# Utah H.B. 478: Brine Mining Amendments Utah H.B. 478, Brine Mining Amendments, is a 2025 General Session House bill sponsored by Bridger Bolinder (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-03-24 (Governor Signed) (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB478-2025GS - 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. 478 - State: Utah - Session: 2025 General Session - Title: Brine Mining Amendments - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-02-11 - Last action: 2025-03-24, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Bridger Bolinder (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Natural Resources, Mining, Administrative Rulemaking and Procedures, Water, New Rulemaking Authority - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 6 (180 yes, 1 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 7 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Brine owners get payment deadlines and details: benefit, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, people legally owed brine proceeds must receive their first payment within 180 days after the first sale. Later payments are due monthly, within 60 days after the month the payor receives the proceeds. Payment statements must show the unit, sales month, brine and mineral volu… - Brine violations trigger shutdowns and penalties: mixed, low. The Division must promptly order inspections of suspected violations unless the information came from an earlier inspection. It must stop operations posing imminent public danger or significant imminent environmental harm; other violations get correction periods of at most 90 days. Uncorrected viol… - Brine operators need permits and cleanup guarantees: mixed, low. Brine mining requires a state permit, and permit transfers need the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining’s permission. Applicants pay fees covering state permitting costs; the law sets no dollar amount. Owners and operators must post a financial guarantee, called surety, covering cleanup costs set by t… - Brine operators remain responsible for cleanup: mixed, low. Operators who fail required well plugging, impoundment closure, repairs, maintenance, or cleanup must forfeit surety or pay Utah’s work costs. Permit revocation requires an immediate stop and cleanup by the Board’s deadline; alternatively, the Board must declare the surety forfeited. After the Boar… - Brine owners face shared drilling rules: mixed, low. On an owner’s or operator’s request, the Board can create drilling units, generally allowing one production well per unit. Units must cover at least the area one well can efficiently drain, with uniform shapes and sizes unless conditions justify exceptions. Extra wells require engineering or geolog… - New oversight for deep brine mining: mixed, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, Utah replaces its prior brine mining statute with a new state oversight system. Covered production wells exceed 7,500 feet; brine generally exceeds 20,000 parts per million in dissolved solids and is unsuitable for household or farm use. Exclusions include Great Salt Lake sur… - Pooled brine owners face cost deductions: mixed, low. Owners can pool brine interests by agreement; without a written agreement, the Board can order pooling on fair terms. Participating owners recover costs from a nonparticipating owner’s production share before that owner receives the remaining working interest. Deductions include 100% of that owner’… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Bridger Bolinder (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 | 23 | 0 | | | 2025-03-07 | House | House/ concurs with Senate amendment | pass | 68 | 1 | | | 2025-03-03 | Senate | Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation | pass | 4 | 0 | | | 2025-03-03 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 4 | 0 | | | 2025-02-25 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 69 | 0 | | | 2025-02-20 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 12 | 0 | | ## Actions (39) - 2025-03-24: Governor Signed - 2025-03-17: House/ to Governor (House) - 2025-03-17: House/ received enrolled bill from Printing (House) - 2025-03-13: House/ enrolled bill to Printing (House) - 2025-03-13: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2025-03-12: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2025-03-12: Bill Received from House for Enrolling - 2025-03-12: House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling (House) - 2025-03-12: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2025-03-12: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2025-03-12: Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House (Senate) - 2025-03-12: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2025-03-07: House/ to Senate (House) - 2025-03-07: House/ concurs with Senate amendment (House) - 2025-03-07: House/ placed on Concurrence Calendar (House) - 2025-03-07: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2025-03-07: Senate/ to House with amendments (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/ comm rpt/ substituted (Senate) - 2025-03-03: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation (Senate) - 2025-03-03: Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation (Senate) - 2025-02-27: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2025-02-26: 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) - 2025-02-20: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2025-02-20: House/ committee report favorable (House) - 2025-02-20: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation (House) - 2025-02-18: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2025-02-18: House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (House) - 2025-02-11: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2025-02-11: House/ received bill from Legislative Research (House) - 2025-02-11: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2025-03-13: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/HB0478.pdf) - Substitute #1, 2025-03-01: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0478S01.pdf) - Introduced, 2025-02-11: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0478.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/HB0478.pdf) - [Substitute #1 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0478S01.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0478.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-HB478-2025GS (as of 2026-10-17).