Senator David Brock Smith (R-Curry, Coos & Douglas Counties) and Senator Noah Robinson (R-Josephine County) have been working with House Republican Leadership, David Hunnicutt of Oregon Property Owners Association, ODF, OSFM, and others on legislation to repeal the wildfire maps and associated mandates on our rural property owners.
“Repealing the fire maps and associated government overreach cannot wait. Oregonians have lost too much of their lives and resources worrying about this issue already,” said Senator Robinson. “Many of them fear they will not be able to continue living in their houses. Let’s get these maps repealed now!”
Senator Robinson has SB 678, that both Senators have worked on a -4 Amendment. They have also worked on the -4 Amendment to SB 83. Both bills are currently in Senator Golden’s Natural Resources & Wildfire Committee, and both amendments have been submitted to the committee. During the 2021 Legislative Session, Senator Golden authored SB 672 that created the Wildfire Maps and subsequent issues to rural property owners.
“Having worked on this issue since 2019 and drafted the competing bill to SB 762 in 2021 that did not pass, I am grateful for the collective work that has culminated into this legislation to repeal the failed State Wildfire Maps legislation,” said Senator Brock Smith. “Over 100,000 Oregonians and their properties are impacted, and we have come together to reverse these threats.”
House Republicans are also putting forward a new piece of legislation that mirrors the language within the amendments above.
What the repeal does:
SB 678 Amendment – Section by Section
Section 1: This section:
- Repeals ORS 455.612: This statute contains the home hardening (R327) requirements for new homes and remodels in the high hazard/WUI wildfire mapped areas. R327 code requirements, which predated SB 762 and the wildfire map, will remain as part of the state building code, but they won’t be tied to any map, since the map is being repealed.
- Repeals ORS 455.614: This statute requires DCBS to maintain a mapping tool showing wildfire areas where the home hardening standards applied and the requirements for complying with the R327 code in those areas. Since the map is being repealed, there’s no need for this tool.
- Repeals ORS 476.390: This statute defines “defensible space”. The same definition is being added as an amendment to ORS 476.392. Since OSFM’s regulatory authority over defensible space is being repealed, meaning ORS 476.394 becomes unnecessary, there’s no reason to have a separate statute that only contains a definition of “defensible space.” You can just incorporate that definition into ORS 476.392. In other words, this is just a style fix for LC, but it makes sense.
- Repeals ORS 476.394: This statute prohibits a county/city from using OSFM’s defensible space requirements as a criterion to approve or deny a land use application. Since we are removing OSFM’s defensible space regulatory authority, there’s no need for this statute.
- Repeals ORS 476.398: This statute removes OSFM’s requirement that they report each biennium to the legislature on their defensible space efforts.
- Repeals ORS 477.027: This statute directs ODF to define the “wildland urban interface” (WUI). Since we are providing our own definition of WUI (see Section 3 below), there is no need to direct ODF to do so. ODF’s current definition of WUI is massively overbroad and based on a federal statute that had nothing to do with regulation and includes rural areas that are miles from anything remotely urban. Our proposed definition aligns with reality.
- Repeals ORS 477.161: This statute requires ODF, in conjunction with OSFM and local governments, to establish baseline standards for wildfire protection in areas outside of ODF forest protection districts. Since Section 29 of SB 762 mandated the counties to meet those baseline standards by January 1, 2026, this statute eliminates local control.
- Repeals ORS 477.490: This statute is the mapping statute. Obviously the most important and obvious statute to repeal.
- Repeals Sections 12a and 12b, SB 762: These sections established deadlines for DCBS home hardening requirements under ORS 455.612. Since our bill eliminates DCBS’ authority to impose home hardening requirements in wildfire areas, these sections need to be repealed as well.
- Repeals Section 29, SB 762: This section required all counties to establish baseline standards for wildfire protection in areas outside of ODF forest protection districts by January 1, 2026. Since our draft repeals ORS 477.161 (see above), this section was unnecessary and needs to be repealed.
Section 2: This section:
- Amends ORS 476.392 to eliminate the requirement that OSFM adopt defensible space requirements, apply those requirements in mapped wildfire areas, and enforce the requirements. Since the map is being eliminated, OSFM’s defensible space requirements aren’t capable of being tied to anything.
- Adds a definition of “defensible space” (the same definition currently found in ORS 476.390 – see the third bullet point under Section 1), and retains OSFM’s ability to administer a community risk reduction program which enables OSFM to establish educational, response planning, and community preparedness efforts incorporating defensible space. The amendments eliminate OSFM’s requirement to establish defensible space requirements and their enforcement authority to enforce any requirements they may choose to adopt on private property. They also direct OSFM to establish a defensible space model code and make that code available to all Oregon local governments. Local governments can choose to apply the code, can create their own code, or can have no code – the choice rests with the local government. OSFM needs to retain authority to administer a community risk reduction program in order to obtain federal funding for the program. That’s why we chose to amend this statute rather than repeal it.
- Authorizes OSFM to provide direct assistance to local governments to implement defensible space programs in their jurisdictions if they so choose.
Section 3: This section amends ORS 477.015 to define the WUI. ORS 477.027, which is being repealed by this bill, authorized ODF to define the WUI. ODF did that, and their definition was horribly overbroad. Since the state will never have enough money to fully fund wildfire programs statewide, available dollars should be targeted to those areas of biggest risk for wildfire damage to people and property. Those are the WUI areas, but a tighter definition will help ensure that funding goes to areas at absolutely greatest risk for a wildfire catastrophe. The definition proposed in this bill is significantly narrowed to apply only in areas where there is a significant cluster of homes and wildland vegetation.
Section 4: This section makes a slight adjustment to ORS 477.503, which requires ODF to establish a landscape resiliency and hazardous fuels reduction program. This is the program ODF uses to fund prescribed burn and forest thinning programs. The amendment adds a priority directing ODF to focus on protection of WUI areas when implementing thinning and prescribed burning efforts, as preventing a wildfire conflagration in the WUI will protect the greatest number of property owners and reduce the risk of a wildfire spreading into an urban area.
Section 5: This section adds a new member to the Oregon Wildfire Programs Advisory Council, the volunteer Council that advises the Governor and legislature on the state’s wildfire programs. The section adds a new position for a firefighter with experience fighting structural fires in WUI areas.
Section 6: This section amends the seller disclosure property statement that a property owner completes when selling their property. The current disclosure statement requires a property owner to notify a potential purchaser whether the land is located within the WUI. Since our bill eliminates the WUI maps, there will be no way for a property owner to determine whether their property is within the WUI, and therefore no way for the property owner to complete this disclosure. It is being removed as a result.
Sections 7-11: These sections are conforming amendments, where existing laws that contain references to the statewide wildfire map are being amended to reflect the deletion of the map.
Section 12: This section voids any assignment to either the WUI or the hazard maps made by ODF as a result of the mapping process. In other words, it completely wipes the slate clean for every property owner, and declares any map designation null and void, whether the property owner appealed their map designation or not.
Section 14: Emergency clause.