SALT LAKE CITY — House Bill 288 passed the Legislature and was signed off by Gov. Gary Herbert, transforming the way infrastructure operations like mining are handled and prompting concern over air quality among residents in cities like Draper.

House Bill 288: Critical Infrastructure Materials gives state Legislature control over infrastructure operations like mining; a power previously held by city governments. Critics believe this decision will make mining changes that improve air quality in towns like Draper and Lehi more difficult.

"Critical infrastructure materials" refer to sand, gravel, or rock aggregate, and "operations" refer to the extraction, excavation, and processing of those materials. Rep. Logan Wilde (R-UT), the bill’s sponsor in the Utah Legislature, said they pursued control over these land uses at the state level rather than at a local level because those types of decisions tend to affect multiple jurisdictions.

“All of (the complaints received) impacted a much broader base than a local city or county,” Wilde said. In the case of Draper and Lehi, changes being made to gravel pit mines, like Geneva Rock, wouldn’t just affect one town, they would also affect all others that overlap with the mines.

The original bill sparked a lot of controversy about limiting the power of local governments and potential resulting environmental issues. In response, the legislation underwent some changes during the legislative session.

What the final version of the bill does

Draper originally opposed the bill because it wanted to reserve the right to limit Geneva Rock’s ability to expand its mining area, according to Draper Mayor Troy Walker. The bill was revised so that cities can determine whether critical infrastructure material operations are able to expand within city limits.

Instead, the final bill grants control over the operations of mines rather than their land use allotments. For these concerns, an advisory board will be created to advise the City Council and state government on how best to deal with critical infrastructure materials operations. The advisory board includes the following five representatives:

• Executive director of the Department of Transportation
• A local government-elected official
• A representative from the local highway authority
• A representative from the critical infrastructure materials industry
• A representative of the construction industry

Public health and environmental concerns

Dr. Brian Moench, anesthesiologist and spokesman for Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, believes the changes made to HB288 during the legislative session helped make the bill less damaging by allowing cities to maintain control over land use expansion. In other words, Draper can still prevent Geneva Rock from expanding their mine. That said, he said aspects of it still indicate a lack of concern for the environment and for air quality.

Moench and his organization have long been concerned that gravel pit mines cause excessive amounts of dust, which lower air quality and endanger residents with resulting negative respiratory, neurological, and reproductive impacts. Foremost among Moench’s concerns is the advisory board, which he believes is stacked in favor of industry rather than the environment.

“The advisory board provision is very telling to me that there is no pretense that anyone representing public health, air quality, or environmental protection has a place on that advisory board,” he said. “It’s completely stacked with people whose interests not only don’t represent those of the public and public health but also are diametrically opposed to that.”

Wilde said he tried to involve an air quality representative, but pushback from the Legislature, combined with a lack of available staff from the Division of Air Quality, led to it not becoming a part of this proposal.

“I would like somebody on there (representing air quality),” Wilde said.

In the meantime, the Legislature may deny the expansion of a critical infrastructure materials protection area if it’s contrary to an approval order from the Division of Air Quality.

Moench and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment said the Legislature, which does not see first-hand how locals feel about mines and other critical infrastructure material operations, tends to have a broader business interest in mind rather than a clean environment.

“The economic future of the Point of the Mountain is not gravel mining,” Moench said. “The profitability of Geneva is gravel mining, but the economic future of that part of the valley is not, it’s clean industries. It’s high-tech companies. It’s ‘Silicon Slopes.’”

What’s next for HB288

Though the bill has been approved by the Legislature and Gov. Gary Herbert, Wilde said there are still some issues that need ironing out. Addressing one such issue, he is working with city governments to address wear and tear on roads from mining operations. Once those details have been solved, the bill will fully go into effect and advisory boards will start forming.

Walker is not sure whether or not residents need to be concerned about poor air quality in Draper resulting from dust pollution from the point of the mountain mines. He said the Legislature should do more to investigate the issue further, but until then he said, “I think we got a good compromise from our perspective.”

Moench, on the other hand, is unhappy that the Legislature didn’t do more to assess air quality impacts before passing the bill.

“We’re not as disappointed in the outcome as we were when the bill was first filed,” he concluded, “but we certainly feel like overall the state Legislature needs to re-evaluate their priorities to protect public health first and foremost. This bill is a good example of the fact that they seldom do so.”

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