The controversial wildfire hazard map and accompanying home-hardening regulations were repealed by the Oregon House on Tuesday.
For months, rural Oregon residents and their legislators had argued that the map was faulty because it claimed to know the risks on a property-by-property basis without anyone having visited each one and was unjustly raising insurance premiums.
Despite the fact that lawmakers from both parties recognized that the map was problematic, Senate Bill 83, which would have repealed the plan, was delayed for a month.
The House then approved it on Tuesday with just one nay vote. The Senate unanimously approved it in April, and it is currently on its way to Governor Tina Kotek’s desk to be signed.
Since lawmakers had not yet devised a means of funding fire control or wildfire mitigation, the map repeal, which had begun with bipartisan backing, turned out to be extremely controversial.
House members sent the bill to the House Rules Committee after it passed the Senate, preventing a floor vote. Republicans protested that the map was being held hostage in exchange for their vote to support extra wildfire spending, while House Democrats stated that they wanted to examine the bill within a broader context of fire mitigation strategies. Democrat Jeff Golden of Ashland, who is the bill’s carrier in the Senate, expressed his disapproval of the delay and expressed sadness that it had been incorporated into partisan negotiations.
In a floor statement on Tuesday, House Republican Leader Christine Drazan stated that she is quite angry about this process, which has been extremely stressful and political.
Drazan said the majority party had manipulated the bill around the Capitol so that Republicans were not given credit for their contributions, and he blasted Democrats for trying to use it to try to influence Republican votes. According to Drazan, Golden, a Democrat, supported the repeal of the maps in the Senate rather than submitting a House version that was identical to Senate Bill 83. Emerson Levy, a Democrat from central Oregon, made the last and successful attempt to advance the bill out of committee to a full floor vote on Monday, despite Republicans’ weeks-long efforts.
The way this law has actually emerged in the last several days of this session has devastated me. Drazan stated that things didn’t have to be this way. From the start, we wanted to be at the table and were partners in this endeavor.
Shortly after the House on Monday passed a new nicotine tax to finance efforts to avoid wildfires, Levy was able to get the bill out of committee. Without a source of money for fire protection, House Speaker Julie Fahey has stated that she did not wish to remove the maps. Regarding Drazan’s critical floor address, Fahey’s office stated on Tuesday that she was not immediately available for comment.
In her floor statement on Tuesday, Levy, the only Democrat to vote against stalling Senate Bill 83 in House Rules and a supporter of Republican efforts to get the bill to the floor, stated that she would have allowed a Republican to carry the bill if they had asked her to do so.
In support of the repeal of the maps, Levy stated on Tuesday that “we have an opportunity to come together as Oregonians of all stripes today to put this conversation around the maps to rest and move forward with the right strategy.” The difficult political process that has taken place this session is definitely something I can appreciate.
In 2021, the Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon State University were instructed by the Legislature to create a map that would illustrate to Oregonians the likelihood of wildfires on various lands. The most recent version, published in January, was also designed to determine which property owners will be subject to home hardening regulations and where fire mitigation actions should be prioritized.
However, rural property owners and lawmakers who deal with them fiercely opposed it.
Republicans contend that because no one assessed individual properties, it is rife with errors. Fears have been raised by homeowners that insurance firms have exploited the map to refuse coverage or increase prices. The state’s Division of Financial Regulation contends that insurance companies have never used the map for that purpose, which is illegal under state law. Rural property owners, meanwhile, have maintained that they experienced punitive impacts as a result of what they claim is a defective map.
Rep. Kevin Mannix, a Republican from Salem, stated, “I agree that we need to be aggressive about our (fire) prevention program, but these maps turned out to have very negative effects where they should have applied.”
Although local jurisdictions may still require property owners to comply to fire-safe building laws, Senate Bill 83 revokes the map and any associated requirements that property owners in hazard zones follow additional construction restrictions relating to their risk.
The House’s lone negative vote was made by Rep. Dacia Grayber, a Democrat and firefighter from Portland. Because insurers utilize their own, more specific and restrictive danger maps, Grayber contended that the removal of the maps would not address the issue of growing fire insurance premiums. She expressed her dread of doing away with defensible space rules and obligatory building norms, which serve to safeguard dwellings.
“We are leaving behind a tool that has the potential to change the game,” Grayber stated.
In order to keep themselves, their houses, and their loved ones and pets safe, Grayber advised Oregonians to take certain precautions. These include clearing flammable brush, firewood, and juniper trees from the area around their homes, being aware of their evacuation routes, and having a go-bag prepared in case they need to evacuate due to a wildfire.
According to Grayber, we need to have a much lengthier discussion about fire safety in Oregon. I’m hoping we’ll keep going there with vigor and determination.
Sami Edge writes for The Oregonian on politics and higher education. She may be contacted at (503) 260-3430 or atsedge@oregonian.com.
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Oregon lawmakers repeal controversial wildfire hazard map
Oregon lawmakers repeal controversial wildfire hazard map
Oregon lawmakers repeal controversial wildfire hazard map