E-bike riders zooming past hikers on Salt Lake Valley nature trails could soon face hefty fines.

The Salt Lake County Council introduced a measure Tuesday to set a 20 mph speed limit for e-bikers at public parks, on multi-use paths and on unpaved trails within the county’s unincorporated areas. Certain e-bikes would also be prohibited from these areas altogether. Violators may have to pay a $150 penalty.

The ordinance would apply to Butterfield Trailhead Regional Park, along with Rose and Yellow Fork canyons near Herriman, council member Suzanne Harrison said.

“The goal is education, not enforcement,” Harrison said. “We understand that there’s lots of tools in the toolbox — this just adds one more for our law enforcement. But the goal is to educate the public so that everyone can have fun and be safe.”

The new ordinance specifies that e-bikes with motors that only provide assistance when the rider is pedaling — and that don’t provide power when the bicycle reaches 20 mph — would be permitted on gravel and dirt trails and multi-use paths where other bikes are allowed.

E-bikes with motors that can power the bicycle by themselves — but don’t provide assistance when the bike reaches 20 mph — would be prohibited from natural surface trails. E-bikes that provide assistance when the rider is pedaling but don’t provide assistance once the bike reaches 28 mph would be banned from multi-use pathways and nature trails in unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County, according to the ordinance.

The rising popularity of e-bikes has brought new conflicts on the trails, especially with new riders who aren’t used to using them, Associate Deputy Mayor Lisa Hartman said. County government officials met with other local governments when crafting the ordinance so other cities can consider updating their own rules for e-bikes, she said.

Right now, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office can only pursue a charge of criminal mischief if e-bikers are caught at unsafe speeds, which requires “an extremely high burden of proof” and likely isn’t an appropriate response to the violation, Hartman said.

“The reason we added the civil enforcement of a $150 penalty is to let the residents know that this is important,” Hartman said.

Council members will review the new rules again next week before casting a final vote. If the ordinance is approved, county officials will look to add the restrictions at all of the county’s regional parks, Hartman said.