With more than 250 bills presession-filed, and the 2020 Legislative Session starting on February 3, Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) staff have identified three carbon related bills in this year’s bill stack.

Legislative Concept 19, unveiled at the three hour meeting of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources during January Legislative Days, is the main carbon bill expected to gain traction during the Legislative Session. This bill, now SB 1530, is similar to HB 2020, the cap and trade bill from the 2019 Session, but has some significant alterations. In its current form, the bill is reported to broadly do the following:

  • Creates a carbon cap – emission targets become more stringent between 2035 and 2050.
  • Houses the cap and trade program in the Department of Environmental Quality, rather than creating a new agency. 
  • Splits the state into geographic zones for the cap on fuel emissions to be phased into the program as follows:
    • 2022 – Portland-metro area would be phased-in.
    • 2025 – Other state Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), areas, and cities that receive more than 10 million gallons of fuel each year would be phased-in.
    • The rest of the state would be exempt unless more than half of Oregon’s 36 counties decided to voluntarily participate in the program.
  • Allocates 80 percent of money collected from selling credits related to fuel emissions to local government (MPOs, cities, and counties) transportation projects that are subject to the cap.
  • Allocates 20 percent to the Oregon Department of Transportation and statewide transportation projects.
  • Reduces manufacturing facilities to be regulated.

SB 1530, sponsored by Senators Roblan, Dembrow, Beyer, and Taylor will reportedly see significant amendments. The bill currently sits in the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources and is scheduled for its first hearing Tuesday, February 4. Public release of the amendments is anticipated early next week. 

Two other bills also modeling the cap and trade proposal in 2019 have been introduced, but neither policy is expected to be the ultimate vehicle for a cap and trade policy. 

Sponsored by Representatives Kotek, Power, and Marsh, HB 4159, starts in the House Committee on Energy and Environment and is anticipated to be scheduled for a hearing in the first week of the Session. 

The third bill, introduced by the governor, follows her July comments that she will consider executive power if a cap and trade policy fails at the Legislature again. The governor’s bill, SB 1574, starts in the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

Contributed by: Megan Chuinard | Public Affairs Associate