63C-4-104 - Plan for R.S. 2477 rights -- Contents.
63C-4-104. Plan for R.S. 2477 rights -- Contents.
(1) As used in this section, "plan" means a guiding document that:
(a) is developed jointly by the Utah Association of Counties and the state;
(b) is approved by the Constitutional Defense Council; and
(c) presents the broad framework of a proposed working relationship between the stateand participating counties collectively for the purpose of asserting, defending, or litigating stateand local government rights under R.S. 2477.
(2) The Constitutional Defense Council may approve a plan if the plan:
(a) provides for a good faith, cooperative effort between the state and each participatingcounty;
(b) allows a county to formally agree to participate in the plan by adopting a resolution;
(c) provides that the state and a participating county are equal partners in determininglitigation strategy and the expenditure of resources with respect to that county's rights under R.S.2477; and
(d) provides a process for resolving any disagreement between the state and aparticipating county about litigation strategy or resource expenditure that includes the followingrequirements:
(i) the governor or the governor's designee and a representative of the Utah Associationof Counties shall first attempt to resolve the disagreement;
(ii) if the county and the state continue to disagree, the county, the governor, and theUtah Association of Counties shall present their recommendations to the Constitutional DefenseCouncil for a final decision about the strategy or expenditure in question; and
(iii) the county may pursue a strategy or make an expenditure contrary to the finaldecision of the Constitutional Defense Council only if the county does not claim resourcesprovided to fund the plan.
(3) The Constitutional Defense Council shall ensure that the plan contains:
(a) provisions identifying which expenditure types require approval of the plancommittee and which expenditure types may be made without plan committee approval;
(b) provisions requiring that financial statements be provided to members of the plancommittee and members of the Constitutional Defense Council, and the frequency with whichthose financial statements must be provided; and
(c) provisions identifying those decisions or types of decisions that may be made by theplan committee and those decisions or types of decisions that must be referred to theConstitutional Defense Council for decision.
(4) The Constitutional Defense Council shall:
(a) review expenditures, at least quarterly, made to further a plan approved under thissection;
(b) approve an update to a plan under this section at least annually, or more often, ifnecessary; and
(c) jointly, with the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, present a plan approvedunder this section, with any updates, to:
(i) the Legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committeeby July 1 of each calendar year, after providing the plan to the committee at least seven daysbefore the presentation; and
(ii) the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives, which
may be by mail.
Amended by Chapter 121, 2009 General Session