SalemWatch: Preserving our Coastal Legacy

Date:

May 09

Priorities for a Healthy Oregon

Each week we will update you on any of OCN’s priorities when there is news to report. For the complete list and overview of all of the Priorities for a Healthy Oregon visit www.oregonpriorities.org

Preserve Oregon's Coastal Legacy

marine reserves The Oregon House of Representatives unanimously approved OCN Priority Bill HB-3013 A yesterday. The bill outlines a detailed plan to evaluate six potential marine reserve sites along the Oregon coast recommended by the Governor’s Ocean Policy Advisory Council. It establishes two pilot marine reserve projects: one at Otter Rock near Depoe Bay and another at Redfish Rocks near Port Orford. In addition, the bill prescribes a process to evaluate potential reserves in four other areas: Cape Falcon, north of Manzanita; Cascade Head, north of Lincoln City; Cape Perpetua, south of Yachats; and Cape Arago-Seven Devils, south of Coos Bay. Regional community groups will be included in the evaluation process.

The bill now moves to the Oregon Senate for consideration.

Contact: Kristin Leonard, Our Ocean, (503) 320-9427

Implement Global Warming Solutions

climate Senate Bill 38, Measuring and Reporting Pollution Emissions: Floor vote next week

Senate Bill 38, which would allow Oregon to complete an inventory of our major sources of global warming pollution, was voted out of the House Environment and Water Committee this week on a 6-2 vote and will now go to the House floor. The bill allows the Environmental Quality Commission to require those who import, sell or distribute fossil fuels or electricity in the state to report the greenhouse gas emissions that result from those activities. Gaining an accurate picture of where are carbon emissions come from will be critical to implementing federal or state global warming legislation and achieving the necessary reductions in pollution.

Should be voted on soon!

Contact: Jake Weigler, Healthy Climate Partnership, (503) 206-4473

Promote Healthy Transportation Options

Victory! Senate Bill 34, Transit Funding: On the way to the Governor

All Oregonians deserve affordable transportation to commute to work, grocery shop, visit the doctor, and recreate. Unfortunately, one million Oregonians are too poor, young, old, or infirm to drive. Public transit is essential to providing these Oregonians transportation freedom, while giving us all transportation choices. Senate Bill 34 puts two of the state's transit districts, TriMet (Portland region) and the Lane Transit District, on firm financial ground by lifting the state limit on local authority over the payroll tax from 0.7% to 0.8%. This moderate increase of financial stability will also help the transit districts receive significant federal matching grants. Senate Bill 34 passed the House Floor (32-28) on Wednesday, making it the second OCN priority bill that is on the way to the Governor. Congratulations!

Contact: Brock Howell, Environment Oregon, (503) 231-1986

House Bill 2001, Transportation Package: To the Governor

The Oregon House also passed House Bill 2001 on a 38-22 vote, despite concerns raised by environmental groups that the package did not adequately fund transportation choices, address climate change, or maximize job creation. This morning it was passed by the Senate, (24-6), and it now heads to the Governor. Read more in the Eugene Register-Guard.

Contact: Danielle Welliver, 1000 Friends of Oregon, (360) 259-8385

Major Threats to a Healthy Oregon

major threat

HB 3072: Bill to Allow Unsustainable Logging Practices
Status: In Ways and Means

House Bill 3072 would require that the Tillamook, Clatsop and other State Forests be managed primarily for timber production, resulting in significant increases in unsustainable logging in these public forests, which shelter some of Oregon's most important runs of coastal salmon and steelhead. This bill has drawn extensive opposition from fishing guides, fish conservation groups, environmental advocates, and even the Oregon Board of Forestry, who all believe the bill would throw state forest management out of balance. This is the third session OCN groups have had to fight this major threat to Oregon's environment. It appears that some key legislators may be using the threat of a vote on this bill to influence the outcome of a Board of Forestry decision on appropriate levels of protection for older forest in the Tillamook on June 3.

Please contact your legislators and urge them to oppose HB 3072.

Contact: Ivan Maluski at the Sierra Club, (503) 449-2270

HB 3058: LNG Fast-Track Bill Heads to Senate
Status: Passed House, headed to Senate

This afternoon the House Floor passed House Bill 3058, on a 35-24 vote. The bill would speed the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipelines. The Oregon Conservation Network has declared this bill a major threat to a healthy Oregon, as LNG emits much more global warming pollution over its life cycle than domestic gas. The bill would allow out-of-state LNG corporations like Texas-based NorthernStar Natural Gas to get dredge and fill permits on other Oregonians’ land, and waste state agency time processing permits that may never be used. There simply is no need to streamline the siting of damaging, dirty, expensive LNG facilities to serve California's energy demands.

Click this link to take direct action in urging your Senators to vote no on this bill!

Contact: Evan Manvel, OLCV/Oregon Conservation Network, (503) 515-8548

Still time to help OCN fight a major threat

Thanks to those who gave in response to the appeal that OCN's Lobbyist, Evan Manvel, sent out last week. Two of you have contributed a total of just more than $300 - thank you! There's still time to help us make our $2,000 goal.

As Evan wrote, House Bill 3072 threatens the health of the Tillamook, Santiam and Clatsop state forests. It is an extreme change from current law that would leave behind thousands of acres of clearcuts, damage water quality, harm salmon fisheries and reduce recreation, hunting and fishing opportunities by requiring that public lands in Tillamook, Santiam and Clatsop State Forests be managed primarily for timber production.

OCN is working to pass the Oregon Conservation Network's Priorities for a Healthy Oregon, while also working to stop major threats like HB 3072. And the truth is: The more resources we have, the more good we can do before the session ends this summer. Help OCN do that work today by making a gift to OCN.

Hot Topics

1. Victory! Increased Penalties against Environmental Polluters Bill Passes House; Heads to Governor

Senate Bill 105 increases fines for environmental polluters, a standard fee that has not been raised in 36 years. SB 105, which passed on the House Floor this week, would more than double the maximum penalty against polluters for most violations from $10,000 to $25,000 per violation, per day. The bill is now on its way to the Governor. From the press release: "Increased fines would apply to violations of hazardous waste law, laws governing disposal of solid waste and materials containing mercury, and misdemeanor fines related to air quality, asbestos, and underground storage tanks."

Congratulations to Sue Marshall, representing Tualatin Riverkeepers, and to all others who worked on the bill.

2. Pesticide Bill up for a Vote on the Senate Floor

On Monday, June 1st, the Senate schedule includes a vote on House Bill 2999-B, which extends the state's Pesticide Use Reporting System (PURS) to June 30, 2019 in order to collect six more years of vital pesticide use data. The bill would also improve the scientific usefulness of the data collected by moving from a water basin level of reporting to a watershed level of reporting. After a vote in the Senate HB 2999-B will move back to the House for a concurrence vote. Thank you for your support of a healthy Oregon by continuing the critical and unfinished work started by the Oregon Pesticide Use Reporting System through the passage of HB 2999-B.

Contact: Kristen Leonard, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, (503) 320-9427

3. Working Toward Creating Healthy and Green Schools

Reducing the use of pesticide in schools and cleaning up polluting diesel school buses are effective ways to improve the health of our school environments and our kids.

Senate Bill 637 will create healthier schools by requiring that all K-12 schools in Oregon adopt Integrated Pest Management policies, reducing the use of pesticides in and around schools. This bill passed out of the House Education Committee this week (8-2) and will be up for a vote on the House Floor sometime next week.

House Bill 2795

requires that all diesel school buses in Oregon are retrofitted by 2017 or those that are too old to be retrofitted be replaced by 2025 to reduce diesel pollution. Diesel exhaust exacerbates asthma and is linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer, regional haze and global warming. Both of these bills have passed their chambers of origin and are currently being considered in committee. HB 2795 passed out of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee yesterday (3-1-1), and will be up for a vote on the Senate Floor sometime next week.

Contact: Andrea Salinas, Oregon Environmental Council, (971) 221-2653 or Renee Hackenmiller-Paradis, Oregon Environmental Council, (503) 222-1963

4. The Metolius Protection Act of 2009 in House Rules This Afternoon

Today, the House Rules Committee has scheduled a work session and likely vote on House Bill 3100. HB 3100 would accept the Land Conservation and Development Commission's unanimous recommendation to designate the Metolius Basin and surrounding areas as an Area of Critical State Concern to protect the basin and its resources from the impacts of large-scale developments and destination resort developments.

Please urge the members of the Rules Committee: Representatives Arnie Roblan, Chair; Vicki Berger, Vice-Chair; Chris Edwards, Vice-Chair; Bill Garrard, Sara Gelser, Bob Jenson, Mary Nolan, Tobias Read as well as your own representatives to support HB 3100 and protect one of Oregon's most special places.

Contact: Erik Kancler, Central Oregon LandWatch, (541) 647-1567

5. Important Land-Use Reform Bill Heading to Senate Floor for a Vote

On Tuesday, House Bill 2227 passed out of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee and now heads to the Senate Floor for a vote. This legislation was introduced by the Department of Land Conservation and Development Commission on the Governor's behalf and is intended primarily to initiate a much-needed re-evaluation of the state's destination resort guidelines.

Please urge your Senator to support this important land use reform bill.

Contact: Erik Kancler, Central Oregon LandWatch, (541) 647-1567

Get Involved

Board of Forestry Rallies on June 3rd

On June 3rd, the Oregon Board of Forestry is meeting in Salem to decide on a proposal from State Forester Marvin Brown to reduce the amount of "complex forest" (i.e. good habitat) from 50 percent to 30 percent in order to generate more timber from the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests between Portland and the coast.

This proposal comes at a bizarre time as Forester Brown has recently announced layoffs of state forest employees due to an extremely depressed housing market and weak demand for timber from state lands. Timber sales on state forests have been either failing to attract interest from timber companies, or selling for prices far below anticipated. Some legislators have been using the threat of HB 3072 (see above) to spur the Board into adopting a more logging-intensive approach to state forest management at the expense of environmental protection, clean water, and carbon storage in complex, older forests.

The Sierra Club is organizing a rally outside the Board of Forestry meeting on June 3 to urge them to reject proposals to reduce good habitat on state lands in favor of shortsighted and ill-advised logging increases.

Where: 2600 State Street, Salem, Bldg C
When: 8 am to 12 pm
Contact: Jeff Hickman

Oregon Shores 'Coastal Climate Action Conference'

Oregon Shores is a 38-year-old organization that works on a wide range of regional issues, from land-use planning and clean-water issues to offshore habitat and wave energy concerns to shoreline monitoring. On June 6th, travel to Newport OR to participate in the Coastal Climate Action Conference, the goal of which is to update citizens on the science of climate change, as well as to explore creative solutions on how to combat it.

Things to look forward to include a lineup of expert speakers, as well as the two-hour tour of Yaquina Bay with the conference scientists on board, talking about the concepts presented during the day's conference in a natural setting - with food and beverages.

Click here to sign up, or contact Robin Hartmann, Oregon Shores, (541) 817-2275.

Legislative Town Halls

Over the course of the session, legislators, senators, and their staff make concerted efforts to hold public town halls and coffee chats. Usually held on a weekday evening or weekend morning, it's a great opportunity to learn your elected officials' stances on issues, voice your opinions, and get to know your community. To find out about these, sign up for your legislators' newsletter online. Use the link to find out who your representative and senator are.

Coming Up...This Saturday, May 30th

repbailey Representative Jules Bailey
9:00 - 11:00 am
Flying Cat Coffee
3041 SE Division