HB 489

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1Water Infrastructure Amendments
                                        2026 GENERAL SESSION
                                             STATE OF UTAH
                                  Chief Sponsor: Thomas W. Peterson
                                  Senate Sponsor: Calvin R. Musselman
2
3    LONG TITLE
4    General Description:
5This bill addresses use of retention and detention basins.
6    Highlighted Provisions:
7This bill:
8▸ defines terms;
9▸ limits use of retention basins within the Great Salt Lake basin;
10▸ imposes design standards on certain detention basins within the Great Salt Lake basin; and
11▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
12    Money Appropriated in this Bill:
13None
14    Other Special Clauses:
15None
16    Utah Code Sections Affected:
17    AMENDS:
1819-5-108.5, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 438
19
20    Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
21Section 1. Section 19-5-108.5 is amended to read:
2219-5-108.5 . Storm water permits.
23    (1) As used in this section:
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24(a) "Applicant" means a person who[ is conducting or proposing ] :
25(i) conducts or proposes to conduct a use of land; and[ who]
26(ii) a permittee requires or allows to use low impact development.
27(b) "Detention basin" means a Ĥ→ [ best management practice] structure ←Ĥ
27a  designed to temporarily capture
28and store storm water runoff, releasing the storm water runoff slowly over time to:
29(i) prevent downstream flooding;
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30(ii) reduce erosion; and
31(iii) improve water quality by allowing sediment to settle out.
32      (c) "Great Salt Lake basin" means the area within:
33(i) the surveyed meander line of the Great Salt Lake;
34(ii) the drainage areas of the Bear River or the Bear River's tributaries;
35(iii) the drainage areas of Bear Lake or Bear Lake's tributaries;
36(iv) the drainage areas of the Weber River or the Weber River's tributaries;
37(v) the drainage areas of the Jordan River or the Jordan River's tributaries;
38(vi) the drainage areas of Utah Lake or Utah Lake's tributaries;
39(vii) other water drainages lying between the Bear River and the Jordan River that are
40tributary to the Great Salt Lake and not included in the drainage areas described in
41Subsections (1)(c)(ii) through (vi); and
42(viii) the drainage area of Tooele Valley.
43      [(b)] (d) "Independent review" is a review conducted:
44(i) in accordance with this section; and
45(ii) by an engineer[,] or engineering firm, designated by the division as having
46technical expertise in the area of storm water calculations.
47      [(c)] (e) "Low impact development" means a structural or natural engineered [systems]
48system located close to the source of storm water that [use or mimic] uses or mimics
49natural processes to encourage infiltration, evapotranspiration, or reuse of the storm
50water.
51      [(d)] (f) "Permittee" means a municipality or county with a storm water permit under the
52Utah Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
53      (g) "Retention basin" means a Ĥ→ [best management practice] structure ←Ĥ
53a  designed to hold water to
54manage storm water runoff by capturing the storm water runoff to:
55(i) reduce peak flow rates to prevent flooding; and
56(ii) improve water quality through sedimentation.
57      [(e)] (h) "Storm water" means storm water runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface runoff
58and drainage.
59      [(f)] (i) "Storm water permit" means a permit issued to a permittee by the division for the
60permittee's municipal separate storm sewer system.
61      [(g)] (j) "Utah Pollutant Discharge Elimination System" means the state-wide program
62for issuing, modifying, revoking and reissuing, terminating, monitoring and enforcing [
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63permits] a permit under this chapter.
64    (2) A permittee shall reduce any requirement for an applicant to manage or control storm
65water runoff rates or storm water runoff volumes for flood control purposes to account
66for the reduction in storm water associated with approved low impact development
67practices.
68    (3) The director shall create and maintain a list of engineers, including engineering firms,
69capable of providing independent review of low impact development designs and storm
70water calculations for use by an applicant and a permittee pursuant to an appeal
71described in Subsection (4).
72    (4)(a) An applicant who appeals a permittee's determination regarding post-construction
73retention requirements under the permittee's storm water permit may request the
74permittee to refer the appeal to independent review for purposes of determining the
75technical aspects of the appeal, including:
76(i) the required size of any low impact development system;
77(ii) the calculations of reductions in storm water runoff rates or storm water runoff
78volumes for flood control due to the use of low impact development; and
79(iii) the feasibility of constructing low impact development practices required by the
80permittee.
81(b)(i) If an applicant makes a request under Subsection (4)(a)[:] ,
82[(i)] the permittee shall:
83(A) select an engineer or engineering firm from the list described in Subsection (3);
84and
85(B) pay one-half of the cost of the independent review.
86(ii) [An ] A permittee may not select an engineer or engineering firm[ selected by the
87permittee] under Subsection (4)(b)(i)[ may not be]:
88(A) associated with the application that is the subject of the appeal; or
89(B) employed by the permittee.
90(iii) The applicant shall pay:
91(A) one-half of the cost of the independent review; and
92(B) the municipality's published appeal fee.
93    (5)(a) Ĥ→ [For] On and after January 1, 2027, for ←Ĥ long-term storm water
93a  management control, a permittee in the Great Salt Lake
94basin shall prioritize a low impact development practice other than use of a retention
95basin, unless the applicant establishes to the satisfaction of the permittee that no
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96      feasible alternative to use of a retention basin is available.
97      (b) Ĥ→ [If] On and after January 1, 2027, if ←Ĥ a detention basin is required for
97a  post-construction retention requirements in the
98Great Salt Lake basin, the applicant shall design the detention basin to Ĥ→ [release]
98a  drain ←Ĥ all
99water Ĥ→ [ as soon as possible] ←Ĥ , except that the design of the detention basin may
99a  not
100interfere with flood control management or drainage system capacity.
101Section 2. Effective Date.
102  This bill takes effect on May 6, 2026.
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