# Utah H.B. 438: Environmental Legal Action Amendments

Utah H.B. 438, Environmental Legal Action Amendments, is a 2025 General Session House bill sponsored by Colin W. Jack (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-03-24 (Governor Signed) (as of 2026-10-17).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB438-2025GS
- As of: 2026-10-17
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Utah H.B. 438
- State: Utah
- Session: 2025 General Session
- Title: Environmental Legal Action Amendments
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-02-06
- Last action: 2025-03-24, Governor Signed
- Sponsor: Colin W. Jack (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Environment, Judicial Operations, Civil Litigation, Civil Procedure
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 5 (118 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Coal permit challengers avoid special bonds: benefit, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, Utah exempts certain coal permit lawsuits from its special environmental lawsuit bond rules. The exemption covers court challenges to final decisions issuing coal permits by Utah’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining. People or groups bringing these challenges need not post the…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Colin W. Jack (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: David P. Hinkins (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-03-07 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension | pass | 27 | 0 |   |
| 2025-02-28 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 6 | 0 |   |
| 2025-02-25 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 64 | 0 |   |
| 2025-02-18 | House | House Comm - Substitute Recommendation | pass | 11 | 0 |   |
| 2025-02-18 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (33)

- 2025-03-24: Governor Signed
- 2025-03-17: House/ to Governor (House)
- 2025-03-17: House/ received enrolled bill from Printing (House)
- 2025-03-14: House/ enrolled bill to Printing (House)
- 2025-03-14: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate
- 2025-03-11: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared
- 2025-03-11: Bill Received from House for Enrolling
- 2025-03-07: House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling (House)
- 2025-03-07: House/ received from Senate (House)
- 2025-03-07: Senate/ to House (Senate)
- 2025-03-07: Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House (Senate)
- 2025-03-07: Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate)
- 2025-03-07: Senate/ 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension (Senate)
- 2025-03-07: Senate/ Rules to 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate)
- 2025-03-05: Senate/ 2nd Reading Calendar to Rules (Senate)
- 2025-03-03: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate)
- 2025-03-03: Senate/ committee report favorable (Senate)
- 2025-02-28: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation (Senate)
- 2025-02-27: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate)
- 2025-02-25: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate)
- 2025-02-25: Senate/ received from House (Senate)
- 2025-02-25: House/ to Senate (House)
- 2025-02-25: House/ passed 3rd reading (House)
- 2025-02-25: House/ 3rd reading (House)
- 2025-02-19: House/ 2nd reading (House)
- 2025-02-19: House/ comm rpt/ substituted (House)
- 2025-02-18: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation (House)
- 2025-02-18: House Comm - Substitute Recommendation (House)
- 2025-02-13: House/ to standing committee (House)
- 2025-02-07: House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (House)
- 2025-02-07: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House)
- 2025-02-07: House/ received bill from Legislative Research (House)
- 2025-02-06: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed

## Bill text

- Enrolled, 2025-03-14: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/HB0438.pdf)
- Substitute #1, 2025-02-18: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0438S01.pdf)
- Introduced, 2025-02-06: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0438.pdf)

## Related bills

- S.B. 199: Guardianship Amendments (signed)
- H.B. 562: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Amendments (signed)
- H.B. 493: Medical Examiner Amendments (signed)
- H.B. 482: Health and Human Services Reporting Requirements (signed)
- S.B. 197: Property Tax Amendments (vetoed)
- S.B. 3: Appropriations Adjustments (signed)

## Sources
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/HB0438.pdf)
- [Substitute #1 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0438S01.pdf)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0438.pdf)

## Related
- [S.B. 199: Guardianship Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB199-2025GS)
- [H.B. 562: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB562-2025GS)
- [H.B. 493: Medical Examiner Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB493-2025GS)
- [H.B. 482: Health and Human Services Reporting Requirements](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB482-2025GS)
- [S.B. 197: Property Tax Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB197-2025GS)
- [S.B. 3: Appropriations Adjustments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB3-2025GS)
- [Utah bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah/bills)
- [Utah state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB438-2025GS (as of 2026-10-17).