Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Enrolled Copy                                                                       S.B. 131
                                        MINING AMENDMENTS
                                         2020 GENERAL SESSION
                                            STATE OF UTAH
                                  Chief Sponsor: David P. Hinkins
                                      House Sponsor: Scott H. Chew
 6
 LONG TITLE
 General Description:
           This bill addresses mining.
 Highlighted Provisions:
           This bill:
           < modifies the definition of small mining operations; and
           < addresses eligibility of a mining company or mining services company for certain
 grants;
           < makes technical changes.
 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
           None
 Other Special Clauses:
           None
 Utah Code Sections Affected:
 AMENDS:
           40-8-4, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2011, Chapter 231
           63N-4-404, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapters 45 and 136
24
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
           Section 1. Section 40-8-4 is amended to read:
           40-8-4. Definitions.
           As used in this chapter:
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           (1) "Adjudicative proceeding" means:
           (a) a division or board action or proceeding determining the legal rights, duties,
 privileges, immunities, or other legal interests of one or more identifiable persons, including
 actions to grant, deny, revoke, suspend, modify, annul, withdraw, or amend an authority, right,
 permit, or license; or
           (b) judicial review of a division or board action or proceeding specified in Subsection
 (1)(a).
           (2) "Applicant" means a person who has filed a notice of intent to commence mining
 operations, or who has applied to the board for a review of a notice or order.
           (3) (a) "Approved notice of intention" means a formally filed notice of intention to
 commence mining operations, including revisions to [it, which has been] the notice of intention
 that is approved under Section 40-8-13.
           (b) An approved notice of intention is not required for small mining operations.
           (4) "Board" means the Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining.
           (5) "Conference" means an informal adjudicative proceeding conducted by the division
 or board.
           (6) (a) "Deposit" or "mineral deposit" means an accumulation of mineral matter in the
 form of consolidated rock, unconsolidated material, solutions, or occurring on the surface,
 beneath the surface, or in the waters of the land from which any product useful to man may be
 produced, extracted, or obtained or which is extracted by underground mining methods for
 underground storage.
           (b) "Deposit" or "mineral deposit" excludes sand, gravel, rock aggregate, water,
 geothermal steam, and oil and gas as defined in [Title 40,] Chapter 6, Board and Division of
 Oil, Gas, and Mining, but includes oil shale and bituminous sands extracted by mining
 operations.
           (7) "Development" means the work performed in relation to a deposit following [its]
 the deposit's discovery but [prior to] before and in contemplation of production mining
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       Enrolled Copy                                                                            S.B. 131
 operations, aimed at, but not limited to, preparing the site for mining operations, defining
 further the ore deposit by drilling or other means, conducting pilot plant operations,
 constructing roads or ancillary facilities, and other related activities.
         (8) "Division" means the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining.
         (9) "Emergency order" means an order issued by the board in accordance with [the
 provisions of] Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act.
         (10) (a) "Exploration" means surface-disturbing activities conducted for the purpose of:
         (i) discovering a deposit or mineral deposit[,];
         (ii) delineating the boundaries of a deposit or mineral deposit[,]; and
         (iii) identifying regions or specific areas in which deposits or mineral deposits are most
 likely to exist.
         (b) "Exploration" includes[, but is not limited to]:
         (i) sinking shafts;
         (ii) tunneling;
         (iii) drilling holes and digging pits or cuts;
         (iv) building of roads, and other access ways; and
         (v) constructing and operating other facilities related to [these] the activities described
 in this Subsection (10)(b).
         (11) "Hearing" means a formal adjudicative proceeding conducted by the board under
 [its] the board's procedural rules.
         (12) (a) "Imminent danger to the health and safety of the public" means the existence
 of a condition or practice, or a violation of a permit requirement or other requirement of this
 chapter in a mining operation, which condition, practice, or violation could reasonably be
 expected to cause substantial physical harm to persons outside the permit area before the
 condition, practice, or violation can be abated.
         (b) A reasonable expectation of death or serious injury before abatement exists if a
 rational person, subjected to the same conditions or practices giving rise to the peril, would not
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 expose [himself or herself] the rational person to the danger during the time necessary for
 abatement.
         (13) (a) "Land affected" means the surface and subsurface of an area within the state
 where mining operations are being or will be conducted, including[, but not limited to]:
         (i) on-site private ways, roads, and railroads;
         (ii) land excavations;
         (iii) exploration sites;
         (iv) drill sites or workings;
         (v) refuse banks or spoil piles;
         (vi) evaporation or settling ponds;
         (vii) stockpiles;
         (viii) leaching dumps;
         (ix) placer areas;
         (x) tailings ponds or dumps; and
         (xi) work, parking, storage, or waste discharge areas, structures, and facilities.
         (b) [All lands shall be] Lands are excluded from [the provisions of] Subsection (13)(a)
 that would:
         (i) be includable as land affected, but which have been reclaimed in accordance with an
 approved plan, as may be approved by the board; and
         (ii) include lands in which mining operations have ceased [prior to] before July 1,
 1977.
         (14) (a) "Mining operation" means activities conducted on the surface of the land for
 the exploration for, development of, or extraction of a mineral deposit, including[, but not
 limited to,] surface mining and the surface effects of underground and in situ mining, on-site
 transportation, concentrating, milling, evaporation, and other primary processing.
         (b) "Mining operation" does not include:
         (i) the extraction of sand, gravel, and rock aggregate;
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        Enrolled Copy                                                                            S.B. 131
        (ii) the extraction of oil and gas as defined in [Title 40,] Chapter 6, Board and Division
 of Oil, Gas, and Mining;
        (iii) the extraction of geothermal steam;
        (iv) smelting or refining operations;
        (v) off-site operations and transportation;
        (vi) reconnaissance activities; or
        (vii) activities [which] that will not cause significant surface resource disturbance or
 involve the use of mechanized earth-moving equipment, such as bulldozers or backhoes.
        (15) "Notice" means:
        (a) notice of intention, as defined in this chapter; or
        (b) written information given to an operator by the division describing compliance
 conditions at a mining operation.
        (16) "Notice of intention" means a notice to commence mining operations, including
 revisions to the notice.
        (17) "Off-site" means the land areas that are outside of or beyond the on-site land.
        (18) (a) "On-site" means the surface lands on or under which surface or underground
 mining operations are conducted.
        (b) A series of related properties under the control of a single operator, but separated
 by small parcels of land controlled by others, [will be] are considered to be a single site unless
 an exception is made by the division.
        (19) "Operator" means a natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver,
 trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, agent, or other organization or
 representative, either public or private, owning, controlling, or managing a mining operation or
 proposed mining operation.
        (20) "Order" means written information provided by the division or board to an
 operator or other parties, describing the compliance status of a permit or mining operation.
        (21) "Owner" means a natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver,
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 trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, agent, or other organization or
 representative, either public or private, owning, controlling, or managing a mineral deposit or
 the surface of lands employed in mining operations.
         (22) "Permit area" means the area of land indicated on the approved map submitted by
 the operator with the application or notice to conduct mining operations.
         (23) "Permit" means a permit or notice to conduct mining operations issued by the
 division.
         (24) "Permittee" means a person holding, or who is required by Utah law to hold, a
 valid permit or notice to conduct mining operations.
         (25) "Person" means an individual, partnership, association, society, joint stock
 company, firm, company, corporation, or other governmental or business organization.
         (26) "Reclamation" means actions performed during or after mining operations to
 shape, stabilize, revegetate, or treat the land affected in order to achieve a safe, stable[,]
 ecological condition and use [which will be] that is consistent with local environmental
 conditions.
         (27) "Small mining operations" means mining operations that disturb or will disturb
 [10] 20 or less surface acres at any given time in an unincorporated area of a county or [five] 10
 or less surface acres at any given time in an incorporated area of a county.
         (28) "Unwarranted failure to comply" means the failure of a permittee to prevent the
 occurrence of a violation of the permit or a requirement of this chapter due to indifference, lack
 of diligence, or lack of reasonable care, or the failure to abate a violation of the permit or this
 chapter due to indifference, lack of diligence, or lack of reasonable care.
         Section 2. Section 63N-4-404 is amended to read:
         63N-4-404. Rural employment expansion grant application process.
         (1) For a fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2018, a business entity seeking to
 receive a rural employment expansion grant as provided in this part shall provide the office
 with an application for a rural employment expansion grant in a form approved by the office
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        Enrolled Copy                                                                               S.B. 131
 that includes:
         (a) a certification, by an officer of the business entity, of each signature on the
 application;
         (b) a document that specifies the projected number and anticipated wage level of the
 new full-time employee positions that the business entity plans to create as the basis for
 qualifying for a rural employment expansion grant; and
         (c) any additional information required by the office.
         (2) (a) If, after review of an application provided by a business entity as described in
 Subsection (1), the office determines that the application is inadequate to provide a reasonable
 justification for authorizing the rural employment expansion grant, the office shall:
         (i) deny the application; or
         (ii) inform the business entity that the application is inadequate and ask the business
 entity to submit additional documentation.
         (b) (i) If the office denies an application, the business entity may appeal the denial to
 the office.
         (ii) The office shall review any appeal within 10 business days and make a final
 determination of the business entity's eligibility for a grant under this part.
         (3) If, after review of an application provided by a business entity as described in
 Subsection (1), the office determines that the application provides reasonable justification for
 authorizing a rural employment expansion grant and if there are available funds for the grant,
 the office shall enter into a written agreement with the business entity that:
         (a) indicates the maximum rural employment expansion grant amount the business
 entity is authorized to receive;
         (b) includes a document signed by an officer of the business entity that expressly
 directs and authorizes the State Tax Commission to disclose to the office the business entity's
 tax returns and other information that would otherwise be subject to confidentiality under
 Section 59-1-403 or Section 6103, Internal Revenue Code;
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        (c) describes the documentation required to demonstrate that the business entity has
 created the new full-time employee positions described in the application provided under
 Subsection (1); and
        (d) specifies the deadlines to provide the documentation described in Subsection (3)(c).
        (4) (a) Subject to available funds, the office may award a rural employment expansion
 grant to a business entity as follows:
        (i) $4,000 for each new full-time employee position in a county where the average
 county wage is equal to or greater than the state average wage;
        (ii) $5,000 for each new full-time employee position in a county where the average
 county wage is between 85% and 99% of the state average wage; and
        (iii) $6,000 for each new full-time employee position in a county where the average
 county wage is less than 85% of the state average wage.
        (b) A business entity may qualify for no more than $250,000 in rural employment
 expansion grants in any fiscal year.
        (5) (a) Subject to available funds, the office shall award a business entity a grant in the
 amount allowed under this part if the business entity provides documentation to the office:
        (i) in a form prescribed by the office under Subsection (3)(c);
        (ii) before the deadline described in Subsection (3)(d); and
        (iii) that demonstrates that the business applicant has created new full-time employee
 positions.
        (b) If a business entity does not provide the documentation described in Subsection
 (3)(c) before the deadline described in Subsection (3)(d), the business entity is ineligible to
 receive a rural employment expansion grant unless the business entity submits a new
 application to be reviewed by the office in accordance with Subsection (1).
        (6) Nothing in this part prevents a business entity that has received a rural employment
 expansion grant from concurrently applying for or receiving another grant or incentive
 administered by the office.
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        Enrolled Copy                                                                           S.B. 131
        (7) (a) As used in this Subsection (7):
        (i) "Mining company" means an entity whose primary business is the exploration for or
 extraction of minerals from the earth.
        (ii) "Mining services company" means an entity whose primary business is providing
 support services for a mining company, including drilling or geological modeling.
        (b) If an applicant for a rural employment expansion grant is a mining company or
 mining services company having business operations within five miles of a rural county, the
 applicant shall be treated as if the applicant were located within the adjacent rural county in
 determining whether the applicant qualifies for the rural employment expansion program.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 40-8-4
Enrolled: 40-8-4, 63N-4-404