[Since the Standing Rock protests in 2017, 19 states have passed
so-called critical infrastructure laws.]
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WELCOME TO UTAH, WHERE PIPELINE PROTESTS COULD NOW GET YOU AT LEAST
FIVE YEARS IN PRISON  
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Naveena Sadasivam
March 23, 2023
Grist
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_ Since the Standing Rock protests in 2017, 19 states have passed
so-called critical infrastructure laws. _

The new rules make Utah the 19th state in the country to pass
legislation with stiffer penalties for protesting at so-called
critical infrastructure sites, which include oil and gas facilities,
power plants, and railroads, Salt Lake Tribune file photo.

 

In Utah, protests that hinder the functioning of fossil fuel
infrastructure could now lead to at least five years in prison. The
new rules make Utah the 19th state in the country to pass legislation
with stiffer penalties for protesting at so-called critical
infrastructure sites, which include oil and gas facilities, power
plants, and railroads. The new laws proliferated in the aftermath of
the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2017.

Utah’s legislature passed two separate bills containing stricter
penalties for tampering with or damaging critical infrastructure
earlier this month. House Bill 370 makes intentionally “inhibiting
or impeding the operation of a critical infrastructure facility” a
first degree felony, which is punishable by five years to life in
prison. A separate bill
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enforcement to charge a person who “interferes with or interrupts
critical infrastructure” with a third degree felony, punishable by
up to five years in prison. Both bills were signed into law by the
governor last week. 

Of the two bills, First Amendment and criminal justice advocates are
particularly concerned about HB 370 due to its breadth, the severity
of penalties, and its potential to curb environmental protests. The
bill contains a long list of facilities that are considered critical
infrastructure including grain mills, trucking terminals, and
transmission facilities used by federally licensed radio or television
stations. It applies both to facilities that are operational and those
under construction. 

Since the bill doesn’t define activities that may be considered
“inhibiting or impeding” operations at a facility, environmental
protesters may inadvertently find themselves in the crosshairs of the
legislation, according to environmental and civil liberties advocates.
Protesters engaging in direct action often chain themselves to
equipment, block roadways, or otherwise disrupt operations at fossil
fuel construction sites. Under the new legislation, such activities
could result in a first degree felony charge.

“This bill could be used to prohibit pipeline protests like we saw
with the Dakota [Access] Pipeline project,” said Mark Moffat, an
attorney with the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers,
referring to the 2017 protests at Standing Rock in North Dakota. “It
elevates what would be basically a form of vandalism or criminal
mischief under the laws of the state of Utah to a first-degree
felony.”

A first-degree felony is typically reserved for violent crimes like
murder and sexual assault. Moffat said that the state’s sentencing
guidelines are indeterminate, which means the amount of time someone
spends in prison is at the discretion of the Board of Pardons
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“When you increase these to first degree felonies, you increase the
likelihood of incarceration,” said Moffat. “In my experience,
those people are going to go to prison as opposed to receiving a term
of probation,” he said.  

Similar bills are pending in at least five other states,
including Georgia
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and North Carolina [[link removed]]. These
bills include various misdemeanor and felony charges for trespassing,
disrupting, or otherwise interfering with operations at critical
infrastructure facilities. 

In the last five years, 19 states (including Utah) have passed
legislation that criminalize protest activity
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In many states, attention-grabbing protests at pipeline construction
sites, such as those over the Dakota Access Pipeline
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Line 3 pipeline,
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lawmakers to pass tougher penalties for trespassing
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damaging equipment, and interfering with operations. The penalties
ranged from a few thousand dollars in fines to several years behind
bars. Many of these bills also bore a striking resemblance to model
legislation developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council
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a membership organization for state lawmakers and industry
representatives best known for drafting model legislation that’s
later enacted by conservative states.

However, the stated justification for the Utah legislation does not
seem to be past fossil fuel protests. Instead, proponents of the bill
repeatedly referred to the recent spate of attacks on electrical
substations
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the U.S.

“Why is the bill needed? Because we’re seeing increased attempts
by individuals across the country to damage critical
infrastructure,” said Utah state Representative Carl Albrecht
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Republican and one of the sponsors of the bill.

In recent months, at least nine substations in North Carolina,
Washington, and Oregon have been attacked, causing power outages for
thousands. An analysis of federal records by the news organization
Politico
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that attacks on electrical equipment are at an all-time high since
2012, with more than 100 incidents in the first eight months of last
year. Most recently, the FBI foiled plans by a neo-Nazi group
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take down the electric grid in Baltimore, Maryland. 

The Utah bill received broad support from several utilities in the
state, including Dominion Energy, Deseret Power, and Rocky Mountain
Power, which own and operate pipelines, power plants, substations, and
transmission lines that are considered “critical infrastructure”
by the bill. Jonathan Whitesides, a spokesperson for Rocky Mountain
Power, said that the company has dealt with copper theft and
vandalism
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its electrical substations in recent months. The resulting power
outage affected more than 3,500 customers
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“As an electric utility we have a commitment to provide safe and
reliable power to customers, and having increased penalties for
criminal activity is one piece of a comprehensive approach for
electric reliability,” he said. 

Whatever the initial motivation, the bills in Utah and other states
can still be used against peaceful protesters, said Elly Page, an
attorney with International Center for Not for-Profit Law, a group
that has been tracking anti-protest legislation
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“It’s still concerning because they’re fairly broadly
drafted,” she said. “Many of these bills carry very severe
penalties that are likely to make people think twice before engaging
in protected First Amendment activities and raising their voice around
infrastructure projects that affect our communities and that affect
our planet.

_Naveena Sadasivam is Senior Staff Writer at Grist._

_Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to
telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Our goal is to
use the power of storytelling to illuminate the way toward a better
world, inspire millions of people to walk that path with us, and show
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* pipeline protests
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* Climate protests
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* Criminalization
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* Utah
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* Standing Rock
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