# Utah S.B. 251: Local Health Department and Department of Environmental Quality Coordination Utah S.B. 251, Local Health Department and Department of Environmental Quality Coordination, is a 2026 General Session Senate bill sponsored by Scott D. Sandall (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-03-25 (Governor Signed) (as of 2026-10-14). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB251-2026GS - 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. 251 - State: Utah - Session: 2026 General Session - Title: Local Health Department and Department of Environmental Quality Coordination - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-02-04 - Last action: 2026-03-25, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Scott D. Sandall (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Environment, Department of Environmental Quality, Local Health Departments, Public Health, Civil Procedure - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 7 (104 yes, 30 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 4 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Agencies can recover unusual enforcement costs: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah's environmental department can use Title 19 penalties or fines to repay qualifying extraordinary enforcement costs. It can repay itself, local governments, or local health departments, but repayment is not guaranteed. The department must set rules defining covered activi… - Environmental penalties support dedicated program funds: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah directs specified environmental penalties to dedicated accounts rather than general state spending. Petroleum tank penalties go to the Petroleum Storage Tank Restricted Account through July 1, 2028; this covers the specified section, not the entire part. Penalties under… - Local health departments lose collection reimbursements: cost, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah's environmental department no longer must repay local health departments for collecting environmental civil penalties. The change covers penalties under Title 19 and removes the state's reimbursement obligation. - Water and waste penalties fund state budgets: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah directs specified drinking-water, water-quality, hazardous-waste, and hazardous-substance penalties to the General Fund. These sections lose their separate authority to repay state or local enforcement costs, including hazardous-waste prosecution costs. Deposits remain s… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Scott D. Sandall (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Karen M. Peterson (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-06 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 40 | 30 | | | 2026-03-02 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 9 | 0 | | | 2026-02-25 | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-25 | Senate | Senate/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 26 | 0 | | | 2026-02-24 | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-23 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd reading | pass | 25 | 0 | | | 2026-02-11 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 4 | 0 | | ## Actions (36) - 2026-03-25: Governor Signed - 2026-03-13: Senate/ to Governor (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Senate/ received enrolled bill from Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Senate/ enrolled bill to Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2026-03-10: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2026-03-10: Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling - 2026-03-10: Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling (Senate) - 2026-03-10: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ Rules to 3rd Reading Calendar (House) - 2026-03-03: House/ 3rd Reading Calendar to Rules (House) - 2026-03-02: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2026-03-02: House/ committee report favorable (House) - 2026-03-02: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-27: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2026-02-25: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2026-02-25: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-02-25: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Senate/ passed 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Senate/ uncircled (Senate) - 2026-02-24: Senate/ circled (Senate) - 2026-02-24: Senate/ 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-23: Senate/ passed 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-23: Senate/ 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Senate/ committee report favorable (Senate) - 2026-02-11: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-09: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2026-02-06: Senate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (Senate) - 2026-02-04: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2026-02-04: Senate/ received bill from Legislative Research (Senate) - 2026-02-04: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2026-03-12: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/SB0251.pdf) - Introduced, 2026-02-04: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0251.pdf) ## Related bills - H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments (signed) - H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments (signed) - H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments (signed) - H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments (signed) - H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments (signed) - H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/SB0251.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0251.pdf) ## Related - [H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB136-2026GS) - [H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB101-2026GS) - [H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB134-2026GS) - [H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB178-2026GS) - [H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB94-2026GS) - [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-SB251-2026GS (as of 2026-10-14).