Legislative Session 2025 Recap

Supporting Our Environmental Justice Clients in the Oregon Legislature

by Rebeka Dawit, Crag Deputy Director & Environmental Justice Staff Attorney

The heart of Crag’s environmental justice (EJ) program is balancing the scales of justice. In theory, our environmental laws are meant to protect everyone–regardless of race, color, ability, or income, but in practice these environmental laws often fall short. Although the current federal administration has been relentlessly rescinding EJ funding and support, this is not the first time that EJ advocates have faced an exceptionally uphill battle. Fighting for equal protection under our laws, be it environmental or otherwise, is a tale as old as this country. Our clients have been advocating for environmental justice for decades, even when environmental justice was not a priority for government agencies or environmental groups. But EJ should always be a priority, even when it’s not “easy.” That’s why we’re working with our clients to pass better environmental justice laws here in Oregon. 

While we do not lobby, we add critical capacity for our clients seeking to balance the scales of justice in our environmental laws. With Crag’s help, our clients are able to participate in this crucial work feeling empowered with knowledge and support, and with the added capacity to see their bills over the legislative finish line and into our environmental laws.

Debriefing the 2025 Legislative Session

The 2025 legislative session was especially challenging due to the change in federal administration. Much of the session centered around the utilization of federal funding (or lack thereof), and due to the large-scale shifts in the federal administration’s allocation of funding, many EJ centered bills struggled to make it to the legislative finish line. Despite this, we supported our clients to pass several key bills that meaningfully address EJ issues in Oregon.

Bills that Passed

Rural Renter’s Right-to-Know for Water Quality (HB 3525):

Well-water quality management is a significant grey area of regulation that our client, Verde, has been working to address. Prior to this bill, Oregon law did not require landlords to test or disclose domestic well water quality to tenants. This means that renters and prospective renters of dwellings that rely on well-water are oftentimes left in the dark as to the quality of the water they will be, or are, using and consuming. Furthermore, these rental properties are most often rural, lower-income residences. This bill requires landlords to test water quality for domestic wells.

Monitoring Methane Emissions at Landfills (Senate Bill 726):

This bill requires the owner or operator of a landfill to conduct surface emissions monitoring, and report the data to the Department of Environmental Quality for accurate enforcement. Our client, Beyond Toxics, has been working on this issue for years, and the passage of SB 726 will help close critical gaps in the law that allows for the unchecked emissions of undetected methane at landfills.

Reducing Pesticide Exposure on School Grounds (House Bill 2684):

We have been supporting Beyond Toxics in their efforts to reduce pesticide exposure on school campuses since 2023. Children are especially vulnerable to pesticide exposure due to their developing brains and nervous systems, and exposure can affect critical stages of development. This bill will require that schools regularly update their pesticide use plans and make the information publicly available.

Passed via Emergency Session: 2025 Transportation Package (HB 2025 & HB 3991)

A key legislative action this session was a $4.3 billion package for the Oregon Department of Transportation’s 2025-2027 budget. Our client Verde is working within the Move Oregon Forward coalition to ensure that this money goes to investing in safety, emissions reduction, diverse transportation options, and governance that involves diverse voices to ensure that all Oregonians were represented in this historic package. This included advocating for transparency and accountability measures. While the first version of the package did not pass during the legislative session, a slimmed down iteration of it did pass in an emergency session this September. This version does not have robust accountability, revenue, public transportation, or climate-smart measures as hoped, but we will continue to support this coalition in ensuring that the 2026 and 2027 legislative sessions will.

Pollinator and Wildlife Protection Act – Prohibiting and Reducing Neonicotinoid Pesticides (HB 2679):

Neonicotinoids are a class of insecticides that, once applied, infiltrate plant tissue and are extremely harmful to pollinators. They persist in the surrounding ecosystem for years, causing water and soil damage. This impacts organisms crucial to our ecosystems like birds, butterflies, bees, freshwater snails, and fish. This bill was designed to add neonicotinoids to Oregon’s list of “restricted-use” pesticides. This would have required a pesticide applicator to acquire a license to purchase and apply it. It would have also prohibited the application of this pesticide on residential areas. If passed, this bill would have allowed Oregon to join 12 other states who have also restricted the use of this extremely potent pesticide that must have proper community and environmental guardrails to prevent unnecessary, improper, or excessive use.

Fertilizer reporting (SB 747):

This would have required landowners with irrigated property and agriculture to report the amount of fertilizers they used annually to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. This data would be crucial to prevent and reduce the overapplication of fertilizers, which would protect surrounding water quality.

Well Abandonment Repair, and Replacement (HB 2168):

Improperly abandoned wells and failing septic systems pose serious risks to groundwater quality, and are subjected to undermaintenance and regulation due to grey areas and underinvestment in our groundwater management laws and wellwater systems. This bill was designed provide: $5 million in funding to the Well  Abandonment, Repair, and Replacement fund at the Oregon Water Resources Department, $5 million in funding to the Onsite Septic Financial Aid Program at the Department of Environmental Quality, and the development of a new statewide technical assistance program at Oregon State University to provide education, outreach, and assistance in upgrading groundwater systems in need of repair. 

Healthy Communities Act (HB 3062):

Designed to protect vulnerable communities from the impacts of industrial development, this bill would have required a public health impacts analysis before an industrial development can be sited within 1000 feet of homes, schools, hospitals, and care facilities. 

Looking Ahead

We’re proud to be working with our clients to pass meaningful bills to support environmental justice. For bills that did not pass, we remain steadfast in supporting our clients in navigating next steps, to ensure that crucial momentum and bandwidth keeps going. Whether it is defending the passage of bills in our courts, supporting clients on rule advisory committees, or starting from scratch and drafting new bills altogether, we’re committed to supporting our clients as they continue to ensure that our environmental laws protect all communities and environments equally.