Groups oppose DEQ board membership rules changes

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would limit membership on Utah Department of Environmental Quality advisory boards came under attack from environmental groups, the League of Women Voters and others in a House committee meeting Wednesday.

Despite that opposition, lawmakers recommended 12-1 that the proposal, SB21, move on for consideration by the full House.

Marilyn O'Dell, of the Utah League of Women Voters, said that despite language added to clarify who would qualify to represent environmental groups on DEQ's five regulatory boards, it was a bad bill that sacrificed environmental protection for efficiency.

The proposal would limit to nine the number of members on the Radiation Control Board, the Air Quality Board and others. Some of those boards now have as many as 13 members, the bill's sponsor, Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Provo, told the House Natural Resources Committee.

"We have seen where the membership of these boards have been put together in a patchwork fashion," making them ungainly and larger than similar boards in other states, Dayton said.

The proposal would also give the DEQ director, who is appointed by the governor, the power to override some board decisions.

"It's bad policy to have so much concentration of power in one position," said Christopher Thomas of HEAL Utah.

James Holtkamp of the Utah Manufacturers Association supported the bill, saying the current system has been in place for decades, and to work more effectively the boards' rulemaking and adjudication functions should be separated.

"We believe this enhances the boards' role to consider public input," he said.

— Ladd Brubaker