HB 44: Private Airport Notice Amendments - Utah

Substitute #3 → Enrolled · 2 edits · Mar 27, 2025

MINOR

The bill was finalized with minor formatting corrections and a date update, but the core policy remains unchanged. It requires local governments to record notices for residents living near designated private airports to warn them of potential aircraft noise and safety risks. The bill defines 'significant private airports' and mandates that municipalities and counties record specific legal descriptions against nearby residential properties once an airport is officially designated.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on private airports designated as 'significant' by the state department, affecting both incorporated municipalities and unincorporated county areas.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and spacing adjustments were made to the text to align with standard legislative formatting conventions.

TIMELINE

The timestamp at the end of the document was updated from February 28, 2025, to March 4, 2025, reflecting the finalization of the bill.

Introduced → Substitute #1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised to shift the responsibility for designating 'significant private airports' from the legislature to the state Department of Commerce, which will now evaluate and notify local governments. Consequently, the notice recording requirements for municipalities and counties were updated to trigger only upon receiving this official departmental notification, and the distance threshold for required notices was reduced from 5,000 feet to 2,500 feet to better protect residential properties.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include a new administrative process for the Department of Commerce to identify and designate specific private airports, changing the trigger for local government action from a fixed date to a specific notification event.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new Section 72-10-416 requiring the Department of Commerce to evaluate private airport requests and officially designate them as 'significant' before local governments must act.

Modified the notice recording requirement for municipalities and counties to occur only after they receive a formal notification from the Department of Commerce, rather than on a fixed calendar date.

ELIGIBILITY

Reduced the distance threshold for required property notices from 5,000 feet to 2,500 feet, narrowing the scope of properties affected by the notice requirement.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'significant private airport' to rely on the department's designation process rather than a static list of criteria applied automatically.

Substitute #2 → Substitute #3 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill update modifies how private airport notices are recorded and clarifies the legal language used in the notice. The main changes involve updating who records the notice (land use authority instead of municipality/county directly), adding a requirement to include a legal boundary description in the recorded notice, and reformatting the definitions section for consistency.

Scope change

The scope remains focused on private airport notice requirements, but the entities responsible for recording notices have been clarified to 'land use authority' rather than the municipality or county directly.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the entity responsible for recording notices from 'municipality' or 'county' to 'land use authority of the municipality' or 'land use authority of the county'.

Added a new requirement to include a legal boundary description of all property within 2,500 feet of the runway in the recorded notice.

TECHNICAL

Reformatted the definitions section with consistent numbering and formatting for clarity and consistency.

Updated the effective date from May 7, 2025 to January 28, 2025 (as indicated by the 3rd Sub. timestamp).

Substitute #1 → Substitute #2 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill establishes a notice system for significant private airports in Utah, requiring municipalities and counties to record notices on residential properties near these airports. The bill defines what constitutes a 'significant private airport' and outlines the process for designating such airports and recording notices. The changes primarily involve formatting and structural updates to the bill text rather than substantive policy modifications.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on private airport notice requirements for municipalities and counties, with no change in applicability.

TECHNICAL

Formatting changes including updated line numbers, spacing, and header information reflecting the second substitute version of the bill.

Minor text adjustments in the definitions section, including renumbering of subsections and slight formatting changes to the 'Airport revenue' definition.

Updated page numbering and timestamp information to reflect the second substitute version.

Private Airport Notice Amendments

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