Oregon Senator Jeff Golden (D-Ashland) hasn't recovered from his wildfire mapping bill and now leads his Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire to propose Senate Bill 1154 and the -1 amendment. The bill and amendment amounts to a sweeping overhaul of Oregon’s groundwater policy, threatening local decision-making, property rights, and transparency. This amendment grants unelected agencies excessive power to inspect private property, restrict rural development, and impose mandates without clear scientific evidence or due process. Farmers, homeowners, and rural communities will bear the brunt of these bureaucratic overreaches.

Representative Ed Diehl (R-Aumsville) testified: "The bill and amendment is a massive expansion of state bureaucratic power. Authorizes an unelected interagency team—under a Governor-appointed lead agency—to direct ground water investigations, inspections, permit reviews, and public messaging. These agencies gain authority to:

• Modify or revoke land use permits,
• Rewrite agricultural operating rules,
• Conduct private property inspections without a warrant, and
• Restrict homebuilding and well development outside urban boundaries.

No meaningful checks or opt-outs are provided to local governments or citizens. Once declared a "ground water management area," local landowners are subject to mandates with limited appeal or due process.

SB 1154-1 undermines local decision-making and property rights. Permits counties to prohibit new homes unless they are hooked up to urban-style water systems or community wells—even in rural zones. It also allows DEQ inspectors to enter private property to examine septic systems, with only minimal notice, regardless of consent. The result is a top-down regime that weakens home rule authority and forces Oregonians to comply with broad state mandates crafted by unelected administrators.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Targets farmers without guarantees of scientific accuracy. Agricultural operations are heavily implicated in this bill, yet:

• No standards are set for how contaminants are scientifically linked to farm practices,
• Agencies can impose restrictions and recordkeeping mandates based on correlations, not causation,
• Nutrient applications and water use can be limited with little recourse for landowners.

This opens the door for regulatory overreach that punishes land stewards who have not been proven to contribute to the problem."

Diehl concludes, "For the sake of Oregonians’ rights, rural communities, and transparent environmental stewardship. We must act now to preserve liberty, privacy, and local control."

Testimony may be submitted before 1pm on April 10. Access links and email address on Oregon Citizens Lobby Alerts.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2025-04-09 12:17:13

Last Update: 2025-04-09 14:27:37