2023 Oregon Legislative Updates
Oregon wrapped up its legislative session last month. Here are the final updates to several bills Rogue Riverkeeper has been tracking:
The Beaver Bill (HB 3564)
The Oregon Legislature wrapped with a major victory for beavers. HB 3464 passed the Oregon Senate with bipartisan support and an overwhelming majority vote, and it is now on its way to be signed into law by Governor Tina Kotek. Under this new law, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) will be taking over management of Oregon’s state animal to put a stop to unregulated and unlimited killing of beavers on private land.
Learn more about the numerous benefits of beavers and why this legislative victory is so essential to a variety of ecosystems.
The CAFOs Bill (SB 85)
The Oregon Legislature has passed a version of the original bill that contains few of its original intentions such as putting stronger limits on large scale dairy operations. However it does impose restrictions on new or expanding large livestock and poultry farms in the state. Senate Bill 85 allows local governments to require setbacks between new Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and neighbors while also temporarily preventing new large or expanding CAFOs from using an unlimited amount of free groundwater. SB 85 sets a five-year pause on unlimited groundwater withdrawals for existing CAFOs as well. The new law also requires that facilities accepting manure from CAFOs have a permit before administering it to the land and requires those applying for a new large CAFO permit to individually notify property owners within a half mile of the proposed CAFO location. The law now prohibits new or expanding CAFOs from bringing in animals until the state has inspected the operation, and it lays the groundwork for the state to consider air pollution regulations for livestock operations.
The “Bad Ports Bill” (HB 3382)
Despite strong opposition from the conservation community, the Oregon legislature passed HB 3382 which allows local governments to adopt land use exceptions under certain conditions for applications related to deep draft navigation channel improvements like those in the Port of Coos Bay. This change will allow a local government to circumvent environmental regulations designed to protect the environment and other aspects of Coos Bay. With this new bill, the Coos Bay port would be expanded to accommodate large shipping container boats, significantly deepening and widening the channel. The reason this matters to Rogue Riverkeeper is that the very laws this bill undermines are exactly the ones that were responsible for stopping the Jordan Cove LNG Export Terminal. Even if this bill is signed into law by the Governor, conservation groups that care about Oregon’s waterways will continue to oppose legislation such as this as it will remove one more safeguard to protecting waterways in the state.