(1)  There is created within the General Fund a restricted account known as the Species Protection Account.

Terms Used In Utah Code 79-2-303

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Department: means the Department of Natural Resources created in Section 79-2-201. See Utah Code 79-1-102
  • Species protection: means an action to protect a plant or animal species identified as:
(a) sensitive by the state; or
(b) threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U. See Utah Code 79-2-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
    • (2)  The account shall consist of:

    (a)  revenue generated by the brine shrimp tax provided for in Title 59, Chapter 23, Brine Shrimp Royalty Act; and

    (b)  interest earned on money in the account.

    (3)  Money in the account may be appropriated by the Legislature to:

    (a)  develop and implement species status assessments and species protection measures;

    (b)  obtain biological opinions of proposed species protection measures;

    (c)  conduct studies, investigations, and research into the effects of proposed species protection measures;

    (d)  verify species protection proposals that are not based on valid biological data;

    (e)  implement Great Salt Lake wetlands mitigation projects in connection with the western transportation corridor;

    (f)  pay for the state’s voluntary contributions to the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Account under the Central Utah Project Completion Act, Pub. L. No. 102-575, Titles II-VI, 106 Stat. 4605-4655; and

    (g)  pay for expenses of the State Tax Commission under Title 59, Chapter 23, Brine Shrimp Royalty Act.

    (4)  The purposes specified in Subsections (3)(a) through (3)(d) may be accomplished by the state or, in an appropriation act, the Legislature may authorize the department to award grants to political subdivisions of the state to accomplish those purposes.

    (5)  Money in the account may not be used to develop or implement a habitat conservation plan required under federal law unless the federal government pays for at least 1/3 of the habitat conservation plan costs.

    Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 344, 2009 General Session

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