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SALT LAKE CITY — Three bills affecting Utah's infrastructure, the Great Salt Lake and public lands around the state's parks are on their way to President Joe Biden's desk after members of Utah's delegation secured passage in both the House and Senate.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee said the bills were "big wins for Utah," that will provide more local control of the state's resources and will help secure the Great Salt Lake.
"If the Great Salt Lake keeps drying up, that would, of course, be an ecological disaster for about one hundred different reasons. We're not about to let that happen," he said, in an interview with the Deseret News.
Another two bills sponsored by Lee passed the Senate but still need to be taken up by the House. These include a bill that would establish a wildfire research institute at Utah State University, and another on energy production from the Glen Canyon Dam.
The three bills passed the House and Senate that are headed to the president's desk include:
- The Great Salt Lake Restoration Act — The bill will unlock "tens of millions of dollars" allocated but not spent for water conservation and direct it to the preservation of the Great Salt Lake and the surrounding basin, Lee said. The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Lee and cosponsored by Sen. Mitt Romney, while in the House, it was sponsored by Sen.-elect John Curtis and co-sponsored by the other members of Utah's House delegation, Reps. Burgess Owens, Blake Moore and Celeste Maloy.
- The Mountain View Corridor Completion Act — The Mountain View Corridor runs along the west side of the Salt Lake Valley, connecting it with northern Utah County. This bill gives the state the ability to pay a "fair market value" for 200 acres of federally owned land in order to extend the roadway. Lee said the bill helps the state "complete a pretty critical highway," and that it should help ease congestion in those areas. Lee sponsored the legislation in the Senate, and Owens sponsored it in the House, with Moore, Maloy and Curtis as co-sponsors.
- The Utah State Parks Adjustment Act — This legislation transfers land around three state parks — Antelope Island, Fremont Indian and Wasatch Mountain — to the state. Lee said the bill "is something that will make it easier to care for the land, to watch over it, to maintain it." It was sponsored by Lee in the Senate, and Maloy in the House. In a statement, Maloy said it "just makes sense for the state to take over management of these parcels." She said the state parks division manages land in a "thoughtful and diligent" way.
Two other bills were cleared by the Senate but haven't yet been taken up by the House:
- Utah Wildfire Research Institute Act — This bill would establish a federal wildfire research institute at Utah State University, where researchers would look at ways to reduce wildfire risks.
- Addressing Glen Canyon Dam Hydropower and Environmental Impacts — This bill would try to address the periodic cessation of hydropower production at the Glen Canyon Dam. It puts in place a memorandum of understanding between the Bureau of Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Western Area Power Administration and the Colorado River Energy Distributors Association that says they will look at ways to keep energy production going. Lee called this legislation a "win-win," saying it will balance "the protection of local ecosystem considerations together with Utah's power needs, and by doing that it will help ensure that our state can keep leading the way on energy innovation, while also looking out for wildlife interests."
