The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ) is a government establishment that aims to provide and secure Utah's ecological state by improving its air, land, and water quality. Despite its economic progress, through which incomes from the state's gas and oil industries continue to rise, there have been concerns about environmental violations and negligence to facilitate proper supervision from the respective regulatory agencies. 

Utah was presented to be the least skillful in handling environmental violators, according to a 2020 state analysis. Based on the said analysis, Utah has a short number of inspectors that did not collect fines despite the number of presented notices of violating acts. In addition, western states in the U.S. have been observed to encounter difficulty prioritizing certain situations in which they aim for environmental protection but suffer from inadequacies with employees, budget management, and financial sources that later depend on taxpayers.

Adding to Utah's concern, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established an agreement with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ) which, under the agreement, includes a self-audit law and policy that further assists in the protection of public health and the environment. According to the state analysis, Utah showed a system of noncompliance with its policies. This motivated the partnership to support Utah for plans to execute practical implementations. 

UDEQ Executive Director Scott Baird has spoken that the partnership intends to assess Utah's issue of a noncompliance system and for the improvement of the state's environmental and health benefits.

Collecting fines and increasing employment has not entirely solved Utah's industrial and environmental concerns but has aided in its improvement. Multiple issues have been presented based on the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining (DOGM). 

The question in the debate is, should Utah be giving more funding to environmental regulatory agencies to help enforce consequences for violators?