Opinion
A4
Thursday, May 5, 2022
OUR VIEW
OT law will
prompt changes
in Oregon ag
O
regon Gov. Kate Brown has signed legis-
lation that will grant farmworkers over-
time pay after 40 hours of work begin-
ning in 2027.
Under the law, farmworkers will be owed time-
and-a-half wages after 55 weekly hours of work
in 2023, after 48 hours of work in 2025-2026 and
after 40 hours per week beginning in 2027.
The legislation changes a farm pay formula
that has stood for 84 years, and will lead to big
changes for both employers and employees.
The Fair Labor Standards Act, passed by Con-
gress in 1938, established a federal minimum
wage and provided for overtime pay for work
over 40 hours. The act also provided 19 job clas-
sifi cations, including farmworkers, that are
exempt from the overtime rule.
Critics argue that the exemption was the
product of racism and pandering to the needs of
special interests — big, “corporate” farming con-
cerns. Farmers of every scale note that farmwork
is distinct from factory production. The nature of
most farmwork makes it diffi cult to schedule in
eight-hour days and 40-hour work weeks.
The economics of agriculture have not changed
since 1938. Farmers are still price takers, not
price makers, who cannot simply pass along
higher labor costs to consumers the way retailers
and manufacturers, though limited by the impacts
of competition, do.
Gov. Brown acknowledged that the bill she
signed is not perfect. She points out that the bill
allows for a phase-in for overtime pay, a provision
she says will give farm interests time to negotiate
changes and improvements to the legislation.
No doubt farm interests will try to get the
law changed. But it seems unlikely there will be
signifi cant changes made. It is more likely that
farmers and processors will use the grace period
to fi nd ways they can change their operations to
reduce labor costs.
Mary Anne Cooper, vice president of gov-
ernment aff airs at the Oregon Farm Bureau,
said farm employees will also lose out when
employers can’t aff ord to hire more workers or
must off er workers fewer hours.
“We think this legislation will have devas-
tating consequences for our family farms and
their employees, will likely result in signifi cantly
reduced farm employment in Oregon and is really
going to change the landscape of Oregon agricul-
ture,” Cooper said.
Innovators are busy designing machines that
can do intricate and delicate work such as picking
fruit and pruning trees. Higher labor costs will
hasten that eff ort.
Farmers who produce labor-intensive crops
are also weighing the profi t potential of growing
crops that require less labor. Those crops gen-
erally are not as valuable as the labor-inten-
sive crops, but for smaller producers the poten-
tial reductions in costs could make those crops
more viable.
Inevitably, some farmers will decide that they
can’t aff ord higher labor costs, increased automa-
tion or changes in their cropping plans. They will
sell out to a larger operation that can.
We think everyone performing farmwork
should be paid as much as business conditions
allow. But we know that mandating overtime
won’t change the basic economics.
B2H seeks to overstep noise laws
meant to protect Oregonians
FUJI
KREIDER
OTHER VIEWS
E
ver hear the snap, crackle, pop
or humming of transmission
lines? Would you want to live
near them? How about hike, fi sh or
recreate in your favorite park with
those sounds buzzing in the back-
ground? This is corona noise. High-
voltage transmission lines, such as
the proposed Boardman to Hem-
ingway line, emit a low humming or
crackling noise that is referred to as
“corona sound.”
The corona sound emitted by
B2H will not exceed Oregon’s max-
imum allowable industrial sound
levels (so you won’t go deaf); how-
ever, it will exceed what’s called
“ambient antidegradation standard.”
This standard says that an indus-
trial sound cannot exceed the nat-
ural (ambient) background sound
more than 10 decibels (dBA) in any
given hour of a day (24-hour period).
Every increase of 10 dBA is expe-
rienced by humans as a doubling of
the sound. This ambient degradation
standard was created and put into
law to protect Oregonians’ health,
safety and welfare. Health studies
have shown that this type of sound
can aff ect sleeping patterns and peo-
ple’s health.
So what is the Stop B2H Coali-
tion’s contested case about? If the
state of Oregon rules that Idaho
Power must comply with the state’s
noise control standards, the project
is unpermittable. Therefore, Idaho
Power is asking the state for an
exception to the rules and a complete
variance from the rules. A variance
would raise the ambient background
an additional 10 dBA — a blanket
variance for 300 miles. The excep-
tion would be for specifi c residents
along the way where Idaho Power
already knows there will be noise
exceedances from the rules. There
are 42 predicted by Idaho Power; we
believe there are likely more.
Our case has been brought for-
ward by Stop B2H plus four indi-
viduals. We have all taken dif-
ferent angles to this issue in an
attempt to demonstrate that Idaho
Power cannot comply with the
law and should not qualify for an
exception or variance. Our issues
include: 1) Insisting on strict com-
pliance to Oregon laws and rules,
including what constitutes “infre-
quent foul weather” (when corona
is loudest) and what qualifi es for
exception and variance (remember:
sound doubles with every 10 dBA).
2) The boundary for the noise study
was arbitrarily reduced by Oregon
Department of Energy staff (1 mile
to 0.5 mile). 3) The monitoring sta-
tions used to measure background
(ambient) sound were not “repre-
sentative” of rural residential areas
(e.g., adjacent to the Union Pacifi c
railroad). 4) The ODOE lacks legal
authority to issue the variance.
5) The mitigation measures pro-
posed, which essentially amount to
an “after-the-fact” complaint pro-
cess and window treatments, are
not mitigation. The law says that
the Commission on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) is supposed to be the
only entity able to issue a variance
— not ODOE.
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Subscription rates:
Monthly Autopay ...............................$10.75
13 weeks.................................................$37.00
26 weeks.................................................$71.00
52 weeks ..............................................$135.00
By Idaho Power’s admission,
there is not a technological way to
mask corona noise. Idaho Power is
proposing retrofi tting some houses
and providing new windows to those
aff ected as mitigation. Apparently,
Idaho Power doesn’t realize that
many Eastern Oregonians spend
time outside their homes: feeding
livestock, working the land, recre-
ating and enjoying the outdoors on a
regular basis. Many of us live in this
rural region of the state for the very
peace and quiet we enjoy.
Corona noise is an industrial
intrusion that our laws are sup-
posed to prevent. Unfortunately, we
have to prevail in this case to pre-
serve what we have. Please Support
Stop B2H and check us out at www.
stopb2h.org.
█
Fuji Kreider, of La Grande, is the secretary/
treasurer of the Stop B2H Coalition. She is a
community organizer and organizational
development consultant who has worked in
various sectors and countries. She loves to cook,
travel to off-the-beaten-path locations, hike, raft
and play with friends.
STAFF
SUBSCRIBEAND SAVE
NEWSSTAND PRICE: $1.50
You can save up to 55% off the single-copy
price with home delivery.
Call 800-781-3214 to subscribe.
ABOUT THIS COLUMN
Nineteen members of the Stop B2H Coalition
are still litigating in a contested case against
Idaho Power and the Oregon Department
of Energy. We started with 72 issues. After
20 months of legal volleying, we still have
39 total issues alive in the case. It’s been a
heavy lift but we are determined to stop
the Boardman to Hemingway high-voltage
transmission project that would cross North-
eastern Oregon. We seek to protect our
region, our human and natural resources,
quality of life and heritage. This is a summary
of our issues relating to noise control.
Anindependent newspaper foundedin1896
www.lagrandeobserver.com
Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, Oregon 97801
Published Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
(except postal holidays) by EO Media Group,
911 Jefferson Ave., La Grande, OR 97850
(USPS 299-260)
The Observer retains ownership and copyright
protection of all staff-prepared news copy, advertising
copy, photos and news or ad illustrations. They may
not be reproduced without explicit prior approval.
COPYRIGHT © 2022
Phone:
541-963-3161
Regional publisher ....................... Karrine Brogoitti
Home delivery adviser.......... Amanda Turkington
Interim editor ....................................Andrew Cutler
Advertising representative ..................... Kelli Craft
News clerk ........................................Lisa Lester Kelly
Advertising representative .................... Amy Horn
Reporter....................................................Dick Mason
National accounts coordinator ...... Devi Mathson
Reporter............................................Davis Carbaugh
Graphic design .................................. Dorothy Kautz
Toll free (Oregon):
1-800-781-3214
Email:
news@lagrandeobserver.com
POSTMASTER
Send address changes to:
The Observer,
911 Jefferson Ave.,
La Grande, OR 97850
A division of