HB 48: Wildland Urban Interface Modifications - Utah

Substitute #3 → Enrolled · 3 edits · Mar 20, 2025

MINOR

The bill was finalized to establish a comprehensive system for managing wildfire risks in Utah's wildland urban interface areas. Key changes include clarifying the effective date to January 1, 2026, and adding specific immunity protections for government entities and coordinators involved in evaluating high-risk properties. The text also includes minor formatting adjustments to the long title and code section headers.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on wildfire risk management, fee assessment, and insurance regulations for properties in the wildland urban interface, with no substantive changes to the applicability of these rules.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new wildfire evaluation and insurance regulations was confirmed as January 1, 2026.

ENFORCEMENT

New subsections were added to Section 63G-7-201 to explicitly grant immunity from lawsuits to the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, counties, and wildland urban interface coordinators when performing their evaluation and classification duties.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting corrections were made to the long title and the list of affected Utah Code sections to ensure consistency in the enrolled version.

Introduced → Substitute #1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill was updated to add a Senate sponsor and include a specific effective date of May 7, 2025. The core policy regarding wildfire fees and insurance rules was modified to allow counties to retain a portion of the assessment fees for their own operational costs, whereas the previous version required all fees to be sent directly to the state fund. Additionally, the fee structure was changed from a flat amount to a tiered system based on property risk levels, and the definition of 'third classification' was removed from the main text as it is now referenced by the triage scale itself.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on wildfire risk management, but the financial scope for counties has expanded by explicitly allowing them to use a portion of the new fees for local implementation costs.

TIMELINE

Added a specific effective date of May 7, 2025, and included a Senate sponsor in the header.

FISCAL

Changed the fee collection process to allow counties to retain a portion of the assessed fees for local costs, rather than requiring all fees to be deposited into the state fund.

REQUIREMENT

Replaced the requirement for a 'flat fee' with a 'tiered fee' structure that adjusts based on the specific risk level of the property.

DEFINITION

Removed the specific definition of 'third classification' from the definitions section, as the term is now implicitly defined by its position on the triage scale.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting adjustments to the legislative header and section numbering.

Substitute #2 → Substitute #3 · 9 edits

MAJOR

This bill modifies Utah's wildfire risk management framework by updating fee assessment procedures, clarifying insurance requirements, and establishing new evaluation protocols for high-risk wildland urban interface property. The changes primarily affect counties, municipalities, insurance companies, and property owners in wildfire-prone areas by creating a structured approach to evaluating property risk and collecting fees to fund prevention efforts.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of wildfire risk management by formally establishing a triage scale for property evaluation, creating a database for insurers to access risk classifications, and clarifying when the Division of Forestry may withhold cost coverage from local governments.

REQUIREMENT

Requires counties to annually assess fees on high-risk wildland urban interface property, with amounts set by the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands.

Requires insurers to provide specific notice details when canceling policies or increasing premiums by more than 20% for wildland urban interface properties.

DEFINITION

Establishes new definitions for 'high risk wildland urban interface property' and 'triage scale' to standardize property risk classification.

FISCAL

Directs fees collected from property owners to be deposited into the Wildland-urban Interface Prevention, Preparedness, and Mitigation Fund, with counties retaining a portion for implementation costs.

ENFORCEMENT

Creates a database accessible to insurers showing property classifications, allowing them to access risk information when underwriting policies.

Adds immunity protections for state officials, county officers, and wildland urban interface coordinators when performing evaluation and classification duties.

TIMELINE

Sets specific effective dates for fee assessments (May 7, 2025) and database creation (January 1, 2028), with insurance notice requirements beginning January 1, 2026.

ELIGIBILITY

Clarifies that insurers must use the Division's wildfire risk assessment mapping tool boundaries to determine high-risk property status.

TECHNICAL

Updates International Fire Code references and building standards to align with current wildfire mitigation requirements.

Substitute #1 → Substitute #2 · 7 edits

MODERATE

This bill modifies wildfire risk management laws by adding new fees for high-risk properties, requiring counties to evaluate and classify properties using a triage scale, and establishing a database for insurers to access risk classifications. The bill also updates fire safety codes and clarifies liability protections for government entities involved in wildfire prevention efforts.

Scope change

The bill expands county responsibilities to include annual evaluation and classification of high-risk wildland urban interface property, while adding new fee structures and insurer access to risk data.

FISCAL

New fee assessment mechanism requiring counties to collect fees from high-risk property owners, with funds directed to the Wildland-urban Interface Prevention, Preparedness, and Mitigation Fund.

REQUIREMENT

Mandatory annual evaluation and classification of high-risk wildland urban interface property by counties or county officers using a triage scale.

Updated fire safety codes to clarify sprinkler system requirements and access standards for structures in wildland urban interface areas.

DEFINITION

New definitions for 'high risk wildland urban interface property' and 'triage scale' to standardize risk assessment terminology.

ENFORCEMENT

Database creation allowing insurers to access property risk classifications for underwriting and rate-setting purposes.

LIABILITY

Expanded immunity protections for state and county officials involved in wildfire prevention and property evaluation activities.

TIMELINE

New effective date of May 7, 2025 for fee assessments and county evaluation requirements.

Wildland Urban Interface Modifications

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