Utah § 17-81-402 - Rights of a mine operator with a vested mining use -- Expanding vested mining use.

Full text of Utah Utah Code § 17-81-402 — Rights of a mine operator with a vested mining use -- Expanding vested mining use., with citation guidance and answers to common questions.

§ 17-81-402. Rights of a mine operator with a vested mining use -- Expanding vested mining use.

Effective 11/6/2025
17-81-402.  Rights of a mine operator with a vested mining use -- Expanding vested mining use.
(1)Notwithstanding a political subdivision's prohibition, restriction, or other limitation on a mining use adopted after the establishment of the mining use, the rights of a mine operator with a vested mining use include the rights to:
(a)progress, extend, enlarge, grow, or expand the vested mining use to any surface or subsurface land or mineral estate that the mine operator owns or controls;
(b)expand the vested mining use to any new land that:
(i)is contiguous and related in mineralization to surface or subsurface land or a mineral estate that the mine operator already owns or controls;
(ii)contains minerals that are part of the same mineral trend as the minerals that the mine operator already owns or controls; or
(iii)is a geologic offshoot to surface or subsurface land or a mineral estate that the mine operator already owns or controls;
(c)use, operate, construct, reconstruct, restore, extend, expand, maintain, repair, alter, substitute, modernize, upgrade, and replace equipment, processes, facilities, and buildings on any surface or subsurface land or mineral estate that the mine operator owns or controls;
(d)increase production or volume, alter the method of mining or processing, and mine or process a different or additional mineral than previously mined or owned on any surface or subsurface land or mineral estate that the mine operator owns or controls; and
(e)discontinue, suspend, terminate, deactivate, or continue and reactivate, temporarily or permanently, all or any part of the mining use.
(2)
(a)As used in this Subsection (2), "applicable legislative body" means the legislative body of each:
(i)county in whose unincorporated area the new land to be included in the vested mining use is located; and
(ii)municipality in which the new land to be included in the vested mining use is located.
(b)A mine operator with a vested mining use is presumed to have a right to expand the vested mining use to new land.
(c)Before expanding a vested mining use to new land, a mine operator shall provide written notice:
(i)of the mine operator's intent to expand the vested mining use; and
(ii)to each applicable legislative body.
(d)
(i)An applicable legislative body shall:
(A)hold a public meeting or hearing at its next available meeting that is more than 10 days after receiving the notice under Subsection (2)(c); and
(B)provide reasonable, advance, written notice:
(I)of:
(Aa)the intended expansion of the vested mining use; and
(Bb)the public meeting or hearing; and
(II)to each owner of the surface estate of the new land.
(ii)A public meeting or hearing under Subsection (2)(d)(i) serves to provide sufficient public notice of the mine operator's intent to expand the vested mining use to the new land.
(e)After the public meeting or hearing under Subsection (2)(d)(ii), a mine operator may expand a vested mining use to new land without any action by an applicable legislative body, unless the applicable legislative body finds that there is clear and convincing evidence in the record that the expansion to new land will imminently endanger the public health, safety, and welfare. If the applicable legislative body makes the finding of endangerment described in this Subsection (2)(e), Subsection (4) applies.
(3)If a mine operator expands a vested mining use to new land, as authorized under this section:
(a)the mine operator's rights under the vested mining use with respect to land on which the vested mining use occurs apply with equal force after the expansion to the new land; and
(b)the mining protection area that includes land on which the vested mining use occurs is expanded to include the new land.
(4)
(a)If the applicable legislative body makes the finding of endangerment described in Subsection (2)(e):
(i)the mining operator shall submit to the applicable legislative body the mining operator's plan for expansion under this section;
(ii)by no later than 30 days after receipt of the plan for expansion described in Subsection (4)(a)(i), the applicable legislative body shall notify the operator of:
(A)evidence that the expansion to new land will endanger the public health, safety, and welfare; and
(B)proposed measures to mitigate the endangerment of the public health, safety, and welfare; and
(iii)the applicable legislative body shall hold a public hearing by no later than 30 days after the date the applicable legislative body complies with Subsection (4)(a)(ii) to present mitigation measures proposed under Subsection (4)(a)(ii).
(b)The applicable legislative body may impose mitigation measures under this Subsection (4) that are reasonable and do not exceed requirements imposed by permits issued by a state agency such as an air quality permit.
(c)A political subdivision may not prohibit the expansion of a vested mining use if the mining operator agrees to comply with the mitigation measures described in Subsection (4)(b).
(d)The process under this Subsection (4) is not a land use application or conditional use application under Title Title 10, Chapter 20, Municipal Land Use, Development, and Management Act, or Chapter 79, County Land Use, Development, and Management Act.


Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 14, 2025 Special Session 1

Source: official Utah text · Last verified 2026-08-27

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Frequently Asked Questions About Utah § 17-81-402

What does Utah Code § 17-81-402 cover?

Section 17-81-402 ("Rights of a mine operator with a vested mining use -- Expanding vested mining use.") is part of the Utah Code, the codified statutory law of Utah. It sets out the legal rule or procedure described in the text above. Statutes are amended regularly, so always verify against the official source.

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