# Utah S.B. 172: Airport and Air Amendments Utah S.B. 172, Airport and Air Amendments, is a 2026 General Session Senate bill sponsored by Wayne A. Harper (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-03-18 (Governor Signed); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-14). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB172-2026GS - As of: 2026-10-14 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah S.B. 172 - State: Utah - Session: 2026 General Session - Title: Airport and Air Amendments - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-01-21 - Last action: 2026-03-18, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Wayne A. Harper (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Aeronautics, Unmanned Aircraft, Airports, Transportation, Department of Transportation - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 10 (135 yes, 1 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 6 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Airports must help recover lost property: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, airports federally required to provide law enforcement must try to find owners of qualifying lost property. Operators must post property information on the airport website. Police can transfer property to airport staff, but not firearms or other dangerous weapons. If owners c… - Utah gains airport project spending flexibility: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah removes the 10% limit on its annual Aeronautics Restricted Account appropriation for any one airport project. The transportation department can direct a larger share of that funding to a single project. The law does not add a new funding amount. - Aircraft owners must register sooner: cost, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, civil aircraft based in Utah need current state registration after 90 days in any consecutive 12-month period. This replaces the 181-day threshold; statutory exceptions still apply. Being based in Utah includes being hangared, tied down, parked, or domiciled there. The same 9… - Utah charter businesses must register aircraft: cost, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah-headquartered aircraft operators licensed under federal Part 135 must register aircraft they own and operate. This applies regardless of how long those aircraft are based in Utah. - Public airports face licensing and reporting rules: cost, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah's airport definition covers public-use takeoff and landing areas, supporting areas, and public vertical-takeoff landing sites. It no longer requires specified facilities, department minimum standards, or an FAA-approved airport layout plan. Operators must get a state lic… - Police drone data use faces privacy limits: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah police may obtain, receive, or use drone data only through listed legal paths. These include a warrant, a recognized warrant exception, or finding a missing person where no reasonable privacy expectation exists. Police may also use data without violating a reasonable pri… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Wayne A. Harper (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Doug Welton (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-05 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 64 | 1 | | | 2026-02-25 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 9 | 0 | | | 2026-02-17 | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-17 | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-17 | Senate | Senate/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 25 | 0 | | | 2026-02-13 | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-13 | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-13 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd reading | pass | 26 | 0 | | | 2026-01-27 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 6 | 0 | | | 2026-01-27 | Senate | Senate Comm - Amendment Recommendation | pass | 5 | 0 | | ## Actions (36) - 2026-03-18: Governor Signed - 2026-03-13: Senate/ to Governor (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Senate/ received enrolled bill from Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-11: Senate/ enrolled bill to Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-11: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2026-03-06: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2026-03-06: Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling - 2026-03-06: Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-03-05: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2026-02-25: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2026-02-25: House/ committee report favorable (House) - 2026-02-25: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-23: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2026-02-18: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2026-02-17: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-02-17: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Senate/ passed 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Senate/ uncircled (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Senate/ circled (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Senate/ 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-13: Senate/ passed 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-13: Senate/ uncircled (Senate) - 2026-02-13: Senate/ circled (Senate) - 2026-02-13: Senate/ 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-01-29: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-01-29: Senate/ comm rpt/ amended (Senate) - 2026-01-27: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-01-27: Senate Comm - Amendment Recommendation - 2026-01-26: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2026-01-21: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2026-01-21: Senate/ received bill from Legislative Research (Senate) - 2026-01-21: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2026-03-11: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/SB0172.pdf) - Amended 1/28/2026 11:01:644, 2026-01-28: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AV_SB0172_2026-01-28_11-16-08.pdf) - Introduced, 2026-01-21: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0172.pdf) ## Related bills - H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments (signed) - H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments (signed) - H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments (signed) - H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments (signed) - H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments (signed) - H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/SB0172.pdf) - [Amended 1/28/2026 11:01:644 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AV_SB0172_2026-01-28_11-16-08.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0172.pdf) ## Related - [H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB94-2026GS) - [H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB101-2026GS) - [H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB178-2026GS) - [H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB134-2026GS) - [H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB136-2026GS) - [H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB220-2026GS) - [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-SB172-2026GS (as of 2026-10-14).