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Deschutes County opts out of new Eastern Oregon solar siting rules for private land
Summary
After a staff presentation on state OAR changes going into effect Jan. 1, 2026, the Deschutes County Board voted to adopt an order opting out of the new Eastern Oregon solar siting rules for private EFU and forest-zone lands and to continue applying existing section 38 siting limits; the decision requires order no. 2025-042.
The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners voted to opt out of the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development—s (DLCD) new Eastern Oregon solar siting administrative rules for privately owned EFU (exclusive farm use) and forest lands, directing staff to adopt order no. 2025-042.
Katie Saltzman, senior planner, told the board that the Land Conservation and Development Commission adopted new OARs on June 26, 2025, that take effect Jan. 1, 2026, and that the county has three choices: (1) opt out and retain the existing section 38 rules; (2) do nothing and be subject to the new section 44 rules; or (3) pursue a customized division 23/Goal 5 program that would require an extensive public process and EC (economic, social, environmental and energy) analysis.
Saltzman emphasized that both the existing rules (section 38) and the new rules (section 44) use local conditional-use and Goal 5 criteria, but the new rules provide an explicit pathway to unlock larger acreages subject to state-level eligibility, mitigation and community-benefit criteria. "The new rules actually allow for the same amount of local discretion as the existing rules," Saltzman said, summarizing DLCD staff guidance.
Commissioners questioned how many private properties in Deschutes County would be large enough to use the expanded acreages, and staff reported only a handful of privately held EFU parcels above 600 acres. Several commissioners said they preferred retaining the county—s existing limits on private land, citing visual impacts and limited local applicability of very large projects; one commissioner argued for opting in to support larger-scale development for energy resiliency.
After discussion, Commissioner (speaker 3) moved and the chair seconded an order opting out of the Eastern Oregon solar siting rules pursuant to House Bill 3409 (order no. 2025-042). The motion passed with a majority of the board. The action instructs county staff to adopt the opt-out order before the end-of-year deadline; Saltzman said the board still may revisit the choice in the future and that opting out now does not permanently foreclose the county from pursuing division 23 or later changes.
The board—s order applies to nonfederal private lands; Saltzman noted that federal lands and county-owned property are not affected by the county—s opt-out order under state planning rules.
Next steps in the staff timeline include formal adoption of the board order as directed and communicating the decision to DLCD and relevant stakeholders.
