Committee hears bills to diversify fuel storage and require financial responsibility for CEI hub terminals

The House Committee on Emergency Management and Veterans heard extensive public testimony Tuesday on two linked measures aimed at reducing the risks from Oregon's Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) hub and ensuring operators can pay for cleanup and recovery.

Representative Travis Nelson, sponsor and a House member from North and Northeast Portland, told the committee HB 4,100 dash 2 strengthens financial responsibility for terminals at the CEI hub by requiring verifiable financial assurances and limiting self-insurance unless backed by solvency tests and a standby trust. "Too often, the public is left holding the bag for cleanup and recovery," Nelson said, arguing the bill would make the polluter — not taxpayers — responsible.

Supporters described the CEI hub as a single point of failure. "Ninety percent of Oregon's fuel supply enters the state and is stored in a 6-mile stretch of Northwest Portland," Portland City Council President Jamie Dunphy said in testimony, warning the hub sits on seismically vulnerable soils. Nikki Mandel of the CEI Hub Task Force said the tank farms are in "a quadruple hazard zone" and called the hub a "ticking time bomb" that requires diversification, strengthened containment and funding for response.

Industry and business groups told the committee they back a workable, risk-based financial assurance program. Sophia Steele Connolly of the Western States Petroleum Association and Sharla Moffett of Oregon Business & Industry said a statewide, predictable approach — including risk-based coverage levels and accepted financial mechanisms — is preferable to a fragmented patchwork of local ordinances.

Local governments urged clarity about immediate resources after a catastrophic event. Multnomah County Commissioner Megan Moyer said the county strongly supports a state role but warned that a purely liability-based framework could leave local responders without immediate funds. "We estimate we will need between $100 and $150 million in the first year of response," Moyer said, urging changes so local governments can access resources quickly.

During committee Q&A, Legislative Counsel Seth Nickerson said the bill’s definitions of "spill" and "release" do not specify a cause and, as written, could cover releases regardless of cause — including acts of God — and that "spill-related liability" contemplates damages incurred by the state, federally recognized tribes, cities and counties. DEQ staff deferred to Legislative Counsel for a formal legal opinion and promised follow-up.

The committee took no final vote on either HB 4,032 or HB 4,100 during the hearing; both bills will proceed through the committee process following staff follow-up on legal questions and the working through of forthcoming technical amendments, witnesses said.

Why it matters: Testimony underscored the geographic concentration of Oregon’s fuel supply, the potential for catastrophic environmental and public health consequences in a major earthquake or derailment, and a cross-sector consensus that the state needs both better geographic diversification of fuel storage and enforceable financial assurance to pay for cleanup and recovery.