EPA voices concern over environmental-bond bill
Huntsman delays signing, will review it for possible problems
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has already said he's looking closely at HB100 because of some potential constitutional problems. While the governor stopped short of saying he'd veto the bill, he said on the day after the session ended Wednesday that it has been flagged.
In a letter to Huntsman made public Friday, the EPA's regional administrator in Denver said the bill "raises concerns about whether important parts of the state's federally approved environmental programs would meet federal requirements for EPA approval."
Robert Roberts, the regional administrator, goes on in the letter to explain that "for a state to assume responsibility for federal environmental programs, the state must provide the same opportunity for judicial review as would be available under the federal program."
HB100, sponsored by Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, requires entities that do business in the state to post a bond when beginning environmental litigation in either state or federal court. Those that fail to do so would lose their legal standing to do business in the state.
Also, the bill's preventing entities that fail to post a bond from doing business in the state "would impede the ability of organizations to seek a stay or injunction in federal or state court," according to the letter.
Roberts doesn't ask the governor to veto the bill, but asks for any clarification as well as for "the opportunity to work together to carefully consider the ramifications of the pending legislation."
The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club has already launched a campaign urging members to contact the governor's office and request he veto the bill because it restricts access to the courts to only those who can afford the bond.
The intent of the bill was to cover a company's lost wages and revenues resulting from any delay attributable to legal action.
Huntsman's deputy chief of staff and spokesman Mike Mower said Friday, "We've received the letter and we are reviewing it along with other comments concerning House Bill 100. But the governor has not made a final decision."
Mower said the governor, who has until March 21 to decide what to do with the 395 bills passed by lawmakers, has three choices: sign a bill into law, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.
So far, Huntsman has received just 19 pieces of legislation from the session, including five resolutions that do not require action from him. He has signed or is planning to sign 13 of those, and has vetoed one. The veto axe fell on SB70, which would have stripped the governor of the authority to unilaterally ban establishment of new low-level radioactive facilities or the enlargement of the one currently operating in Tooele County.
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