The April deadline has come and gone and it’s time for an update on the bills the AOC’s Energy, Environment and Land Use steering committee have taken a position on or showed interest in following.

ONSITE SEPTIC

The committee has been tracking two onsite septic bills. The funding bill for the Onsite Septic Loan Program, SB 383,was moved early to the Ways and Committee and it will most likely sit there until the end of the session. The technical fix bill, SB 812, flew through the Senate and is scheduled for a public hearing on Monday, April 24th.

SECURE MEDICINE TAKE BACK

HB 2645 the vehicle for a secure medicine takeback program is waiting to be assigned to a subcommittee of the Ways and Means committee.

BIOMASS

SB 634 passed through the Senate 30-0 last week. The bill states that energy from a biomass facility can be used to meet the state’s 1.5 percent investment in renewable energy requirement. The tax credit associated biomass production or collection, HB 2072, has moved out of the House Energy and Environment Committee and is now in the Joint Tax Credit Committee.

RURAL RESIDENTIAL ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS

Three of the bills introduced pertaining to accessory dwelling units on rural residential have now died. AOC’s HB 2937 and HB 2938, and Senator Monnes Anderson’s SB 1024 all did not make it out of their policy committee. The general feeling was the concept still needed more work and many stakeholders have committed to working in the interim. HB 3012,  which would allow the construction of a second home on a rural residential parcel under certain conditions, has moved out of the committee and will move to the House floor.

MINING

SB 1036 exempts the creation of landfills and public works projects from mining regulations. The bill passed out of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee and now moves to the Senate floor for a vote. AOC has worked closely with the Oregon Refuse and Recycling Association, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI), 1000 Friends of Oregon and Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DCLD) to ensure that the bill fits a narrow scope of removing material for construction materials.

SB 644 was moved to Senate Rules. The bill would expedite the local land use process for mines meeting certain criteria in several Eastern Oregon Counties. If the mine meets both Federal and DOGAMI requirements the county process would be much simpler, ensuring that the mine met certain local criteria.

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BILL

SB 432 was also moved to the Rules Committee. The bill allows rural counties with no population growth to adopt a comprehensive land use plan without complying with the statewide land use planning goals.

ENERGY TAX CREDIT FIX

AOC has worked with other stakeholders to fix a technical problem with transportation tax credits. A couple of counties have been impacted by this technical problem. HB 3032 is still in the House Revenue Committee and AOC continues to work with other stakeholders to get it moved to the Joint Tax Credit Committee.

NOXIOUS WEED FUNDING

There were two approaches taken to the underfunded noxious weed program: a funding bill, HB 2043, and a pilot program to replace invasive species with native pollinators, HB 2535. Unfortunately, the funding bill did not move but HB 2535 has been moved to Ways and Means.

BUILDING CODES

There were several bills regarding building codes that EELU has been tracking. It appears as if only one is continuing to move. HB 2737 is the product of a couple of small stakeholder meetings that took place earlier in the session. This bill is intended to deal with the recent movement of tiny houses (under 400 sq ft.) with lofts and ladders. The other bills related to building codes appear to have died.

Contributed by: Mark Nystrom | AOC Energy, Environment & Land Use Policy Manager