HB 64 Utah House · 2026 General Session

School and Institutional Trust Lands Amendments

HB 64 creates a formal process for counties to nominate culturally or scientifically significant sites on Utah's school and institutional trust lands for preservation. It requires counties to submit detailed nominations - including maps, evidence of significance, public input, and preservation plans - within 24 months of receiving notice from the trust lands administration. The director must review nominations within 180 days, approve those meeting strict criteria (like limiting sites to 640 acres or excluding mineral resources), and maintain a public list of approved sites. This bill directly affects counties with trust lands and the administration, establishing clear procedures without new funding or altering existing historic preservation laws.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status passed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 20, 2026 Last action Mar 7, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Amended Excerpts 2/13/2026 11:02:496 → Amended 2/13/2026 11:02:496 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill establishes a formal process for counties to nominate culturally or scientifically significant sites located on school and institutional trust lands for preservation. The amendments clarify the definition of a qualified county, specify notification requirements for the director, and outline detailed nomination requirements including maps, documentation, and preservation proposals.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on school and institutional trust lands, but the amendments refine eligibility criteria for counties and add specific procedural requirements for nominations.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'qualified county' was modified to specify that counties must be of the fourth, fifth, or sixth class and have trust lands within their jurisdictional boundaries.

REQUIREMENT

New requirements were added for nominations to include maps, legal descriptions, rationale for significance, documentation of public consultation, resolution of support, and preservation proposals.

The director's responsibilities were clarified to include notifying counties, approving or rejecting nominations based on established requirements, and maintaining a list of approved sites.

TIMELINE

A timeline was added requiring the director to notify qualified counties of nomination opportunities before January 1, 2027.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and markup changes were made to the document structure and committee notes.

Floor votes · House Feb 3, 2026

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate/ comm rpt/ amended [Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Introduced

Senate Comm - Amendment Recommendation [Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Introduced

Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

House/ passed 3rd reading

upper

Jan 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

House/ committee report favorable [House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Committee

House/ to standing committee [House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

lower

Jan 20, 2026

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor