The Oregon legislature delivered key wins for the environment

The gavel has officially fallen and the five-week-long 2024 Oregon legislative session has come to an end. Despite the fact that in short sessions (even years) Oregon legislators have significantly less bills under consideration than long sessions (odd years), the legislature managed to deliver a few exciting wins for the environment this year. Notably, two of the most consequential garnered broad, bipartisan support.

Here are the Environment Oregon-backed bills that the Oregon legislature passed this year that will help build a cleaner, greener future:

Right to Repair

We generate too much waste, and companies use their power in the marketplace to make things harder to repair. When your smartphone or other tech devices break, you should be able to easily get them fixed– but when the manufacturer or their authorized service provider are the only ones with access to the necessary parts, tools and manuals, it can make repair difficult and expensive and only adds to the amount of waste going to landfills. 

The Right to Repair Act (Senate Bill 1596) will give every Oregonian and small business access to the parts, tools, and service information they need to repair consumer electronics and household appliances. This will help Oregonians keep these devices in use for longer, conserving precious natural resources and preventing waste. 

Senate Bill 1596 passed the Oregon Senate 25-5 and the Oregon House 42-13, and is awaiting Governor Kotek’s signature. 

Protect Oregon’s Ocean

Home to diverse wildlife from the smallest krill to large gray whales, the ocean off of Oregon’s coast — and the ecosystems they support — are worth preserving for future generations. 

Established over a decade ago, Oregon’s marine reserves and protected areas are special places off our coast– a combination of underwater state parks, wildlife preserves, and living laboratories. House Bill 4132 allocates just under $1 million for the next biennium for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to bolster the Marine Reserves Program. Most notably, it outlines a process to create an adaptive management plan, so that our five marine reserves can be better managed in the face of ever-changing ocean conditions like sea level rise and ocean acidification. It also provides an opportunity to better educate and engage Oregonians with the wonders beneath their waves.

House Bill 4132 passed the Oregon House 55-0 and the Oregon Senate 26-3, and is awaiting Governor Kotek’s signature.

Fossil Fuel Free

As climate change accelerates, impacting us here in Oregon and across the globe, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to drive down climate pollution. The fossil fuel industry is more responsible than any other for destabilizing the climate, so a major step we need to take to mitigate climate change is to revoke the fossil fuel industry’s “social license” to operate as usual. 

Environment Oregon supported the COAL Act (House Bill 4083), which will direct the Treasury to phase out publicly traded investments in coal, halt all new investments in coal and report on the phase out. Coal is damaging to the environment, climate, and public health, and the passage of the COAL Act will help ensure that the State of Oregon’s investments better reflect our priorities, needs and values.

House Bill 4083 passed the Oregon House 33-24 and the Oregon Senate 16-13, with a subsequent concurrence vote in the Oregon House of 34-21, and is awaiting Governor Kotek’s signature. 

I am proud of the work we did this session to advance our legislative priorities. Alongside our dedicated coalition partners, effective and strategic legislative champs and the thousands of Oregonians making their voices heard on these critical issues, we were able to make meaningful progress this session on building a cleaner, greener future here in Oregon. Onward!