Port Bill Advances with Tweak for ‘Minimal’ Environment Concerns

The Desert News covered House Bill 347 and the new tweaks that still leave too much ambiguity in terms of environmentally sound development.

The inland port legislation (HB 347) making its way through the legislatire is still deeply flawed. It gives property owners vested rights to develop inland port uses under 2018 zoning that inadequately protects the community from the harms that will come from this development. It’s worth noting that these 2018 zoning changes were developed under restrictions set by the legislature with the original statute. As a result unfortunately Rep.

Gibson’s new language saying the Port Authority ‘may not’ use tax differential unless the ‘minimum mitigation and environmental standards’ are followed doesn’t assure us that the community will be protected because those standards are so low.

The Port Authority has a lot of work to do to show that it cares about preventing environmental harm. Click here for full Deseret News article and/or read expert below:

Deeda Seed, a campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity and a lead organizer of the group Stop the Polluting Port, said Tuesday the bill is still “deeply flawed.”

Seed pointed to a provision in the bill that gives property owners vested rights to develop for inland port uses under 2018 city zoning that “inadequately protects the community from the harms that will come from this development.”

“It’s worth noting that these 2018 zoning changes were developed under restrictions set by the Legislature with the original statute,” Seed said. “As a result, unfortunately Rep. Gibson’s new language saying the port authority ‘may not’ use tax differential unless the ‘minimum mitigation and environmental standards’ are followed doesn’t assure us that the community will be protected because those standards are so low.”