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Senate repeals wildfire hazard map, keeps defensible-space standards and reporting changes
Summary
The Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 83 to remove the wildfire hazard map and related map-driven requirements while retaining defensible-space guidance, altering reporting frequencies, and removing a map question from the standard real-estate disclosure form.
The Oregon Senate on Monday passed Senate Bill 83, which removes the wildfire hazard map and associated map‑driven requirements from state wildfire law while preserving defensible‑space guidance, altered reporting schedules and other program elements.
Senator Golden, who presented the legislation, said the map assignment process ‘can't work’ because it assigned hazard designations without accounting for property‑specific characteristics. “A mapping model that assigns a hazard designation to a property without factoring in anything about the specific characteristics that exist on that property can't work,” Golden said on the floor.
The bill removes the map and related appeals, preserves defensible‑space standards and the 327 model building standards as optional model codes for local jurisdictions, and changes some reporting schedules. Under the bill the wildfire program director will report every 90 days instead of every 60 days; Oregon Department of Forestry reports on wildfire risk reduction and the 20‑year landscape resiliency plan will be annual; DEQ reporting on community smoke response plans will be annual; and the Oregon Public Utility Commission will report annually on utility‑related wildfire risk work, the sponsor said.
Senator Golden said the change was intended to reduce hostility and mistrust that the map had created and to refocus effort on risk reduction, insurance affordability and resilient land management. Several senators representing wildfire‑affected areas supported the bill on those grounds, saying the map had caused anxiety for property owners and contributed to insurance problems for some households.
Senator Robinson, who said he had initially proposed a full repeal, urged colleagues to support the measure as a targeted reset. “Eliminating these maps will remove a lot of anxiety for Oregonians, will enhance their lives, and will allow us to concentrate on what really matters,” Robinson said.
The bill also removes one line from the statewide standard real‑estate disclosure statement — the question “Has the property been classified as wildland urban interface?” — and retains many program elements deemed useful, according to floor remarks.
After debate and several floor statements supporting the bipartisan package, the Senate declared the bill passed with a constitutional majority.
The measure's changes are aimed at resolving problems raised after the mapping model was implemented and to preserve program elements several legislators described as functioning well. Sponsors and backers said additional work will be required to address insurance and implementation gaps that predate and extend beyond the map.
