Lake Powell Pipeline approved for environmental analysis

Federal regulators have announced that the Lake Powell Pipeline is ready for a full environmental analysis. In agreeing to move ahead with the environmental analysis, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission launches a 60-day period for public comment on the project, which has been controversial in communities along the Colorado, a river system that supplies water to some 40 million people across seven states but is in danger of shrinking supplies because of climate change and overuse. The Spectrum

Kane, Garfield counties sue over halt to new coal leases on federal land

Two Utah counties have filed a lawsuit challenging a federal halt to granting new coal leases, arguing the moratorium is blocking a mine expansion that could pump millions of dollars into the local economies. The suit marks the first challenge to the moratorium ordered in January by the Obama administration. The counties claim the moratorium was an arbitrary move that could force the mine to close.

The halt is expected to last at least three years while the U.S. Department of the Interior weighs whether fees charged to mining companies provide a fair return to taxpayers and reflect coal's impact on the environment. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to rescind the moratorium.

The leases were halted amid concerns about climate change and other issues linked to the $1 billion-a-year coal leasing program. There have been some limited exceptions to the moratorium said a spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior. Deseret News

Solar projects coming to Iron County

Four new solar projects slated to begin this year in Iron County are expected to bring in approximately $4 million in additional revenue to various taxing entities throughout the county. The additional revenue that would come in over the 20-year span of the project would benefit Iron County, the Iron County School District and the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District.

First Wind and Sun Edison are the companies gearing up to bring the solar projects into the community. First Wind plans to have three project areas with three different sites, while Sun Edison has one project planned with six sites. The ventures will bring in an additional 30 to 60 construction jobs for approximately six months, and they are expected to create about 13 full-time positions once completed. The Spectrum

Washington City receives grant to hire more police officers

The Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) last week announced funding awards aimed at creating law enforcement positions. More than $125 million will be awarded nationally, including nearly $45 million to fund 356 new school resource officer positions. Washington City will receive $125,000. The Spectrum

St. George budget situation improves

The St. George City council is slated to get a first look at the 2013-2014 preliminary budget, and financial managers are predicting a mostly upward trend for both revenues and spending. The new budget year begins in July.

Sales tax revenues were up by double digits through the first few months of the year, with the latest financial report, which runs through March, indicating that general fund revenues were up 7.5 percent from the previous year. Building permits were up 35 percent through March, buoying impact fee revenues, and most tax revenue sources were increasing as well. The Spectrum

Legislature studies 'local option' gas tax

Fuel-efficient vehicles, including hybrids and natural gas vehicles, help reduce pollution and can save drivers money at the pump — but they are also causing a nationwide concern as state governments attempt to make up for lost gas tax revenue.

Several studies, including one from Cambridge Energy Research Associates, shows America’s appetite for oil waning. Since a peak demand in 2007, demand of oil in America has been steadily and dramatically declining, with an expected continual drop of at least 7 percent over the next quarter century. While various factors can be attributed to this phenomena — including an aging population that is driving less —the main factor is that vehicles are becoming more fuel efficient.

According to J.P. Powers and Associates, fuel efficiency is the number one factor people take into consideration when purchasing a vehicle.

The problem comes from the fact that revenue from the 24.5-cent state gasoline tax used for repairing and maintaining roads — called the B and C fund — has been dropping, along with gas purchases. That means less money for the roads. These funds are not used on new projects, but to maintain current roads.

B and C road funds are collected by the state and distributed to counties and municipalities based on miles of road and population. In 2012, Utah spent $124 million for B and C road funds, of which approximately $1.5 million went to Iron County, $1.3 million went to Washington County and $1.5 million went to Garfield County.

With budgets shrinking, the state legislature is mulling ideas to raise more money for roads, including the possibility of a local option gas tax.

Iron County Commissioner Alma Adams said at Monday’s county commission meeting that such a program would see counties and cities opting into a tax to the tune of 5 to 10 cents per gallon. If they opt in, they would get an additional 10 percent in funding while they would lose 20 percent of funding if they opt out.



County Commissioner Dale Brinkerhoff suggested that increasing the tax on natural gas vehicles could be a better alternative. Currently natural gas is taxed at 8.5 cents per gallon as opposed to gasoline’s 24.5 cents per gallon.

Cedar City resident Ryan Gunn believes an increase in price at the pump for natural gas vehicles wouldn’t make it worthwhile to own one, citing increased costs when it comes to initial purchase price, conversion prices and maintenance.

While the final solution may not be popular, Kevin Kitchen, public information officer for the Utah Department of Transportation said something will need to happen to reverse the trend.

“We will do what the legislators tell us,” Kitchen said. “This is a problem every (department of transportation) across the country is facing.” The Spectrum

Utah's Thirst for Water Comes with $13.7 Billion Price Tag

The ability to turn on the tap, flush the toilet and water the garden over the next 20 years will be a multibillion-dollar challenge in Utah because of new water and sewer systems that state officials say must be put in place.

A statewide list of water projects, including their costs, is being shopped to Utah lawmakers, along with the warning that it is better to plan now and pay now, rather than wait until dams fail or taps run dry.

The numbers are staggering, adding up to $13.7 billion. And that doesn't include billions identified for controversial projects such as the Lake Powell Pipeline or the Bear River Development project.

The Utah divisions of water quality and water resources and other public agencies compiled the list of water infrastructure needs in Utah that provides just one glimpse of a national problem decades in the making.

A roundtable highlighting the water infrastructure challenges across the country estimated the cost to maintain and replace drinking water systems alone at $1 trillion. Hosted by the Conservation Leadership Partnership, the discussion earlier this month took on new urgency as most of the nation continues to recover from the worst drought in 50 years.

The partnership is an initiative seeking to broker new alternatives to persistent conservation problems, emphasizing the need for public-private partnerships and entrepreneurship and "ground-up" solutions. Deseret News

Dixie National Forest invites proposals for improvement projects

The public is encouraged to propose projects designed to improve Dixie National Forest lands and the rural economies of local counties.

Project funding is being made available through Title II funds under the one-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Public Law 112-141).

Additional information concerning Title II projects is available at the National Forest Servicewebsite. Applicants may also contact Janice Minarik for more information about the RAC and projects at telephone 435-865-3700. St George Utah

Coal mine officials speak out on their proposal to expand operations in Kane County

For a big hole in the ground in an out-of-the-way place, a project near here is generating a surprising amount of controversy. Although it's in a rarely visited valley, three miles from a town most Utahns have never heard of, a proposal to expand the Coal Hollow Mine generated 177,000 public comments to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

The BLM last week announced that a controversial proposal to expand mining operations deserves another look.

Mine officials say their side of the story has not been fairly told in the media and they claim to be victims of exaggerations and distortions by their critics.

"Unfortunately, we've been portrayed that we're right there on top of Bryce (Canyon National Park), and that's not correct," said Coal Hollow Mine General Manager Larry Johnson.

Coal Hollow is Utah's only surface coal mine, also known as a strip mine. Although it is a tiny operation by industry standards, it has generated a mountain of controversy, largely because it's located just a few miles from a national park. Deseret News

A scanner will record your license plate, where it was and when

Drive your car over aspen-covered Boulder Mountain in southern Utah or park it in downtown Salt Lake City or on the Brigham Young University campus in Provo and you can expect something to happen.

The recent request by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to mount license plate scanners on Interstate 15 in southwestern Utah met opposition, but law enforcement across the state, including police at BYU, are already using license plate scanners to find everyone from parking scofflaws to violent crime suspects.

Even before the DEA request, southwestern Utah had a concentration of license plate scanners.

The St. George Police Department has its own scanner, while other police forces in that county are on a list of agencies that can borrow a car from the Utah State Tax Commission equipped with scanners. The drug task force that covers Iron and Garfield counties also has a license plate scanner it has used to build cases against people suspected of growing marijuana on public lands.

A Salt Lake Tribune review identified 47 police departments and county sheriffs who use license plate scanners or have permission to borrow the Tax Commission scanner cars. Statewide agencies, including the Utah Highway Patrol, also use the scanners. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah sheriffs back away from plan to scan license plates

An outcry over privacy rights derails use of scanners to track drug smugglers along I-15. Two federally donated license plate scanners meant to track drug trafficking won’t be installed on Interstate 15 in southwest Utah.

The Beaver County sheriff decided that implementing the new technology wasn’t worth a community battle over perceived civil rights violations.

The Washington County sheriff wants more to study the issue.

Both sheriffs were slated to testify in favor of the scanners — to be donated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration — at a June 20 meeting of the Utah Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee.

But in the face of public opposition, the law officers will not be attending the meeting, and they have no immediate intentions to install the scanners. Salt Lake Tribune

Utah's land

Utah lawmakers appear to be poised for a battle with the federal government over control over what is - at least for now - federal lands. Time will tell if this proves to be a fruitless endeavor or if it will change the political landscape over the literal landscape.

The bill, passed during the last legislative session, was sponsored by Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan. This week, Ivory urged people in attendance at a Washington County Republican Women meeting to support the measure. He asserts that by tapping the natural resources available on those public lands, it would put Utah on a surer economic path.

The legal argument has several facets, but one that actually may pass constitutional muster is that the federal government never lived up to parts of its responsibility that granted Utah statehood late in the 19th century. In other words, as part of the deal to join the union, the state was supposed to receive certain parcels of land that now are public lands. The Spectrum

New National Monument Designation proposed

The Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, The Wilderness Society and the Center for Biological Diversity, are proposing the designation of another National Monument. This time, it encompasses five areas including the Kaibab Plateau, the Kaibab-Paunsaugunt Wildlife Corridor, Kanab Creek Watershed, House Rock Valley and the South Rim Headwaters. Southern Utah News


In their proposal, the groups site five perceived ecological threats: logging, high-density primitive roads, loss of landscape connectivity for wildlife, inappropriate grazing and uranium mining. The proposed monument encompasses 1.7 million acres of land, which the proposal suggests will allow “for continued public access, rights of way, sightseeing, hiking, wildlife observation, birding, hunting, fishing.”

USDA to close 259 offices, including one in St. George

The St. George Farm Service Agency is among 259 U.S. Department of Agriculture facilities in the United States and seven foreign countries that are being considered for closure as a cost-cutting measure. Federal officials said 131 Farm Service Agency offices will be consolidated in 32 states, including Utah. The St. George office, at 196 E. Tabernacle St., has no employees, but the building is used by a committee of farmers who help carry out the agency’s mission. Utah has 19 other agency offices that are part of a group more than 2,100 that will remain open nationwide. Salt Lake Tribune

St. George revenues see upward trend

St. George City officials say they're "cautiously optimistic" because the local economy hasn't looked this good since the days before the Great Recession. Since the start of the fiscal year in July, overall city revenue is up nearly 4 percent over the same period last year. Rising sales tax revenues and a jump in residential and commercial building permits fueled much of that increase, showing that more people are shopping and more developers are building.

While sales tax revenues are up 4.5 percent over 2010, residential and commercial building permits showed even larger increases. The city has issued 152 commercial building permits since July, an 81 percent jump over the same period last year. The 202 residential permits issued this year showed a 47 percent increase from the same period last year. The Spectrum