House committee advances bills tied to repeal of Oregon wildfire hazard map, sends measures to rules

Chair Lively opened the House Climate, Energy, and Environment Committee work session on bills addressing the state wildfire hazard map Thursday, May 22, and the committee advanced both Senate Bill 75a and Senate Bill 83a with due-pass recommendations and referrals to the Committee on Rules.

The measures would remove references to the state wildfire hazard map and, in the case of SB83a, repeal the map’s application to a range of programs and requirements including defensible-space rules, the wildland-urban interface, the wildfire programs advisory council, agency reporting, seller property-disclosure obligations, comprehensive planning, accessory dwelling units and replacement dwellings, building-code links, and the small forest-land grant program. Committee staff told members each bill carries a minimal fiscal impact and no revenue impact.

Supporters urged moving the bills quickly to the floor. “I think it’s really important we have the votes for this on the floor to pass it, and it’s a really important vote for us to send to the people of Oregon that we are repealing the maps,” Vice Chair Bobby Levy said.

Other members urged referring the bills to rules so the committee could coordinate a full wildfire funding and policy package. “I do support sending the bill to rules because we have a number of other discussions ongoing about wildfire and this will enable us to have a comprehensive look at what our entire wildfire package is going to consist of,” Representative Marsh said.

A motion by Vice Chair Levy to amend the committee motion so SB83a would go directly to the floor rather than to rules was debated and failed on a roll call. The committee then returned to the original motion to advance SB83a with a due-pass recommendation and referral to rules; that motion passed. An earlier, separate work session on SB75a also passed with a due-pass recommendation and a referral to rules; the chair closed that work session after members voted to move the bill.

Members repeatedly framed the debate as a choice between moving immediately to repeal the map on the floor or holding bills in rules while negotiators complete a broader wildfire funding and policy package. Several members emphasized the funding question as central. “The funding mechanism is critical,” Representative Grama said, adding that state revenue limitations mean wildfire funding cannot simply be pulled from existing general-fund priorities.

Committee members also noted procedural next steps and a timeline for negotiations. Chair Lively said he expects continued work on wildfire items and reminded members of upcoming informational and permitting items scheduled for future meetings.

The bills now go to the Committee on Rules; no final floor action occurred in this committee. The transcript records multiple roll-call statements and formal outcomes in which the motions to advance the bills were carried or failed as described above.