Gov. Brown OKs bill that eases rules for irrigation ditches
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has decided not to veto a bill that will ease rules for farmers clearing out irrigation ditches, her office told Oregon Public Broadcasting .
Oregon Public Broadcasting says that her decision on House Bill 2437 was likely to please many in rural parts of the state, but it spurred a furious reaction from environmental groups.
The legislation says farmers would need to give notice that they were going to clear an irrigation ditch, but would not need a permit unless they planned to move more than 3,000 cubic yards of material over a five-year period — a 60-fold increase from the current 50-cubic-yard threshold, OPB reported.
Environmental groups argued that the measure undermines the state’s ability to protect state wetlands. Many farm fields in the Willamette Valley are classified as wetlands.
Friday was Brown’s deadline for vetoing bills from the 2019 legislative session.
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Oregon Farm Bureau news release:
Oregon Farm Bureau statement on Governor Brown signing HB 2437
SALEM, OREGON, August 9, 2019 – By signing HB 2437, Governor Brown has signaled that good faith cooperation and solution-oriented bipartisanship are the “Oregon Way” and will be honored. We thank Rep. Susan McLain, Rep. David Brock Smith, and Rep. Brian Clem for their hard work, leadership, and political courage during the long, inclusive, and difficult process to produce a good bill that won large bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate.
We thank the Governor for her deep study of the merits of the bill and the process that led to it and for signing HB 2437. We look forward to working with the Governor to address her concerns during implementation. We thank the Nature Conservancy and Trout Unlimited for coming to the table, rolling up their sleeves, and helping solve this long-standing issue.
Farmers and the environment both won today. More importantly, the Governor and all the involved stakeholders showed that the Oregon Way of solving problems together can still work.
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Joint Statement from Representatives McLain (D-Forest Grove) and Brock Smith (R-Port Orford) on the Signing of HB 2437
SALEM, OR –We thank Governor Brown for signing HB 2437 into law today. HB 2437 was the product of a long, thorough workgroup process where conservation groups, farmers, state agencies, and others came together to figure out how to best resolve confusion over whether farmers need a fill and removal permit to maintain their drainage ditches.
We support the governor’s desire for additional clarity in rulemaking to ensure our state’s natural waterways and wetlands are protected through this authorization. We look forward to working with all interested stakeholders on implementation of this bill to help maintain our critical farmland while protecting our wetlands and waterways. We are proud to have championed a bipartisan solution to a system that everyone admits was broken.
