HB 432 Utah House · 2025 General Session

Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Enforcement Modifications

HB 432 repeals Utah’s ban on flavored electronic cigarette products but adds new requirements for their sale. It prohibits flavored e-cigarette sales without meeting specific tracking rules, modifies nicotine content limits, and creates a new registry for these products. The bill affects retail tobacco businesses by raising permit fees, requiring ID scanning and surveillance footage, and imposing a tax on flavored products. It also prohibits sales to minors and creates penalties for violations, including criminal charges for certain sales. The changes aim to balance product availability with enhanced enforcement and youth protection.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 6, 2025 Last action Mar 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Substitute #3 → Substitute #4 · 10 edits

MAJOR

This bill repeals the ban on flavored electronic cigarettes in Utah but replaces it with a new regulatory system requiring products to be registered and tracked via RFID technology. It creates a temporary registry for flavored products, establishes a permanent registry for all electronic cigarettes, and imposes a tax on flavored products starting in 2026. The bill also increases penalties for selling to minors, requires enhanced surveillance and ID scanning in specialty shops, and raises permit fees for tobacco retailers.

Scope change

The bill expands regulatory requirements from a total ban on flavored products to a registration and tracking system, while maintaining restrictions on nicotine content and sales to minors.

REQUIREMENT

Repealed the existing ban on flavored electronic cigarette products.

Created a temporary registry for flavored electronic cigarettes effective May 1, 2025, requiring products to be registered before sale.

Created a permanent registry for all electronic cigarette products effective August 1, 2025, requiring federal premarket authorization or pending status.

Mandated RFID tracking for all flavored electronic cigarettes starting May 15, 2026.

Increased permit fees for retail tobacco specialty businesses from $20-$30 to $475-$500, with a $10,000 renewal fee for 2025.

Required retail tobacco specialty businesses to implement electronic video surveillance systems with 45-day retention and ID scanning technology.

FISCAL

Imposed a 20% tax on flavored electronic cigarette products effective January 1, 2026, with proceeds funding enforcement and public health programs.

ENFORCEMENT

Increased criminal penalties for selling to minors and created new misdemeanor penalties for possession and distribution of unregistered flavored products.

DEFINITION

Modified definition of flavored electronic cigarette products to include products with fruit, chocolate, vanilla, honey, candy, cocoa, dessert, alcoholic beverage, herb, spice, or mint flavors.

TIMELINE

Extended effective dates for various provisions from 2025 to 2026 for tax, registry, and RFID tracking requirements.

Substitute #1 → Substitute #2 · 10 edits

MAJOR

This bill modifies Utah's tobacco and electronic cigarette regulations by repealing the ban on flavored e-cigarettes and the federal premarket authorization requirement, while introducing new tracking, surveillance, and licensing requirements for retail tobacco specialty businesses. The changes shift the regulatory focus from prohibiting flavored products to enforcing stricter compliance measures for businesses that sell them, including mandatory electronic age verification, video surveillance, and employee training permits. A new tax on flavored e-cigarettes takes effect in July 2025, with proceeds designated for prevention programs and research.

Scope change

The bill expands regulatory oversight to retail tobacco specialty businesses by adding requirements for electronic age verification systems, video surveillance, and employee tobacco handling permits, while removing restrictions on flavored e-cigarette sales that previously existed.

REQUIREMENT

Repealed the ban on flavored electronic cigarette products and the requirement for federal premarket authorization from the FDA

Added mandatory electronic age verification systems for retail tobacco specialty businesses starting July 1, 2025

Created new surveillance footage requirements including video recording of entry points and sales areas with 45-day retention

Established tobacco handling permit requirements for retail tobacco specialty business employees and operators

Added identification scanning requirements for retail tobacco specialty businesses to detect fraudulent identification

FISCAL

Created a new tax on flavored electronic cigarette products at 2.5% of retail price, effective July 1, 2025

ENFORCEMENT

Increased penalties for selling flavored e-cigarettes to minors, including permit revocation and fines up to $20,000

TIMELINE

Added RFID tracking pilot program for flavored e-cigarettes starting May 15, 2026

DEFINITION

Updated definitions to remove references to federal premarket authorization requirements for electronic cigarette products

ELIGIBILITY

Created licensing requirements specifically for flavored electronic cigarette product sellers with new bonding requirements

Introduced → Substitute #1 · 11 edits

MAJOR

This bill significantly relaxes Utah's tobacco and electronic cigarette regulations by repealing the ban on flavored e-cigarettes and removing federal premarket authorization requirements, while simultaneously increasing enforcement and licensing fees for specialty retailers. The changes aim to reduce regulatory barriers for retailers while maintaining child protection measures through stricter age verification and surveillance requirements.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of permitted products by allowing flavored electronic cigarettes and removing federal premarket authorization requirements, while tightening restrictions on retail locations and enforcement penalties.

REQUIREMENT

Repealed the ban on flavored electronic cigarette products that previously prohibited their sale in Utah.

Removed the requirement that electronic cigarette products obtain premarket authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Repealed the nicotine content limit for electronic cigarette products.

Created new requirements for retail tobacco specialty businesses to electronically verify customer age using advanced identification scanning systems.

Mandated surveillance footage requirements including video monitoring systems with 45-day retention for retail tobacco specialty businesses.

Established a tobacco handling permit requirement for retail tobacco specialty business employees and operators.

Required tracking and reporting of illegal flavored electronic cigarette product sales to health departments and law enforcement.

FISCAL

Increased licensing fees for retail tobacco specialty businesses from $30 to $3,000.

ENFORCEMENT

Created new tax on flavored electronic cigarette products at 2.5% of retail price with proceeds allocated to health and education programs.

Increased penalties for selling flavored e-cigarettes to minors, raising fines from $1,000 to $5,000 for first violations and $10,000 for second violations.

TIMELINE

Set July 1, 2025 as the effective date for the flavored e-cigarette tax and prohibition on selling unauthorized e-cigarette products.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 18, 2025

Lower · Passed

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

House/ to standing committee

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor