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Committee hears broad support for industrial-symbiosis bill, questions on permitting and scale
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Summary
HB 4,086 would provide targeted technical assistance and appropriations to advance industrial symbiosis projects in Oregon (including $900,000 for designated projects and $640,000 for a fish-byproduct pilot), expand RSIS employer eligibility, and amend ORS 451.49; supporters described local examples and Denmark models, while members questioned permitting obstacles and whether small seed funding can catalyze large projects.
The House Committee on Economic Development, Small Business and Trade heard testimony Feb. 2 on HB 4,086, a bill that would direct Business Oregon to support designated industrial symbiosis projects and to develop an industrial-symbiosis roadmap. The staff summary said the bill includes a $900,000 appropriation for industrial symbiosis projects and a $640,000 appropriation to support an Oregon Coast Visitors Association fish-byproduct project. The measure also would expand employer eligibility under the Regionally Significant Industrial Sites program (RSIS) and would amend ORS 451.49 to permit county service districts to fund operations through charges for sewage and water management services.
Supporters from industry, ports and trade organizations urged passage. Reese Roth, executive director of the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure, summarized the concept: "In short, we're turning waste into wealth," and cited Denmark and Washington examples. Testimony from the Port of Morrow, Oregon Potato Company, the Columbia Corridor Association, Pacific Seafood, CORE and Oregon Business & Industry described existing local efforts, potential cost savings, job creation and opportunities to convert byproducts into new products or energy.
Multiple committee members praised the concept but asked practical questions: how the program would move projects past planning into construction given Oregon permitting timelines and the state's regulatory environment; whether modest state seed funding is necessary and sufficient to catalyze private investment; and how the state would prevent beneficial projects from moving to other states with different tax or regulatory regimes.
Duke Shepherd of Oregon Business & Industry said the bill is "smart business" and stressed the need to address permitting and agency coordination. Witnesses, including Reese Roth and Corky Collier, said the appropriation is intended to fund coordination, technical assistance and roadmapping to identify projects with strong private investment cases rather than to fully fund capital projects. Port of Morrow officials described existing steam reuse, waste-to-field fertilization and other exchanges in the Port's industrial cluster that the bill would help scale.
Committee members expressed both enthusiasm and skepticism. Representative Osborne and others pointed to Denmark's centralized political model and high public revenues as differences from Oregon, and asked how the state could replicate outcomes without major public spending or permitting reform. Witnesses urged interagency coordination and public-private partnerships; several said the bill's technical assistance could identify projects ready to attract private capital.
The committee closed the public hearing; the transcript records no committee vote. The bill remains subject to further committee consideration and any fiscal or permitting-related scrutiny in subsequent steps.
