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Protect Our Waterways: Urge Lawmakers to Say No to HB 3382!

Please take action today and urge State Legislators on the Joint Committee on Transportation to say “no” to House Bill 3382. If passed, this would allow ports across the state to dredge our rivers without demonstrating compliance with state or local land use law. 

While this might seem like an obscure bill with localized impacts, its potential negative implications for coastal ecosystems, urban habitats like West Hayden Island, and fisheries across the state would be huge. It would weaken enforceable policies associated with the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) which is designed to ensure that development does not have unacceptable adverse impacts on Oregon’s valuable coastal zone. 

That means at the local and state level, our land use authority and consistency requirements over federal projects could be undermined. This a big deal and could re-open the door to the disastrous Jordan Cove LNG terminal once again. Additionally, it would remove mitigation requirements for dumping contaminated dredging material in important habitats on islands along the Columbia River. It could also jeopardize on-going efforts to update Oregon’s estuary management plans, with direct impacts to fragile estuarine ecosystems so important for wildlife, migratory birds, as well as Oregon’s economically important fisheries.

Oregon’s lawmakers should not be throwing out the very rules we need to safeguard our coastal and aquatic habitats for the benefit of one industry. 

Please help strike down this terrible bill. The Joint Committee on Transportation will hold a hearing on this bill tomorrow (Tuesday March 14 at 5 p.m.)

A photo of a flock of Pacific Black Brants entering the water.
Pacific Black Brant, photo by Andrew Reding

Take Action

There are two ways to help strike down this terrible bill. The Joint Committee on Transportation will hold a hearing on this bill tomorrow (Tuesday March 14 at 5 p.m.) 

  1. Sign Up to Testify

Sign up for oral testimony here

Submit a written comment here

2. Call and/or Email Your Represenatives (See Below for a Sample Letter)

Please consider calling your legislator on the Joint Committee on Transportation to let them know not to support this bad bill. You can access their phone numbers here:

Sen. Chris Gorsek (Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale and Wood Village) 

Rep. Susan McLain (West Hillsboro, Cornelius, and Forest Grove)

Sen. Lew Frederick (N and NE Portland)

Sen. Aaron Woods (Charbonneau, King City, Metzger, Sherwood, Tigard, Wilsonville, SE Beaverton)

Rep. Paul Evans (Independence, Monmouth, North and West Salem)

Rep. Nancy Nathanson (Eugene)

Rep. Khanh Pham (SE Portland)

Also, you can contact the chief sponsors of this problematic bill. You can access their phone numbers here:

Rep. David Gomberg (Lincoln and Western Benton & Lane Counties)

Rep. Paul Evans (Monmouth)

Rep. Ken Helm (Beaverton and Cedar Hills)

Sample Letter

Dear [Rep./Sen. XXX],

My name is XXX and I am your constituent in [CITY]. I’m writing to urge you to withhold support for HB 3382, which is scheduled for a hearing in the Joint Transportation Committee on Tuesday evening. 

This bill would severely weaken state and local land use regulations on port projects within or adjacent to federal navigation channels on the Willamette River, Columbia River, Yaquina Bay, and Coos Bay. These are some of the most ecologically important and sensitive waterways in our state. This bill would open the door to completely unchecked dredging and heavy industrial development on port-owned lands, with zero regard to ecological or human impacts. 

This effort to eviscerate Oregon’s 50-plus year old system of land use regulations stems from a recent ruling by the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) that found serious deficiencies in the plan for dredging the Coos Bay navigation channel. Rather than redrawing the plan to comply with reasonable and long-standing regulations, out-of-state developers are now trying to burn the whole system down and do whatever they please with our public land, while putting our natural ecosystems at risk. 

Please do not give ports a blank check to defile our submerged and submersible state lands. If a development project is truly in the best interest of all Oregonians, it should at the very least demonstrate compliance with the established rules and procedures. 

Thank you for your time and attention to this urgent matter. 

Sincerely,

[NAME]
[ADDRESS]
[PHONE NUMBER]
[E-MAIL] 

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