Environment, Energy and Natural Resources

Background

Businesses have long demonstrated their commitment to preserving our state’s environment and natural resources while also providing critical necessities like energy, food, products and jobs. Many have acted ahead of regulations to voluntarily adopt business practices and controls that reduce their environmental impacts. Companies remain dedicated to operating in a manner that benefits Oregon’s people and economy while also preserving Oregon’s natural environment.

However, Oregon’s regulated community is taking on more than ever before. Businesses are required to make costly investments in response to increasingly complex and difficult-to-navigate regulatory schemes. This regulatory environment is diminishing the competitiveness of Oregon businesses and chilling business investments in the state. Regulatory programs should be focused on achieving objectives to protect public health and the environment without imposing excessively burdensome or costly requirements.

Policy Principles

Climate Policy: OBI recognizes that climate change is real, and that the business community plays an important role in creating a lower-carbon economy. We support state greenhouse gas emissions reduction policies that:

• Result in actual global greenhouse gas reductions
• Are not used as a general revenue source
• Are focused on positive environmental and economic outcomes
• Are fair and affordable for all Oregonians
• Do not result in a competitive disadvantage to Oregon businesses
• Do not focus on a single sector of the economy
• Address the unique challenges of Oregon’s diverse business sectors
• Are commensurate with the state’s emissions relative to global emissions and goals
• Nurture Oregon-based innovation
• Include adaptation and mitigation strategies for long-term planning
• Provide regulatory and compliance certainty for businesses.

Biofuels, Renewable Fuels, Biomass and Energy Recovery: OBI supports state and federal incentives to promote the use of biofuels, renewable fuels, and biomass. OBI opposes new laws and regulations that burden the use of these fuels or energy recovery from otherwise discarded or disposed material.

Chemical Use Laws: OBI supports advancing the safe and responsible use of chemicals. OBI supports chemical laws that are based on sound science and recognize that many public health and consumer protections are currently in place. When sound science identifies the need for chemical regulations, OBI supports state-based laws that are consistent with federal laws and not unnecessarily duplicative. OBI opposes the addition of burdensome, state-specific regulations that do not align with other state and federal regulations.

Consistent Regulatory Authority: OBI supports the consistent and uniform state-level application of delegated air, water, cleanup, and energy regulatory and permitting authority. OBI opposes new, expanded, or duplicative regulatory overlays at the local level.

Permitting and Other Fees: Fee structures should support regulatory certainty and serve the needs of the regulated community. Fees must support workable and reasonable permit programs vetted by industry and processed with clear conditions and timelines to minimize impacts on business operations. OBI opposes fee increases that are not accompanied by proportional increases in non-fee funding; if a program does not meet the needs of the regulated community; or if used for unrelated/non-beneficial state activities or pass-through surcharges for other state agency activities. OBI opposes fees that are not reasonably tied to environmental benefits as well as those that are applied inequitably among regulated entities. OBI opposes the addition of local fees that impose unreasonable cost burdens or duplicate existing program fee structures.

Energy Infrastructure: OBI supports cost-effective state and federal policies that encourage, streamline, and facilitate the planning, permitting, and construction of upgraded, expanded, and new electric, natural gas and alternative energy infrastructure that sustains Oregon’s energy needs and provides for future economic development.

Food Innovation: OBI supports policies that advance Oregon’s food and beverage industry in the areas of research and development, technical assistance, workforce development, distribution infrastructure, market development, and government regulation.

Forest Resilience: OBI supports active forest management to address and prevent tree-related disease, increase forest productivity, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, and provide both commodity and non-commodity values.

Franchise Taxes: OBI seeks to ensure that any expansion or increase of franchise taxes demonstrates consumer benefits that warrant added costs.

Government Procurement Protocols: OBI opposes the imposition of unnecessary or unduly burdensome requirements on governmental purchasing protocols.

Maintenance of Regulatory Application for Departments of Agriculture and Forestry: OBI supports the current regime wherein environmental activities relating to agriculture and forestry are regulated by their respective departments.

Mass Timber: OBI supports policies that encourage the development and use of mass timber products.

Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program: OBI supports voluntary, statewide incentives that encourage agricultural landowners to keep land in agricultural protection while supporting fish, wildlife, and other natural resource values on those lands.

Renewable Portfolio Standards: OBI supports renewable power and the allowance of increased flexibility within the portfolio with appropriate rate protections in place.

Tax Incentives for Additional Environmental Investments: OBI supports tax incentives for additional environmental investments that exceed federal requirements, improve environmental outcomes and/or enhance Oregon’s economy.

Air and Water Policy

Consistent Regulatory Authority: OBI supports the consistent and uniform state-level application of delegated air, water, cleanup, and energy regulatory and permitting authority. OBI opposes new, expanded, or duplicative regulatory overlays at the local level. Programs must be consistent with their underlying statutes and not seek to expand DEQ authority beyond that delegated by the Legislature.

Objective and Consistent Regulation: OBI supports unbiased and prompt processing of state and federal permits and other actions.

New State Environmental Impact Statements: Generally, OBI opposes the imposition of new layers of regulatory oversight and permitting, including a state environmental impact statement program.

Ambient Monitoring: OBI supports funding further monitoring of state air quality as long as increased monitoring is not financed primarily by unreasonable fee increases paid by the regulated community.

State Delegation of Federal Programs: OBI supports federal delegation of programs to the state level for implementation.

Exceptional Events: OBI seeks to ensure that industry is not penalized for events outside of industry’s or DEQ’s control. For that reason, OBI supports policies and proactive requests to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to exclude ambient monitoring data influenced by natural events, such as wildfires, in providing a representative dataset to use in air permit applications.

Permitting and Other Fees: Fee structures should support regulatory certainty and serve the needs of the regulated community. Fees must support workable and reasonable permit programs vetted by industry and processed with clear conditions and timelines to minimize impacts on business operations. OBI opposes fee increases that are not accompanied by proportional increases in non-fee funding; if a program does not meet the needs of the regulated community; or if used for unrelated/non-beneficial state activities or pass-through surcharges for other state agency activities. OBI opposes the addition of local fees that impose unreasonable cost burdens or duplicate existing program fee structures.

Core Regulatory Programs: Given limited funding, it is important to prioritize core regulatory programs over emerging programs that increase regulatory requirements and stretch DEQ staffing. OBI opposes new regulatory programs that are not scientifically supported or do not seek to resolve environmental challenges first through existing regulatory channels.

Air Quality Statutes and Regulations: OBI supports air quality laws and regulations with which Oregon businesses can comply; that do not create competitive disadvantages relative to other states; and that do not inhibit economic activity without a clearly identified and scientifically supported basis for increased stringency that regulated entities can reasonably implement.

Water Storage and Delivery: OBI supports innovative solutions that address increasing competition for scarce water that balance the needs of irrigated agriculture, cities and industry, hydropower, and sustainable fisheries. Such innovative solutions include continued investment in infrastructure for new storage, withdrawals from the Columbia and other rivers to improve efficiency.

Effluent Trading/Market Development: OBI supports the creation and use of voluntary and equitable trading and market-based options for effluent reductions and habitat improvement.

Water Quality Statutes and Regulations: OBI supports water quality laws and regulations with which Oregon businesses can comply; that do not create competitive disadvantages relative to other states; and that do not inhibit economic activity without a clearly identified and scientifically supported basis for increased stringency that regulated entities can reasonably implement.