In January, we hosted a legislative preview for the monthly UCAIR Partner Meeting. We heard from Breathe Utah’s Executive Director, Ashley Miller; Utah Clean Energy’s Government and Corporate Relations Manager, Josh Craft; Wasatch Front Regional Council’s Executive Director, Andrew Gruber; and the Utah Division of Air Quality Director, Bryce Bird.

The 2022 Utah State Legislature General Session runs from January 18, 2022, to March 4, 2022. You may find more information about the legislative session at le.utah.gov. Below you can find bill trackers relating to air quality in the 2022 Utah Legislature General Session.

• Breathe Utah reviews bills directly related to air quality. You may find the daily updated Breathe Utah Bill Tracker here.
• Utah Clean Energy tracks bill related to renewable energy, energy storage, electric vehicles, transportation, building code, building energy efficiency, air quality and climate. You can view Utah Clean Energy Bill Tracker here.
• Wasatch Front Regional Council focuses on bills related to significant or direct impacts to WFRC members with topics associated with energy, building, infrastructure, transportation, or economic development. See Wasatch Front Regional Council Bill Tracker here.

Partners Roundtable – UCAIR Partners: Partners then shared what projects and initiatives they are currently working on.

Shawn Teigen, Utah Foundation: In partnership with UCAIR, Utah Foundations is currently working on a Fine-Tuning Building Codes to Target Cleaner Air study. See more information here.

Kelly Barrett, Utah Clean Cities: Utah Clean Cities was recently awarded anEPA Environmental Justice Grant to conduct a needs assessment that will be brought to the Utah Inland Port Authority to identify and address inequities experienced by near-port communities. The project will support communities in understanding, addressing, and developing solutions to local issues as it relates to air quality impacts and will provide resources toward building trust, connection, and solution-driven collaboration. See more information here.

Closing Mentions-Kim Frost: The Statewide Utah Electric Vehicle Charging Steering Committee was launched in January 2022. The Utah Office of Energy Development (OED), in partnership with the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), created a steering committee to work through topics and strategies related to the implementation of the Statewide Electric Vehicle Charging Network Plan (Plan). The Electric Vehicle Service Equipment Steering Committee (Committee), conceived under section 5.1 of the Plan, includes fifteen people from public and private organizations throughout the state. See more information here.

Free Fare February, an initiative led by Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, and supported by numerous local governments, partner government agencies and private businesses, UTA fares will be free during the month of February! Fares will be free in February across our entire service area on all UTA bus and rail services, including Ski Bus, paratransit service, the Park City-SLC Connect, and UTA On Demand in southwestern Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City – Westside. See more information here.