The Utah State Senate advanced a package of bills addressing waste reuse, homeless services, environmental permitting, critical-minerals loans and commercial clean-energy incentives during a floor session. Sponsors described negotiated substitutes, implementation windows and technical limits; each bill was placed on the third‑reading calendar after roll-call votes.

The bills matter because they affect rural waste management and landfill operations, county homelessness responses in extreme heat, environmental permitting timelines, a state loan to expand domestic critical‑minerals processing, and how Utah directs incentives for commercial wind and solar projects and battery storage.

Tire recycling and landfill cover (Senate Bill 63)
Senator Vickers, sponsor of Senate Bill 63, said the bill would allow shredded tires to be used as “beneficial use” cover material at landfills and that in tests “these tires actually work as better cover than the rocks and and and the dirt.” He told the Senate negotiators had agreed to a delayed implementation date and to refine size definitions: the substitute being proposed would delay implementation until March 30, 2026, require chipping to remain at 2 inches while allowing shredding up to 8 inches, and would allow counties that choose to purchase or rent shredders to retain the traditional shredder fee instead of sending it to private contractors.

Vickers said, “that fee instead of going to that private company would actually come back and go to the landfill that is choosing to utilize, you know, utilize the shredder.” Senator Winterton asked whether the $1 recycling fee would be removed; Vickers said “No. There’s no proposal to, change where the money…going into the system.”

The Senate voted to read SB 63 for a third time; the body recorded 25 yeas, 0 nays and 4 absent, and the bill was placed on the third‑reading calendar.

Homeless services modifications and seasonal “code blue” (First substitute Senate Bill 182)
Senator Weiler explained the first substitute to Senate Bill 182 clarifies applicability to “counties of the first, second, third, and fourth class,” adds definitions for a code‑blue alert and event, and replaces a fixed 105‑degree threshold with a National Weather Service ‘‘heat risk 2’’ (moderate or greater) metric. Weiler said the substitute also limits the code‑blue period to June 1 through Sept. 30 and narrows the bill to congregate facilities.

He summarized: “the first sub does clarify in answer to, Senator Winder’s question that this applies to counties of the first, second, third, and fourth class…And instead of using the 105 degree temperature, it uses a heat risk 2, which is moderate or greater from the National Weather Service.”

The Senate approved the first substitute and then voted to read the substitute for a third time; the roll call showed 24 yeas, 0 nays and 5 absent.

Environmental permitting changes (First substitute Senate Bill 159)
Senator Stratton described First Substitute SB 159 as changing nonhazardous solid‑waste permitting by adding a five‑year sunset to a new permitting requirement intended to transition the sector toward liners and other location and containment standards. Stratton said the change provides time for the industry to adapt: the substitute “puts a sunset of 5 years to the permitting to allow a transition from the current rule to requiring a specific liner.”

The Senate moved the substituted bill to third reading after a roll call recorded 25 yeas, 0 nays and 4 absent.

Critical minerals loan and processing (Senate Bill 187, as amended)
Senator Stevenson, sponsor of SB 187, described the bill as creating a loan program using interest earnings on prior CIB funds to provide state‑backed financing to a company prepared to begin production of critical minerals (including feldspar and gallium) in Utah. Stevenson said the loan would not use principal taken from the CIB fund and that the funding is set up as a repayable loan. When asked whether the $11,000,000 was for a single company, Stevenson said it was: “It’s it’s really for 1 company.” He said the company is American‑owned, permitted to open the feldspar mine and aims to bring a processing plant to Millard County near Delta.

Stevenson described the rationale in national‑security and market terms, noting a U.S. Geological Survey update identifying critical mineral needs and asserting that foreign supply cutoffs increased urgency: “The US geological survey, has sent out a new a new release that there are now 50 critical elements… Some of those we’re not producing at all.” Senator Hinkins and other supporters stressed local processing capacity and collateral in the form of plant equipment.

The Senate approved the amended bill for third reading; the roll call recorded 27 yeas, 0 nays and 2 absent.

Commercial wind and solar incentives with battery requirements (Third substitute Senate Bill 192)
Senator Owens, sponsor of SB 192, said the bill comes from an Energy Working Group and changes incentives for commercial wind and solar systems by tying some incentives to added battery backup and specifying minimum firming capacity. Owens described a negotiated move from an original 12‑hour storage target to a 6‑hour standard that is emerging in the market and said projects already permitted or in the queue before May 1 would not be affected.

On battery duration, Owens said, “6 hours is in the bill,” and added that firms and the grid use that kind of storage to meet the evening peak when “the highest demand is… probably around 7 or 8:00 at night.” The substitute also clarifies that projects already in the permitting queue will not be retroactively penalized if they were approved by the specified date.

The Senate substituted the bill and voted to read the third substitute for a third time; the roll call showed 23 yeas, 0 nays and 6 absent.

Votes at a glance
- SB 63 (tire shredding/landfill cover): read for third time; recorded 25 yeas, 0 nays, 4 absent.
- First substitute SB 182 (homeless services/code blue): read for third time; recorded 24 yeas, 0 nays, 5 absent.
- First substitute SB 159 (environmental permitting changes): read for third time; recorded 25 yeas, 0 nays, 4 absent.
- SB 187 as amended (critical minerals loan): moved to third‑reading calendar; recorded 27 yeas, 0 nays, 2 absent.
- Third substitute SB 192 (commercial wind/solar incentives with battery storage): read for third time; recorded 23 yeas, 0 nays, 6 absent.

The Senate adjourned its floor session and set the next convening for Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 11:00 a.m., according to an announcement at the close of the day.

Ending note: The article reports the floor actions taken and the recorded roll‑call results. The text confines reporting to statements and vote tallies given on the floor and does not infer future agency rules, administrative approvals or federal actions that were not discussed on the record.