Category Environment & Agriculture
State updates hazardous substances list to include harmful forever chemicals, begins rulemaking
Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality will soon regulate the pollution and any cleanup of six PFAS compounds known to be harmful to human health.
Oregon farmers, others tell U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas about impact of federal cuts
Salem area organizations and farmers said that since President Donald Trump came back into office, federal funding cuts have impacted habitat restoration, food production and pest control.
Hundreds support pausing Oregon’s investment in private fossil fuel holdings but Treasury opposed
Nearly 300 people submitted testimony in support of the Pause Act to stop new Treasury investments in private fossil fuel funds.
Oregon, nine other states hit 2013 goal of getting 3.3 million electric vehicles on roads by 2025
Oregon and nine other states recently fulfilled a 2013 agreement to collectively register 3.3 million new electric vehicles in an effort to reduce pollution and combat climate change.
Advocates, scientists ask lawmakers for $1 million to stop toxic algal blooms on Willamette River
Lawmakers will consider a proposal to fund a years-in-the-making plan to carve a channel through Ross Island on the Willamette River.
Federal hiring freeze, firings hindering Oregon endangered owl monitoring, protection
Regional monitoring for endangered owls, salmon and frogs is done by seasonal biologists who aren’t being hired now under a federal freeze, potentially delaying timber and wildfire logging projects.
Review of payrolls shows higher hourly pay but lower overall earnings under farmworker overtime law
An Oregon law passed in 2022 to phase in overtime pay for farmworkers has led to higher farmworker wages, but a new study shows hours are being scaled back to avoid overtime pay.
Large crowd opposes bill that would require farmers to report fertilizer use to protect water
Senate Bill 747 would require irrigated farms larger than 200 acres to report fertilizer use to help the state agriculture department curb pollution.
Bill would pause new PERS investments in private fossil fuel funds for five years
Two Democratic state senators and the advocacy group Divest Oregon are backing a bill to curb fossil fuel investments in the state’s public pension system.