This document includes Senate Committee Amendments incorporated into the bill on Wed, Feb 21, 2018 at 9:27 AM by lpoole.
1     
STATE REGULATION OF OIL AND GAS

2     
2018 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Kevin T. Van Tassell

5     
House Sponsor: Carl R. Albrecht

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill deals with the regulation of oil and gas activity.
10     Highlighted Provisions:
11          This bill:
12          ▸     defines the term "oil and gas activity";
13          ▸     states that, subject to federal law, state regulation of oil and gas activity occupies the
14     whole regulatory field;
15          ▸     provides that a municipality or county may regulate surface activity that is incident
16     to an oil and gas activity in certain circumstances; and
17          ▸     makes technical changes.
18     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
19          None
20     Other Special Clauses:
21          This bill provides a special effective date.
22     Utah Code Sections Affected:
23     AMENDS:
24          10-9a-102, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2007, Chapter 363
25          17-27a-102, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2015, Chapter 465
26     ENACTS:
27          40-6-2.5, Utah Code Annotated 1953

28     

29     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
30          Section 1. Section 10-9a-102 is amended to read:
31          10-9a-102. Purposes -- General land use authority.
32          (1) The purposes of this chapter are to provide for the health, safety, and welfare, and
33     promote the prosperity, improve the morals, peace and good order, comfort, convenience, and
34     aesthetics of each municipality and its present and future inhabitants and businesses, to protect
35     the tax base, to secure economy in governmental expenditures, to foster the state's agricultural
36     and other industries, to protect both urban and nonurban development, to protect and ensure
37     access to sunlight for solar energy devices, to provide fundamental fairness in land use
38     regulation, and to protect property values.
39          (2) To accomplish the purposes of this chapter, municipalities may enact all
40     ordinances, resolutions, and rules and may enter into other forms of land use controls and
41     development agreements that they consider necessary or appropriate for the use and
42     development of land within the municipality, including ordinances, resolutions, rules,
43     restrictive covenants, easements, and development agreements governing uses, density, open
44     spaces, structures, buildings, energy efficiency, light and air, air quality, transportation and
45     public or alternative transportation, infrastructure, street and building orientation and width
46     requirements, public facilities, fundamental fairness in land use regulation, considerations of
47     surrounding land uses and the balance of the foregoing purposes with a landowner's private
48     property interests, height and location of vegetation, trees, and landscaping, unless expressly
49     prohibited by law.
50          (3) (a) Any ordinance, resolution, or rule enacted by a municipality pursuant to its
51     authority under this chapter shall comply with the state's exclusive jurisdiction to regulate oil
52     and gas activity, as described in Section 40-6-2.5.
53          (b) A municipality may enact an ordinance, resolution, or rule that regulates surface
54     activity incident to an oil and gas activity if the municipality demonstrates that the regulation:
55          (i) is necessary for the purposes of this chapter;
56          (ii) does not effectively or unduly limit, ban, Ŝ→ or ←Ŝ prohibit Ŝ→ [
, or otherwise
56a     infringe on
] ←Ŝ an oil
57     and gas activity; and
58          (iii) does not interfere with the state's exclusive jurisdiction to regulate oil and gas

59     activity, as described in Section 40-6-2.5.
60          Section 2. Section 17-27a-102 is amended to read:
61          17-27a-102. Purposes -- General land use authority.
62          (1) (a) The purposes of this chapter are to provide for the health, safety, and welfare,
63     and promote the prosperity, improve the morals, peace and good order, comfort, convenience,
64     and aesthetics of each county and its present and future inhabitants and businesses, to protect
65     the tax base, to secure economy in governmental expenditures, to foster the state's agricultural
66     and other industries, to protect both urban and nonurban development, to protect and ensure
67     access to sunlight for solar energy devices, to provide fundamental fairness in land use
68     regulation, and to protect property values.
69          (b) To accomplish the purposes of this chapter, counties may enact all ordinances,
70     resolutions, and rules and may enter into other forms of land use controls and development
71     agreements that they consider necessary or appropriate for the use and development of land
72     within the unincorporated area of the county or a designated mountainous planning district,
73     including ordinances, resolutions, rules, restrictive covenants, easements, and development
74     agreements governing uses, density, open spaces, structures, buildings, energy-efficiency, light
75     and air, air quality, transportation and public or alternative transportation, infrastructure, street
76     and building orientation and width requirements, public facilities, fundamental fairness in land
77     use regulation, considerations of surrounding land uses and the balance of the foregoing
78     purposes with a landowner's private property interests, height and location of vegetation, trees,
79     and landscaping, unless expressly prohibited by law.
80          (2) Each county shall comply with the mandatory provisions of this part before any
81     agreement or contract to provide goods, services, or municipal-type services to any storage
82     facility or transfer facility for high-level nuclear waste, or greater than class C radioactive
83     waste, may be executed or implemented.
84          (3) (a) Any ordinance, resolution, or rule enacted by a county pursuant to its authority
85     under this chapter shall comply with the state's exclusive jurisdiction to regulate oil and gas
86     activity, as described in Section 40-6-2.5.
87          (b) A county may enact an ordinance, resolution, or rule that regulates surface activity
88     incident to an oil and gas activity if the county demonstrates that the regulation:
89          (i) is necessary for the purposes of this chapter;

90          (ii) does not effectively or unduly limit, ban, Ŝ→ or ←Ŝ prohibit Ŝ→ [
, or otherwise
90a     infringe on
] ←Ŝ an oil
91     and gas activity; and
92          (iii) does not interfere with the state's exclusive juridisdciton to regulate oil and gas
93     activity, as described in Section 40-6-2.5.
94          Section 3. Section 40-6-2.5 is enacted to read:
95          40-6-2.5. Preemption.
96          (1) (a) As used in this section, "oil and gas activity" means activity associated with the
97     exploration, development, production, processing, and transportation of oil and gas as set forth
98     in Title 40, Chapter 6, Board and Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining, including:
99          (i) drilling;
100          (ii) hydraulic fracture stimulation;
101          (iii) completion, maintenance, reworking, recompletion, disposal, plugging, and
102     abandonment of wells;
103          (iv) construction activities;
104          (v) secondary and tertiary recovery techniques;
105          (vi) remediation activities; and
106          (vii) any other activity identified by the Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining.
107          (b) Oil and gas activity does not include any activity or authority directly authorized or
108     granted to a political subdivision by the state.
109          (2) Subject to relevant federal law, regulation of oil and gas activity is of statewide
110     concern and the state regulation of oil and gas activity occupies the whole field of potential
111     regulation.
112          (3) The legislative body of a political subdivision may enact, amend, or enforce a local
113     ordinance, resolution, or rule consistent with its general land use authority that:
114          (a) regulates only surface activity that is incident to an oil and gas activity;
115          (b) does not effectively or unduly limit, ban, Ŝ→ or ←Ŝ prohibit Ŝ→ [
, or otherwise
115a     infringe on
] ←Ŝ an oil
116     and gas activity; and
117          (c) is not otherwise preempted by state or federal law.
118          Section 4. Effective date.
119          If approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, this bill takes effect
120     upon approval by the governor, or the day following the constitutional time limit of Utah

121     Constitution, Article VII, Section 8, without the governor's signature, or in the case of a veto,
122     the date of veto override.






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