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83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2025 Regular Session
House Bill 3107
Sponsored by Representatives LIVELY, LEVY B, LEVY E, EVANS; Representatives BOSHART DAVIS, DRAZAN,
MCLAIN, NGUYEN D, OWENS, PHAM H, Senators ANDERSON, MEEK (Presession filed.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject
to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s brief statement of the essential features of the
measure as introduced.The statement includes a measure digest written in compliance with applicable readability
standards.
Digest: This Act changes the way DEQ can agree to make a regulatory process work better or
faster. (Flesch Readability Score: 60.1).
Modifies the authority of the Department of Environmental Quality to enter into agreements
with regulated entities to expedite or enhance a regulatory process. Directs the Environmental
Quality Commission to establish standards to guide the department in the exercise of the
department’sauthority.
Takes effect on the 91st day following adjournment sine die.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to Department of Environmental Quality regulatory processes; creating new provisions; and
amending ORS 468.073; and prescribing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 468.073 is amended to read:
468.073. (1) [The Department of Environmental Quality may enter into an agreement with] Any
applicant, permittee or regulated entity may enter into an agreement with the Department of
Environmental Quality setting a schedule of payments to the department for the purpose of ena-
bling the department to expedite or enhance a regulatory process by contracting for services, hiring
additional staff or covering costs of activities not otherwise provided during the ordinary course of
department business. The department may expend moneys received under the agreements for:
(a) Activities undertaken by the department under authority of any provision of ORS chapters
448, 453, 454, 459, 459A, 465, 466, 467, 468, 468A and 468B and ORS 475.405 to 475.495.
(b) Administering and reviewing activities described under subsection [(3)] (8) of this section
that are performed by a third party.
(2)(a) An applicant, permittee or regulated entity is entitled to enter into an agreement
described under subsection (1) of this section unless the department:
(A) Finds that the department has sufficient resources or staff to complete the relevant
regulatory process within six months or the timeline otherwise provided for by statute; and
(B) Determines under paragraph (b) of this subsection that an agreement under sub-
section (1) of this section would not be in the public interest.
(b) To determine whether an agreement under subsection (1) of this section is in the
public interest, the department shall consider:
(A) The complexity of the regulatory process the requester seeks to expedite or enhance;
(B) The availability of department personnel to conduct the regulatory process the re-
quester seeks to expedite or enhance;
(C) The benefits and risks that contracting for services, hiring additional staff or cover-
NOTE:Matter in boldfaced type in an amended section is new; matter [italic and bracketed] is existing law to be omitted.
New sections are in boldfaced type.
LC 1435 HB3107
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ing costs of activities not otherwise provided during the ordinary course of department
business present as related to the regulatory process the requester seeks to expedite or en-
hance; and
(D) The number of outstanding regulatory activities of the department and the projected
timeline to complete those activities.
(3)(a) No less than 20 business days after receiving a written request to enter into an
agreement under subsection (1) of this section, the department shall notify the requester in
writing that:
(A) The requester is entitled to enter into an agreement with the department; or
(B) The requester is not entitled to enter into an agreement with the department based
on the department’s findings and determinations under subsection (2) of this section.
(b) Notices provided to requesters under this subsection must include the department’s
findings and consideration of the factors described in subsection (2)(b) of this section. A no-
tice provided under this subsection is a final order for purposes of judicial review under ORS
183.480 to 183.497.
(4)(a) The Environmental Quality Commission shall establish by rule standards for guid-
ing the department regarding:
(A) The identification of department activities or portions thereof suitable for contract-
ing out to third parties; and
(B) The approval of third parties to conduct activities described under subsection (8) of
this section.
(b) Standards established under paragraph (a)(B) of this subsection must require the de-
partment to consider:
(A) The experience and knowledge of the third party related to department activities;
(B) The third party’s public reputation; and
(C) The independence of the third party from the requesting party.
(5) The department shall make available on the department’s website:
(a) Agreements entered into under subsection (1) of this section;
(b) Notices provided to applicants under subsection (3) of this section; and
(c) A list of third parties hired or contracted by the department and a description of the
services rendered.
(6) The department may not waive any of the department’s authority or obligations under
any provision of ORS chapters 448, 453, 454, 459, 459A, 465, 466, 467, 468, 468A and 468B and
ORS 475.405 to 475.495 or rules adopted by the commission by entering into an agreement
under subsection (1) of this section. Except as provided in subsection (7) of this section, the
department may not waive or alter any obligation or requirement of an applicant, permittee
or regulated entity under any provision of ORS chapters 448, 453, 454, 459, 459A, 465, 466, 467,
468, 468A and 468B and ORS 475.405 to 475.495 or any rule adopted by the commission by en-
tering into an agreement under subsection (1) of this section.
[(2)] (7) Payments agreed to under subsection (1) of this section shall be for services voluntarily
requested by the applicant, permittee or regulated entity. As part of the agreement, the department
may waive all or part of any fee otherwise imposed for those services. The department shall not
alter or establish processing priorities or schedules based upon an expectation of entering into an
agreement under subsection (1) of this section.
[(3)] (8) [Not later than July 1, 1998,] The department shall identify department activities or
[2] HB3107
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portions thereof suitable for contracting out to third parties and publish that information on the
department’s website. Failure of the department to identify a specific activity shall not prevent the
expenditure of funds for that activity or for department administration and review of that activity
under an agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.
[(4)] (9) Any moneys received by the department under an agreement described under subsection
(1) of this section shall not exceed the cost to the department of providing the service to the appli-
cant, permittee or regulated entity.
[(5)] (10) Any payments received under an agreement described under [subsections (1) to (4)]
subsection (1) of this section shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of an account
of the Department of Environmental Quality and are continuously appropriated for the purposes
specified in the individual agreements.
(11) Notwithstanding subsection (2) of this section, the department shall, in a timely
manner, enter into an agreement under subsection (1) of this section with the applicant,
permittee or regulated entity if:
(a) At least one year has passed since the department determined that the applicant,
permittee or regulated entity was not entitled to enter into an agreement under subsection
(1) of this section;
(b) There is not a pending proceeding for judicial review of the notice provided under
subsection (3)(a)(B) of this section; and
(c) The regulatory process for which the applicant, permittee or regulated entity sought
to enter into an agreement has not been completed.
SECTION 2. (1) The amendments to ORS 468.073 by section 1 of this 2025 Act become
operative on January 1, 2026.
(2) The Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Quality Commis-
sion may take any action before the operative date specified in subsection (1) of this section
that is necessary to enable the department or the commission to exercise, on and after the
operative date specified in subsection (1) of this section, all of the duties, functions and
powers conferred on the department and the commission by the amendments to ORS 468.073
by section 1 of this 2025 Act.
SECTION 3. (1) The Environmental Quality Commission shall first adopt by rule the
standards described in ORS 468.073 (4) no later than January 1, 2026.
(2) The Department of Environmental Quality shall first publish the information required
by ORS 468.073 (8) on the department’s website no later than January 1, 2026.
SECTION 4.This 2025 Act takes effect on the 91st day after the date on which the 2025
regular session of the Eighty-third Legislative Assembly adjourns sine die.
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