By John Rogers
A bill that tweaks the rules governing the Utah Inland Port Authority is making its way through the 2020 Utah Legislature, currently in session on Capital Hill. SB112 was introduced in the early days of the session by Senate Minority Whip Luz Escamilla, whose Northwest Quadrant neighborhood will be most impacted when the giant freight distribution hub is built.
The main thrust of the changes sought by Escamilla to the port project, first created by Utah lawmakers during the 2018 legislative session, is two-fold. First, the bill seeks more representation on the governing board for the residents of Salt Lake City by adding two people to the group: the mayor of Salt Lake City or her designee and a member of the Salt Lake City School District designated by the board of education.
As currently constituted, the Utah Inland Port Authority board is made up of appointees from several government bodies, including the House and Senate, Salt Lake County and the Department of Transportation. Salt Lake City’s sole representative is Councilman James Rogers plus an appointee from the airport authority board. The Salt Lake City School District has no representation.
“Just having one elected official from the city is not enough, especially when most of the inland port development will happen in Salt Lake City,” Escamilla told The Salt Lake Tribune recently.
Secondly, the new bill would help address the environmental impact created by the port’s construction and operation. If passed, the new law would require the Utah Inland Port Authority to consider the development and implementation of a fund to mitigate development impacts on affected communities and to submit a written report outlining findings to the state Legislature by Oct. 1.
Escamilla’s bill also wants the port board to create minimum standards that would be required before a developer could qualify for authority financing or tax increment funding from involved governmental entities. Those minimums would include rules related to waste reduction and recycling, the handling of hazardous materials, stormwater control and dust mitigation. Opponents of the project as well as city officials have long expressed concern over the expected major increase in vehicle traffic in the area of the port and the accompanying pollution from emissions.
Inland port Executive Director Jack Hedge is also seeking some changes to the port legislation that he describes as “cleanups.” Included in his request is a provision that would give the seat now held by someone from the airport board to the airport’s executive director in an effort to bring more “technical expertise” to the body.
A second bill that addresses concerns of Salt Lake City over land use and taxing authority was passed out of the House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee to the full House last week. The bill restores Salt Lake City’s land-use authority and gives the city 25 percent of the tax increment that will be generated by the 16,000-acre project. The bill, HB347, is sponsored by House Majority Leader Francis Gibson.
Gibson’s bill is supported by newly elected Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, but is still opposed by groups such as Stop the Polluting Port who characterize the new legislation as “still a terrible bill.”