Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. vetoed three bills on his last day to act on measures passed by the 2006 Legislature, including two sponsored by Utah County legislators.

The bills dealt with lawsuits by environmentalists, sponsored by Springville Republican Rep. Aaron Tilton, child visitation by people other than the biological parents, by Rep. LaVar Christensen, R-Draper, and universities charging partial tuition for classes taught in public schools for college credit, from Orem Republican Rep. Margaret Dayton.

The governor also made four line-item vetoes Tuesday for technical corrections.

HB 100 would require environmental groups to post bonds to cover any delay-related costs for developers, including lost profits, employee wages, construction costs and taxes.

Tilton, who sponsored the bill, said it would prevent "frivolous lawsuits," citing the one that delayed the Legacy Parkway for three years. Courts ruled in favor of environmental groups' claim that the highway had shortcut federal law. Last year, the case was settled with a compromise.

In his veto letter to legislative leaders, Huntsman said the bill conflicted with federal law in that it sought to impose additional requirements on those seeking injunctive relief under federal environmental laws.

"By so doing, the bill threatens to stand 'as an obstacle to the accomplishment and executive of the full purposes and objectives of Congress,"' Huntsman said, using the words of a federal court ruling.

The governor also vetoed HB 148, sponsored by Christensen, which would allow biological parents to terminate their child's relationship with third parties, such as step parents, grandparents or gay partners.

Huntsman said that in some cases, those third parties might have been involved in raising the child since infancy.

"The biological parent's right to exercise that authority unilaterally -- casting aside bonds that have been created over the course of many years without so much as a hearing to determine what might be in the best interests of the child -- would trump all other considerations unless the biological parent had previously "been adjudicated as an unfit parent," Huntsman wrote.

"Giving such parents an absolute right to terminate a child's relationship with a step parent standing in loco parentis would be a mistake. I must therefore veto this bill," he said, adding that he hoped the concerns addressed by the bill's supporters could be addressed in a future legislative session.

The third bill Huntsman vetoed was HB 151, sponsored by Dayton. It would allow state colleges to charge high school students partial tuition for concurrent classes taught in high schools -- courses that give both high school and college credit.

Huntsman said 25,000 students participate in these classes and he is concerned that the bill would prevent some students from being able to take the courses.

He said the bill provided no mechanism for low-income students to get fee waivers, and would impose additional financial burdens on all of the students.

"Furthermore, because this year's budget is sufficient to cover concurrent enrollment funding, I feel this bill is unnecessary," he said.

During the session, Huntsman vetoed one measure, SB 70, which would have let legislators overturn a governor's disapproval of permitting for radioactive waste sites. Huntsman said the bill was a threat to his power and his "authority to protect Utah's image and environment, as well as the health and safety of its 2.5 million residents." The Senate voted to override Huntsman's veto, but the House, which had passed the bill with less than a veto-proof majority, never voted on overriding the veto.

Earlier Tuesday, Huntsman signed a bill that moved the state's presidential primary to the first Tuesday in February.

Utah now joins Arizona and New Mexico in what Huntsman hopes will be a growing Western states primary that will draw national attention to the region's issues early in the presidential campaign season.

"We think it's important to speak out with a single voice," Huntsman said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.