The Summit County government is preparing for the state’s implementation of a new wildfire preparedness law in January, but local officials say they’re still unsure of how the program will work or the impact it will have on residents. Utah lawmakers passed House Bill 48 last year to mitigate the spread of wildfires in high-risk areas across the state, but the program’s implementation was delayed until Jan. 1, 2027, after the state and local municipalities missed a series of key deadlines outlined in the legislation. The bill requires the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands to create a statewide map of high-risk areas. Each structure within a high-risk area will receive a rating from an assessor based on the property’s fire hardening measures, such as installing a metal roof or replacing wooden fences with fire-resistant materials. Property owners will then pay an annual fee between $20 and $100, with the amount determined by the level of preparedness and fire mitigation efforts on the parcel, as well as the structure’s taxable square footage. The funds go back to Forestry, Fire and State Lands to pay for the assessors. County Manager Shayne Scott said the high-risk map is expected to be released next month, and county staff is preparing to meet the law’s requirements in January, even though they’re not yet sure how assessments will work. “The state is actually supposed to do the assessments, not only the fees and not only the map,” Scott said. “That’s where we’re wondering, ‘How in the world are they going to do that?’ I think that’s a lot of the delay in implementation because they’re not ready to do what they’ve committed to do, and I think they’ll look to us for assistance.” Summit County’s only involvement in the process, according to the law, is the collection of fees, which County Treasurer Corrie Forsling will be responsible for. However, Scott said it’s possible the county could be asked to help more down the line. “If we do have the public clamoring for an assessment from the state of Utah (to lower their fees), if that’s throughout the whole state, I don’t know how they’re going to do that,” Scott said. “It’s not necessarily our problem, but it will be something that I’m sure we’ll have to address on some level. … You’ll do that work, and you’ll be wanting that fee reduced immediately, and I don’t know how soon someone could get to you.” Park City Fire Chief Peter Emery said the program is meant to help residents obtain and keep homeowners insurance despite the wildfire risks in Utah, but he also expressed skepticism about the state’s ability to implement it. “It’s to help motivate the citizens of the state of Utah to start taking this wildland issue seriously and assessing that fee for it,” he said. “That being said, we’ll see where this winds up.” Scott also noted the state Legislature’s hypothesis that encouraging fire hardening could protect Utahns from losing their insurance, but he said he’s not convinced it will work as designed. “I think there are good intentions,” Scott said. “This is just me speaking, but I wonder about an insurance company taking a map like this and using it in the opposite direction, using it to cancel people’s insurance instead of keeping people on there, which is what I think the intent is.” South Summit Fire Protection District Chief Scott Thorell said he expects to see more legislative changes to the law in early 2027 because of “significant problems” with how the program works. “One of the primary problems I see is even if you make improvements on your own property, if your neighbor’s abutting property has not made improvements, then you’re still not going to receive a lower score,” Thorell said. “That’s something that’s really going to cause a lot of tension with our residents.” Lands and Natural Resources Director Jess Kirby, who volunteered to hold educational sessions on the new law as soon as the county learns more information, said she’s also concerned that residents outside of high-risk areas will think they don’t need to be aware of fire mitigation efforts or fire hardening because of the new map. “We still need to do mitigation efforts to defeat this catastrophic wildfire risk that we have, so don’t let this be, ‘Oh, I’m not in the red, so I don’t have to do anything,’” Kirby said. “There are still mitigation efforts that we need to keep propelling within our community and educating.” The post Summit County prepares for new wildfire law, but state still hasn’t given details on how it works appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less