H.B. 123 Enrolled

DRUG LAB CLEANUP AND DISCLOSURE
2004 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: David Litvack
J. Stuart Adams
Jeff Alexander
Calvin G. Bird
D. Gregg BuxtonGreg J. Curtis
Brad L. Dee
Brent H. Goodfellow
Eric K. HutchingsBrad King
Steven R. Mascaro
Stephen H. Urquhart
R. Curt Webb
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill provides procedures for local health departments regarding property
contaminated by illegal drug operations.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
. requires law enforcement agencies to report contaminated property locations to the
local health department;
. requires the local health departments to make these reports available to the public, as
advisory information only;
. requires the local health department to notify the property owner of the report, and
also to notify the county or municipality if the property owner is not taking action
regarding the contamination;
. directs the state Department of Health to make rules that include certification
standards regarding the decontamination of contaminated property;
. requires the Department of Environmental Quality to establish a certification
program for decontamination specialists;
. requires clean-up of contamination and certification that a contaminated property has
been cleaned up;
. establishes a program to certify specialists who provide evaluation, sampling, and
clean-up of contaminated properties; and

. includes in the real estate definition of stigmatized property that is not subject to
disclosure, contaminated property that has been decontaminated.
Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
57-1-1, as last amended by Chapter 10, Laws of Utah 1991
ENACTS:
19-6-901, Utah Code Annotated 1953
19-6-902, Utah Code Annotated 1953
19-6-903, Utah Code Annotated 1953
19-6-904, Utah Code Annotated 1953
19-6-905, Utah Code Annotated 1953
19-6-906, Utah Code Annotated 1953

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 19-6-901 is enacted to read:
Part 9. Illegal Drug Operations Site Reporting and Decontamination Act
19-6-901. Title.
This part is known as the "Illegal Drug Operations Site Reporting and Decontamination
Act."
Section 2. Section 19-6-902 is enacted to read:
19-6-902. Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Board" means the Solid and Hazardous Waste Control Board, as defined in Section
19-1-106 , within the Department of Environmental Quality.

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(2) "Certified decontamination specialist" means an individual who has met the standards
for certification as a decontamination specialist and has been certified by the board under
Subsection 19-6-906 (2).
(3) "Contaminated" or "contamination" means polluted by hazardous materials that cause
property to be unfit for human habitation or use due to immediate or long-term health hazards.
(4) "Contamination list" means a list maintained by the local health department of
properties:
(a) reported to the local health department under Section 19-6-903 ; and
(b) determined by the local health department to be contaminated.
(5) "Decontaminated" means property that at one time was contaminated, but the
contaminants have been removed.
(6) "Hazardous materials":
(a) has the same meaning as "hazardous or dangerous materials" as defined in Section
58-37d-3 ; and
(b) includes any illegally manufactured controlled substances.
(7) "Health department" means a local health department under Title 26A, Local Health
Authorities.
(8) "Owner of record":
(a) means the owner of real property as shown on the records of the county recorder in
the county where the property is located; and
(b) may include an individual, financial institution, company, corporation, or other entity.
(9) "Property":
(a) means any real property, site, structure, part of a structure, or the grounds
surrounding a structure; and
(b) includes single-family residences, outbuildings, garages, units of multiplexes,
condominiums, apartment buildings, warehouses, hotels, motels, boats, motor vehicles, trailers,
manufactured housing, shops, or booths.
(10) "Reported property" means property that is the subject of a law enforcement report

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under Section 19-6-903 .
Section 3. Section 19-6-903 is enacted to read:
19-6-903. Law enforcement reporting and records -- Removal from list.
(1) (a) When any state or local law enforcement agency in the course of its official duties
observes any paraphernalia of a clandestine drug laboratory operation, including chemicals or
equipment used in the manufacture of unlawful drugs, the agency shall report the location where
the items were observed to the local health department.
(b) (i) The law enforcement officer shall make the report under Subsection (1)(a) at the
location where the observation occurred, if making the report at that time will not compromise an
ongoing investigation.
(ii) If the report cannot be made at the location, the report shall be made as soon
afterward as is practical.
(c) The report under Subsection (1)(a) shall include:
(i) the date of the observation;
(ii) the name of the reporting agency and the case number of the case that involves the
location of the observation;
(iii) the contact information of the officer involved, including name and telephone number;
(iv) the address of the location and descriptions of the property that may be contaminated;
and
(v) a brief description of the evidence at the location that led to the belief the property at
the location may be contaminated.
(2) The law enforcement agency shall forward to the local health department copies of the
reports made under Subsection (1).
(3) (a) Upon receipt of a complaint or a report from law enforcement regarding possibly
contaminated property, the local health officer or his designee shall determine if reasonable
evidence exists that the property is contaminated.
(b) The local health department shall place property considered to be contaminated on a
contamination list.

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(4) The local health departments shall maintain searchable records of the properties on
their contamination lists and shall:
(a) make the records reasonably available to the public;
(b) provide written notification to persons requesting access to the records that the
records are only advisory in determining if specific property has been contaminated by clandestine
drug lab activity; and
(c) remove the contaminated property from the list when the following conditions have
been met:
(i) the local health department has monitored the decontamination process and, after
documenting that the test results meet decontamination standards, has authorized the removal of
or purging of the contamination information from the department's records; or
(ii) a certified decontamination specialist submits a report to the local health department
stating that the property is decontaminated.
Section 4. Section 19-6-904 is enacted to read:
19-6-904. Decontamination specialist reporting to local health departments.
(1) A certified decontamination specialist is required to report to the local health
department the location of any property that is the subject of decontamination work by that
decontamination specialist. The report shall be submitted prior to commencement of the
decontamination work.
(2) The report under Subsection (1) shall include:
(a) sufficient information to allow the local health department to investigate and verify the
location of the property, including the address and description of the property; and
(b) a proposed work plan for decontaminating the property.
(3) Upon completion of the decontamination process, a report certifying that the property
is decontaminated shall be submitted to the local health department within 30 days.
Section 5. Section 19-6-905 is enacted to read:
19-6-905. Notification of property owner -- Notification of municipality or county.
(1) (a) If the local health department determines a property is contaminated, it shall notify

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the owner of record that the property has been placed on the contamination list and shall provide
to the owner information regarding remediation options and the requirements necessary to clean
up the property, obtain certification that the property is decontaminated, and remove the property
from the contamination list.
(b) The notification shall include a deadline for the owner to provide to the local health
department information on how the owner plans to address the contamination.
(c) This part does not require that decontamination be conducted by a certified
decontamination specialist. However, upon completion of the decontamination, the property
must be determined to be decontaminated in accordance with Subsection 19-6-903 (4)(c) in order
to be removed from the contamination list.
(2) If the local health department does not receive a response from the owner of record
within the time period specified in the notice, or the owner of record advises the local health
department that the owner does not intend to take action or that the reported property will be
abandoned, the local health department shall notify the municipality in which the reported
property is located, or the county, if the location is in an unincorporated area, of the owner of
record's response or lack of response.
Section 6. Section 19-6-906 is enacted to read:
19-6-906. Decontamination standards -- Specialist certification standards --
Rulemaking.
(1) The Department of Health shall make rules under Title 63, Chapter 46a, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, in consultation with the local health departments and the
Department of Environmental Quality, to establish:
(a) decontamination and sampling standards and best management practices for the
inspection and decontamination of property and the disposal of contaminated debris under this
part;
(b) appropriate methods for the testing of buildings and interior surfaces, and furnishings,
soil, and septic tanks for contamination; and
(c) when testing for contamination may be required.

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(2) The Department of Environmental Quality Solid and Hazardous Waste Control Board
shall make rules under Title 63, Chapter 46a, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, in
consultation with the Department of Health and local health departments, to establish within the
Department of Environmental Quality Division of Environmental Response and Remediation:
(a) certification standards for any private person, firm, or entity involved in the
decontamination of contaminated property; and
(b) a process for revoking the certification of a decontamination specialist who fails to
maintain the certification standards.
(3) All rules made under this part shall be consistent with other state and federal
requirements.
(4) The board has authority to enforce the provisions under Subsection (2).
Section 7. Section 57-1-1 is amended to read:
57-1-1. Definitions.
As used in this title:
(1) "Certified copy" means a copy of a document certified by its custodian to be a true
and correct copy of the document or the copy of the document maintained by the custodian,
where the document or copy is maintained under the authority of the United States, the state of
Utah or any of its political subdivisions, another state, a court of record, a foreign government, or
an Indian tribe.
(2) "Document" means every instrument in writing, including every conveyance, affecting,
purporting to affect, describing, or otherwise concerning any right, title, or interest in real
property, except wills and leases for a term not exceeding one year.
(3) "Real property" or "real estate" means any right, title, estate, or interest in land,
including all nonextracted minerals located in, on, or under the land, all buildings, fixtures and
improvements on the land, and all water rights, rights-of-way, easements, rents, issues, profits,
income, tenements, hereditaments, possessory rights, claims, including mining claims, privileges,
and appurtenances belonging to, used, or enjoyed with the land or any part of the land.
(4) "Stigmatized" means:

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(a) the site or suspected site of a homicide, other felony, or suicide; [or]
(b) the dwelling place of a person infected, or suspected of being infected, with the
Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or any other infectious disease that the Utah Department of
Health determines cannot be transferred by occupancy of a dwelling place[.]; or
(c) property that has been found to be contaminated, and that the local health department
has subsequently found to have been decontaminated in accordance with Title 19, Chapter 6, Part
9, Illegal Drug Operations Site Reporting and Decontamination Act.

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