As Utah faces rapid growth, housing shortages, and major transportation projects, the demand for aggregate materials like gravel is expected to increase. To address this, the state has passed HB502, which aims to assess the growing need for these materials, along with the costs and challenges of securing them.
The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining shared an update on this study, highlighting the differences in how various counties and regions regulate the industry. The goal is to understand where aggregate will be needed in the future, what the costs will be, and how to meet the demand over the next 10 to 20 years.
However, mining aggregate from gravel pits is controversial. For instance, Salt Lake County has gravel pits along its northern and southern borders. There has been strong opposition to gravel pit operations in Morgan County and Parleys Canyon, with many people not wanting such sites near their homes.
Rep. Casey Snyder from Paradise emphasized the need for more information to make informed decisions, as the issue has strong opinions on both sides. He believes working together with agencies and creating better legislation is the way forward.
Dave Kallas, a lobbyist for the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Coalition, mentioned that getting approval for new mines or gravel pits in Utah has become increasingly difficult. Some areas in the U.S. have even banned these operations, leading to higher costs as materials must be shipped from farther away.
For example, the Los Angeles Times reported that sand and rock are shipped over 1,400 miles from Vancouver Island in Canada to support the building boom there, even though the materials are locally available. Kallas pointed out that the cost of shipping these materials can be higher than the cost of the material itself.
He also noted that gravel operations like Staker Parson in northern Salt Lake County and Geneva at the Point of the Mountain have been in place for decades. As communities have grown around these areas, people now want the operations to stop. Kallas questioned whether it’s worth protecting these resources, as the cheapest material often comes from the closest source, but local zoning laws sometimes prevent the expansion of these operations.
The study, which involves input from municipal officials, home builders, and the Utah Department of Transportation, is expected to lead to changes in the state’s approach to the aggregate industry.
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