Senate passes first substitute to SB 264 to expand Inland Port authority powers, 26-1

The Utah Senate on the floor approved the first substitute to Senate Bill 264, an inland-port overhaul that sponsors say clarifies governance, tax collection and environmental remediation authority for the Utah Inland Port. The chamber passed the measure under suspension of the rules by a roll-call tally of 26 yea, 1 nay and 2 absent; the bill will be transmitted to the House for further consideration.

Senator Stevenson, presenting the measure, described key changes in the substitute and Amendment 1. "The amendment deals with the tax commission. It just makes, that makes it so within 30 days, we have to deal with the tax commission on the provisions of part 1 in the tax collection," he said, noting the amendment adds a 30-day engagement with the Tax Commission on specified collection provisions. He told colleagues the substitute also "puts [current practice] into statute," clarifying the base year applied to project-area additions and allowing individuals with an interest in land within a project area to serve on a small board for that area.

The substitute removes a newspaper-posting requirement for project-area notices where local newspapers are unavailable, instead allowing notice via city or county websites and the state public notice site, and it grants the Inland Port authority explicit power to undertake remediation of contaminated sites without landowner agreement in certain circumstances. Sen. Stevenson said the bill also redirects sales tax remittance — in some cases routing tax proceeds directly to the city where the activity occurs instead of to the Inland Port entity — and authorizes the authority to facilitate tax-exempt private-activity bonds on behalf of private entities.

Senators debated the measure briefly on the floor; no floor amendments were offered beyond Amendment 1, which the sponsor said mostly clarified technical references and line numbering. Under the suspension motion put to the chamber, the first substitute passed and will be sent to the House for its consideration.

The Senate recorded no further conditions on the bill on passage; next steps are House consideration and any subsequent conference or concurrence votes between the two chambers.