Ways and Means approves seven federal grant applications totaling about $15.7 million

The Joint Committee on Ways and Means voted on Feb. 5 to approve seven federal grant submissions and recommended one agency report be received, totaling roughly $15.7 million in grant requests.

The approvals included a $100,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program grant application from the Oregon Department of Energy to fund energy audits for agriculture producers and rural small businesses, and three retroactive approvals for federal applications already submitted by state agencies.

The Natural Resource Subcommittee reported the Department of Energy application would fund energy audits and noted “Prior grant funding has supported 13 energy audits with 2 businesses able to receive additional grant funding to implement the energy audit suggestions,” Representative Owens said. Program participants must provide a 25% match of audit costs; the department has partnered with the Energy Trust of Oregon to cover the match for participants in that service territory.

The committee gave retroactive approval for two Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) applications to the Bureau of Reclamation. One, a $4.5 million request for fish-passage improvements at the Kino Dam, would support “community engagement, planning, design, [and] construction of fish passage improvements.” The subcommittee noted the Kino Dam fish ladder was constructed in 1968 and “has had no upgrade since construction and does not meet the needs of many species,” Senator Gerard said. The second ODFW request is a $7 million application for fish-screening installations on priority diversions along the Klamath River to protect threatened coho salmon and endangered suckers; both Bureau of Reclamation applications carry a 35% construction cost share the agency intends to meet with nonfederal grants.

The Oregon Judicial Department received retroactive approval for a $600,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant application to develop a trauma-informed training curriculum and to establish integrated domestic-violence specialty courts in Marion County. Representative Kate asked whether ongoing funding had been discussed; the committee reported OJD said Marion County’s court “may continue to be funded within current service level resources” after a 36-month grant period.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department received approval to apply for $241,525 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to fund conservation-planning assistance that would pass through to the Institute for Applied Ecology to work with private landowners on reintroducing the endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly. Representative Kate said she would “vote no to flag my concerns” about potential impacts on farmers and the methods to be evaluated, but the application was approved.

The Department of Transportation won approval to apply for $3.2 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund preliminary investigations and conceptual designs for a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge adjacent to the existing Bullard’s Bridge on U.S. 101. The department plans an $800,000 state match designated by the Oregon Transportation Commission.

Finally, ODOT received retroactive approval for a $75,300 Federal Railroad Administration grant to support its rail safety inspection program, including training and equipment for inspectors required to enforce federal railroad safety regulations.

All seven grant applications were recommended by their respective subcommittees and were approved by the joint committee during the Feb. 5 work session. Several approvals were retroactive because agencies submitted timely notice to the legislature but missed an earlier deadline for the December emergency board.

Votes at a glance: the transcript records unanimous committee approval for each item or notes no objection at the time each approval was called; individual roll-call tallies were not provided in the record.