative body complies with Subsection 
(4)(a)(ii) to present mitigation measures proposed under Subsection (4)(a)(ii).
(b)
The applicable legislative body may impose mitigation measures under this 
Subsection (4) that are reasonable and do not exceed requirements imposed by 
permits issued by a state agency such as an air quality permit.
(c)
A political subdivision may not prohibit the expansion of a vested critical 
infrastructure materials use if the critical infrastructure materials operator agrees to 
comply with the mitigation measures described in Subsection (4)(b).
(d)
The process under this Subsection (4) is not a land use application or conditional use 
application under this chapter.
Section 8, Section 
17-27a-1005
 is amended to read:
17-27a-1005
. Abandonment of a vested critical infrastructure materials use.
(1)
A critical infrastructure materials operator may abandon some or all of a vested critical 
infrastructure materials 
operations 
use only as provided in this section.
(2)
To abandon some or all of a vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
, a 
critical infrastructure materials operator shall record a written declaration of 
abandonment with the recorder of the county in which the vested critical infrastructure 
materials 
operations
use
 being abandoned is located.
(3)
The written declaration of abandonment under Subsection 
(2)
 shall specify the vested 
critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 or the portion of the vested critical 
infrastructure materials 
operations
use
 being abandoned.
Section 9, Section 
17-41-101
 is amended to read:
17-41-101
. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1)
"Advisory board" means:
(a)
for an agriculture protection area, the agriculture protection area advisory board 
created as provided in Section 
17-41-201
;
(b)
for an industrial protection area, the industrial protection area advisory board created 
as provided in Section 
17-41-201
; and
(c)
for a critical infrastructure materials protection area, the critical infrastructure 
materials protection area advisory board created as provided in Section 
17-41-201
.
(2)
(a)
"Agriculture production" means production for commercial purposes of crops, 
livestock, and livestock products.
(b)
"Agriculture production" includes the processing or retail marketing of any crops, 
livestock, and livestock products when more than 50% of the processed or 
merchandised products are produced by the farm operator.
(3)
"Agriculture protection area" means a geographic area created under the authority of 
this chapter that is granted the specific legal protections contained in this chapter.
(4)
"Applicable legislative body" means:
(a)
with respect to a proposed agriculture protection area, industrial protection area, or 
critical infrastructure materials protection area:
(i)
the legislative body of the county in which the land proposed to be included in the 
relevant protection area is located, if the land is within the unincorporated part of 
the county; or
(ii)
the legislative body of the city or town in which the land proposed to be included 
in the relevant protection area is located; and
(b)
with respect to an existing agriculture protection area, industrial protection area, or 
critical infrastructure materials protection area:
(i)
the legislative body of the county in which the relevant protection area is located, 
if the relevant protection area is within the unincorporated part of the county; or
(ii)
the legislative body of the city or town in which the relevant protection area is 
located.
(5)
"Board" means the Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining created in Section 
40-6-4
.
(6)
"Critical infrastructure materials" means sand, gravel, or rock aggregate.
(7)
"Critical infrastructure materials operations" means the extraction, excavation, 
processing, or reprocessing of critical infrastructure materials.
(8)
"Critical infrastructure materials operator" means a natural person, corporation, 
association, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, 
agent, or other organization or representative, either public or private, including a 
successor, assign, affiliate, subsidiary, and related parent company, that:
(a)
owns, controls, or manages a critical infrastructure materials operation; and
(b)
has produced commercial quantities of critical infrastructure materials from the 
critical infrastructure materials operations.
(9)
"Critical infrastructure materials protection area" means a geographic area created under 
the authority of this chapter on or after May 14, 2019, that is granted the specific legal 
protections contained in this chapter.
(10)
"Crops, livestock, and livestock products" includes:
(a)
land devoted to the raising of useful plants and animals with a reasonable expectation 
of profit, including:
(i)
forages and sod crops;
(ii)
grains and feed crops;
(iii)
livestock as defined in Section 
59-2-102
;
(iv)
trees and fruits; or
(v)
vegetables, nursery, floral, and ornamental stock; or
(b)
land devoted to and meeting the requirements and qualifications for payments or 
other compensation under a crop-land retirement program with an agency of the state 
or federal government.
(11)
"Division" means the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining created in Section 
40-6-15
.
(12)
"Industrial protection area" means a geographic area created under the authority of this 
chapter that is granted the specific legal protections contained in this chapter.
(13)
"Mine operator" means a natural person, corporation, association, partnership, 
receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, agent, or other 
organization or representative, either public or private, including a successor, assign, 
affiliate, subsidiary, and related parent company, that, 
as of
before
 January 1, 2019:
(a)
owns, controls, or manages a mining use under a large mine permit issued by the 
division or the board; and
(b)
has produced commercial quantities of a mineral deposit from the mining use.
(14)
"Mineral deposit" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
40-8-4
.
(15)
"Mining protection area" means land where a vested mining use occurs, including each 
surface or subsurface land or mineral estate that a mine operator with a vested mining 
use owns or controls
 on January 1, 2026
.
(16)
"Mining use":
(a)
means:
(i)
the full range of activities, from prospecting and exploration to reclamation and 
closure, associated with the exploitation of a mineral deposit; and
(ii)
the use of the surface and subsurface and groundwater and surface water of an 
area in connection with the activities described in Subsection (16)(a)(i) that have 
been, are being, or will be conducted; and
(b)
includes, whether conducted on-site or off-site:
(i)
any sampling, staking, surveying, exploration, or development activity;
(ii)
any drilling, blasting, excavating, or tunneling;
(iii)
the removal, transport, treatment, deposition, and reclamation of overburden, 
development rock, tailings, and other waste material;
(iv)
any removal, transportation, extraction, beneficiation, or processing of ore;
(v)
any smelting, refining, autoclaving, or other primary or secondary processing 
operation;
(vi)
the recovery of any mineral left in residue from a previous extraction or 
processing operation;
(vii)
a mining activity that is identified in a work plan or permitting document;
(viii)
the use, operation, maintenance, repair, replacement, or alteration of a building, 
structure, facility, equipment, machine, tool, or other material or property that 
results from or is used in a surface or subsurface mining operation or activity;
(ix)
any accessory, incidental, or ancillary activity or use, both active and passive, 
including a utility, private way or road, pipeline, land excavation, working, 
embankment, pond, gravel excavation, mining waste, conveyor, power line, 
trackage, storage, reserve, passive use area, buffer zone, and power production 
facility;
(x)
the construction of a storage, factory, processing, or maintenance facility; and
(xi)
an activity described in Subsection 
40-8-4
(19)(a).
(17)
(a)
"Municipal" means of or relating to a city or town.
(b)
"Municipality" means a city or town.
(18)
"New land" means surface or subsurface land or mineral estate that a mine operator 
gains ownership or control of, whether that land or mineral estate is included in the mine 
operator's large mine permit.
(19)
"Off-site" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
40-8-4
.
(20)
"On-site" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
40-8-4
.
(21)
"Planning commission" means:
(a)
a countywide planning commission if the land proposed to be included in the 
agriculture protection area, industrial protection area, or critical infrastructure 
materials protection area is within the unincorporated part of the county and not 
within a planning advisory area;
(b)
a planning advisory area planning commission if the land proposed to be included in 
the agriculture protection area, industrial protection area, or critical infrastructure 
materials protection area is within a planning advisory area; or
(c)
a planning commission of a city or town if the land proposed to be included in the 
agriculture protection area, industrial protection area, or critical infrastructure 
materials protection area is within a city or town.
(22)
"Political subdivision" means a county, city, town, school district, special district, or 
special service district.
(23)
"Proposal sponsors" means the owners of land in agricultural production, industrial 
use, or critical infrastructure materials operations who are sponsoring the proposal for 
creating an agriculture protection area, industrial protection area, or critical 
infrastructure materials protection area.
(24)
"State agency" means each department, commission, board, council, agency, 
institution, officer, corporation, fund, division, office, committee, authority, laboratory, 
library, unit, bureau, panel, or other administrative unit of the state.
(25)
"Unincorporated" means not within a city or town.
(26)
"Vested mining use" means a mining use:
(a)
by a mine operator; and
(b)
that existed or was conducted or otherwise engaged in before a political subdivision 
prohibits, restricts, or otherwise limits a mining use.
Section 10, Section 
17-41-402
 is amended to read:
17-41-402
. Limitations on local regulations.
(1)
A political subdivision within which an agriculture protection area, industrial protection 
area, or critical infrastructure materials protection area is created or with a mining 
protection area within its boundary shall encourage the continuity, development, and 
viability of agriculture use, industrial use, critical infrastructure materials operations, or 
mining use, within the relevant protection area by not enacting a local law, ordinance, or 
regulation that, unless the law, ordinance, or regulation bears a direct relationship to 
public health or safety, would unreasonably restrict:
(a)
in the case of an agriculture protection area, a farm structure or farm practice;
(b)
in the case of an industrial protection area, an industrial use of the land within the 
area;
(c)
in the case of a critical infrastructure materials protection area, critical infrastructure 
materials operations; or
(d)
in the case of a mining protection area, a mining use within the protection area.
(2)
A political subdivision may not change the zoning designation of or a zoning regulation 
affecting land within an agriculture protection area unless the political subdivision 
receives written approval for the change from all the landowners within the agriculture 
protection area affected by the change.
(3)
Except as provided by Section 
19-4-113
, a political subdivision may not change the 
zoning designation of or a zoning regulation affecting land within an industrial 
protection area unless the political subdivision receives written approval for the change 
from all the landowners within the industrial protection area affected by the change.
(4)
A political subdivision may not change the zoning designation of or a zoning regulation 
affecting land within a critical infrastructure materials protection area unless the political 
subdivision receives written approval for the change from each critical infrastructure 
materials operator within the relevant area.
(5)
A political subdivision may not change the zoning designation of or a zoning regulation 
affecting land within a mining protection area unless the political subdivision receives 
written approval for the change from each mine operator within the area.
(6)
A county, city, or town may not:
(a)
adopt, enact, or amend an existing land use regulation, ordinance, or regulation that 
would prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit critical infrastructure materials 
operations
, including 
with a 
vested critical infrastructure materials 
operations
use
as defined in Section 
10-9a-901
 or 
17-27a-1001
; or
(b)
initiate proceedings to amend the county's, city's, or town's land use ordinances as 
described in Subsection 
10-9a-509(1)(a)(ii)
 or 
17-27a-508(1)(a)(ii)
 as it regards the 
rights of a critical infrastructure materials operator with a vested critical 
infrastructure materials use
.
Section 11, Section 
17-41-502
 is amended to read:
17-41-502
. Rights of a mine operator with a vested mining use -- Expanding 
vested mining use.
(1)
Notwithstanding a political subdivision's prohibition, restriction, or other limitation on a 
mining use adopted after the establishment of the mining use, the rights of a mine 
operator with a vested mining use include the rights to:
(a)
progress, extend, enlarge, grow, or expand the vested mining use to any surface or 
subsurface land or mineral estate that the mine operator owns or controls;
(b)
expand the vested mining use to any new land that:
(i)
is contiguous and related in mineralization to surface or subsurface land or a 
mineral estate that the mine operator already owns or controls;
(ii)
contains minerals that are part of the same mineral trend as the minerals that the 
mine operator already owns or controls; or
(iii)
is a geologic offshoot to surface or subsurface land or a mineral estate that the 
mine operator already owns or controls;
(c)
use, operate, construct, reconstruct, restore, extend, expand, maintain, repair, alter, 
substitute, modernize, upgrade, and replace equipment, processes, facilities, and 
buildings on any surface or subsurface land or mineral estate that the mine operator 
owns or controls;
(d)
increase production or volume, alter the method of mining or processing, and mine 
or process a different or additional mineral than previously mined or owned on any 
surface or subsurface land or mineral estate that the mine operator owns or controls; 
and
(e)
discontinue, suspend, terminate, deactivate, or continue and reactivate, temporarily 
or permanently, all or any part of the mining use.
(2)
(a)
As used in this Subsection 
(2)
, "applicable legislative body" means the legislative 
body of each:
(i)
county in whose unincorporated area the new land to be included in the vested 
mining use is located; and
(ii)
municipality in which the new land to be included in the vested mining use is 
located.
(b)
A mine operator with a vested mining use is presumed to have a right to expand the 
vested mining use to new land.
(c)
Before expanding a vested mining use to new land, a mine operator shall provide 
written notice:
(i)
of the mine operator's intent to expand the vested mining use; and
(ii)
to each applicable legislative body.
(d)
(i)
An applicable legislative body shall:
(A)
hold a public meeting or hearing at its next available meeting that is more than 
10 days after receiving the notice under Subsection 
(2)(c)
; and
(B)
provide reasonable, advance, written notice:
(I)
of:
(Aa)
the intended expansion of the vested mining use; and
(Bb)
the public meeting or hearing; and
(II)
to each owner of the surface estate of the new land.
(ii)
A public meeting or hearing under Subsection 
(2)(d)(i)
 serves to provide 
sufficient public notice of the mine operator's intent to expand the vested mining 
use to the new land.
(e)
After the public meeting or hearing under Subsection 
(2)(d)(ii)
, a mine operator may 
expand a vested mining use to new land without any action by an applicable 
legislative body, unless 
the applicable legislative body finds that 
there is clear and 
convincing evidence in the record that the expansion to new land will imminently 
endanger the public health, safety, and welfare.
 If the applicable legislative body 
makes the finding of endangerment described in this Subsection 
(2)(e)
, Subsection 
(4)
applies.
(3)
If a mine operator expands a vested mining use to new land, as authorized under this 
section:
(a)
the mine operator's rights under the vested mining use with respect to land on which 
the vested mining use occurs apply with equal force after the expansion to the new 
land; and
(b)
the mining protection area that includes land on which the vested mining use occurs 
is expanded to include the new land.
(4)
(a)
If the applicable legislative body makes the finding of endangerment described in 
Subsection (2)(e):
(i)
the mining operator shall submit to the applicable legislative body the mining 
operator's plan for expansion under this section;
(ii)
by no later than 30 days after receipt of the plan for expansion described in 
Subsection (4)(a)(i), the applicable legislative body shall notify the operator of:
(A)
evidence that the expansion to new land will endanger the public health, 
safety, and welfare; and
(B)
proposed measures to mitigate the endangerment of the public health, safety, 
and welfare; and
(iii)
the applicable legislative body shall hold a public hearing by no later than 30 
days after the date the applicable legislative body complies with Subsection 
(4)(a)(ii) to present mitigation measures proposed under Subsection (4)(a)(ii).
(b)
The applicable legislative body may impose mitigation measures under this 
Subsection (4) that are reasonable and do not exceed requirements imposed by 
permits issued by a state agency such as an air quality permit.
(c)
A political subdivision may not prohibit the expansion of a vested mining use if the 
mining operator agrees to comply with the mitigation measures described in 
Subsection (4)(b).
(d)
The process under this Subsection (4) is not a land use application or conditional use 
application under Title 10, Chapter 9a, Municipal Land Use, Development, and 
Management Act, or Chapter 27a, County Land Use, Development, and Management 
Act.
Section 12, Section 
78B-6-1101
 is amended to read:
78B-6-1101
. Definitions -- Nuisance -- Right of action -- Agriculture operations.
(1)
A nuisance is anything that is injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses, or an 
obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment 
of life or property. A nuisance may be the subject of an action.
(2)
A nuisance may include the following:
(a)
drug houses and drug dealing as provided in Section 
78B-6-1107
;
(b)
gambling as provided in 
Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 11, Gambling
;
(c)
criminal activity committed in concert with three or more persons as provided in 
Section 
76-3-203.1
;
(d)
criminal activity committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association 
with any criminal street gang as defined in Section 
76-9-802
;
(e)
criminal activity committed to gain recognition, acceptance, membership, or 
increased status with a criminal street gang as defined in Section 
76-9-802
;
(f)
party houses that frequently create conditions defined in Subsection 
(1)
; and
(g)
prostitution as provided in 
Title 76, Chapter 10, Part 13, Prostitution
.
(3)
A nuisance under this part includes tobacco smoke that drifts into a residential unit a 
person rents, leases, or owns, from another residential or commercial unit and the smoke:
(a)
drifts in more than once in each of two or more consecutive seven-day periods; and
(b)
creates any of the conditions under Subsection 
(1)
.
(4)
Subsection 
(3)
 does not apply to:
(a)
a residential rental unit available for temporary rental, such as for a vacation, or 
available for only 30 or fewer days at a time; or
(b)
a hotel or motel room.
(5)
Subsection 
(3)
 does not apply to a unit that is part of a timeshare development, as 
defined in Section 
57-19-2
, or subject to a timeshare interest as defined in Section 
57-19-2
.
(6)
An action may be brought by a person whose property is injuriously affected, or whose 
personal enjoyment is lessened by the nuisance.
(7)
An action for nuisance against an agricultural operation is governed by 
Title 4, Chapter 
44, Agricultural Operations Nuisances Act
.
(8)
"Critical infrastructure materials operations" means the same as 
that term
the term 
"critical infrastructure materials use"
 is defined in Section 
10-9a-901
.
(9)
"Manufacturing facility" means a factory, plant, or other facility including its 
appurtenances, where the form of raw materials, processed materials, commodities, or 
other physical objects is converted or otherwise changed into other materials, 
commodities, or physical objects or where such materials, commodities, or physical 
objects are combined to form a new material, commodity, or physical object.
Section 13, 
Repealer.
Study of critical infrastructure materials operations and related 
mining.
Section 14. 
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on 
May 7, 2025
.
3-13-25 4:13 PM