On the Hill: Paying for safe drinking water in Utah
Jan 19, 2025, 4:30 PM | Updated: 9:24 pm
FILE: Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, speaks in the Utah Senate on HB2001 Election Amendments at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on June 14, 2023. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
The following is part of the Inside Sources series “On the Hill,” providing insight into legislation proposed by Utah lawmakers in 2025.
SALT LAKE CITY — A bill proposed by Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, would modify the Safe Drinking Water Act and require the Utah Department of Environmental Quality to establish a fee program. The goal, Sandall said, is to lessen the federal government’s responsibility to provide funding for water testing.
Instead, lawmakers would grant fee authority to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
Sen. Scott D. Sandall, R-Tremonton sponsored S.B.80 Drinking Water Amendments. Sandall spoke with Inside Sources hosts Adam Gardiner and Leah Murray on Dec. 17, 2024. A portion of the transcript and the full podcast are below.
KSL NewsRadio edited the following transcript for brevity.
SEN. SCOTT SANDALL: The Department of Environmental Quality [is] responsible for making sure that our drinking water is maintained at a high quality. So that everything that comes into your house is tested on a regular basis. During the last decade or so, the federal government has participated … at a high level in helping to sustain that. [Well] that funding is static at this point, and our population is growing. So we are looking at ways to fund that program without the help of the federal government.
HOST LEAH MURRAY: So this is about giving the state drinking water fee authority, so that we can keep on testing for quality.
SANDALL: That’s exactly right. Every time we add a new neighborhood or a new hookup, we have more drinking water that has to be tested. … And that’s more volume. So without the federal government stepping up in additional spaces, the state of Utah should look at funding this on our own.
HOST ADAM GARDINER: Are we talking about getting the federal government completely out of this space for funding?
SANDALL: In the foreseeable future, the federal government will continue to participate. The fee that we’re talking about would be kind of the incremental increase as we grow our state. …
Please listen to the entire interview below:
Other related reading:
- Utah needs $60 billion in water infrastructure upgrades in the next 35 years, state report finds
- Huntsville residents now have tap water, few restrictions remain
- Biden administration sets first national standard to limit ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water
