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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Thursday, August 1, 2019 Counties expected to speed up Oregon solar projects By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — County gov- ernments would expand their authority over Oregon’s solar facilities under a recently approved bill that’s expected to speed up the approval pro- cess for such projects. It remains debatable, how- ever, whether a surge in solar arrays on farmland will result from the shift in jurisdiction toward county governments and away from state energy regulators. “That presumably will allow more development to come in, in a quicker time frame,” said Mary Kyle McCurdy, deputy director of the 1,000 Friends of Oregon conservation group. Proponents of more solar oversight by counties say local governments will still be held to the same standards for farm and environmental protection when considering project sites. “I don’t see this as caus- ing an increase in impacts to farmland,” said Nicole Hughes, executive director of the Renewable Northwest nonprofit. Until now, solar projects fell under the control of the statewide Energy Facility Sit- ing Council, known by the initials EFSC, if they were larger than 100 acres to 320 acres, depending on farmland Capital Press File Photo Oregon counties would have more authority over siting solar projects under a bill passed by state lawmakers. and soil quality. Below those limits, they’re evaluated by counties. Under House Bill 2329, which was approved by the full Legislature and awaits a signature from Gov. Kate Brown, those thresholds would rise substantially: • The adjustment would be smallest for high-value farm- land, from 100 acres to 160 acres. • On predominantly culti- vated land and uncultivated land that mostly contains the top four soil classes, the limit would increase more than tenfold from 100 acres to 1,280 acres. • On any other land, such as lower-quality uncultivated ground, the threshold would go from 320 acres to 1,920 acres. Supporters of HB 2329 argue that allowing larger solar facilities to be overseen by counties will be more effi- cient without skipping any of the siting requirements imposed by EFSC. “Counties have proven to be more nimble,” said Angela Crowley-Koch, exec- utive director of the Ore- gon Solar Energy Industries Association. “They’re gener- ally cheaper and faster than EFSC.” The statewide council was created with nuclear facilities Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Mostly sunny Mostly sunny 94° 65° 90° 60° 97° 68° 93° 59° SUNDAY Sunny MONDAY Mostly sunny and hot Sunny and seasonably hot PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 91° 59° 91° 62° 95° 61° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 94° 59° 94° 60° 98° 63° OREGON FORECAST ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 75/63 90/57 95/60 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 95/69 Lewiston 83/63 97/68 Astoria 73/62 Pullman Yakima 95/65 84/60 98/66 Portland Hermiston 89/66 The Dalles 97/68 Salem Corvallis 85/60 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 93/59 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 87/58 90/52 95/58 Ontario 99/65 Caldwell Burns 91° 62° 90° 60° 106° (2015) 40° (1933) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 85/60 0.00" 0.01" 0.22" 4.56" 5.10" 5.92" WINDS (in mph) 96/64 93/52 0.00" 0.04" 0.37" 9.61" 6.49" 7.95" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 90/54 87/62 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 94/65 93/67 88° 55° 90° 60° 108° (1971) 42° (1933) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 85/63 Aberdeen 90/62 92/68 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 85/65 Today Medford 94/61 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 88/48 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Fri. WSW 6-12 NW 6-12 Boardman Pendleton WSW 8-16 W 8-16 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 5:38 a.m. 8:24 p.m. 6:07 a.m. 9:13 p.m. First Full Last New Aug 7 Aug 15 Aug 23 Aug 30 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 106° in Hays, Kan. Low 31° in Doe Lake, Mich. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY in mind and must conduct studies related to a project’s vulnerability to earthquakes and volcanoes, as well as its noise output, she said. “They’re just not relevant for solar projects,” Crow- ley-Koch said. Requirements to avoid interfering with wildlife, his- torical artifacts and agricul- tural production are pertinent to solar production and those will not change under the new law, she said. “The same things that are reviewed by EFSC will be reviewed by the county,” said Hughes of Renewable Northwest. “Counties are the most informed about land use -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s 50s ice 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays EastOregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to EastOregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group 70s 80s 90s Project was 20 years in the making Oregon Public Broadcasting LA GRANDE — Steel- head trout are once again spawning in Eastern Oregon — after years of effort by city, state and federal agen- cies to restore them. Government officials worked together for over 20 years to help bring steel- head back to the La Grande watershed after a centu- ry-long absence. The new Beaver Creek Passage Project is a one-of- a-kind solution that includes a series of 59 mini dams stacked one by one like hur- dles to help fish swim past the Beaver Creek Dam. The structure works without electricity and can accom- modate high flows of water in the spring as well as low flows in the summer, according to officials who worked on the project. Earlier this summer, biol- ogist Tim Bailey and Win- ston Morton from the Ore- gon Department of Fish and Wildlife found the effort paid off, when they saw signs of steelhead eggs above the dam. “When you’re seeing the first redd there, that may be in hundred years, you know you’re taking a closer look than normal just to make sure that you’re actually seeing accurately with what you believe you’re seeing,” said Bailey. Migratory steelhead now have access to over 14 miles of pristine spawning and rearing habitat above Bea- ver Creek Dam. “I’m grateful for the col- laborative effort put forth by everyone involved,” said Kyle Carpenter, La Grande director of public works, in a statement. “The wealth of knowledge and experience that we all pooled together, along with our cooperative move-it-forward mentality, were invaluable in the suc- cessful completion of this project.” The project cost $1.1 million with funding and contribution from several agencies and partnerships, including the city of La Grande, three state agen- cies, and the Wallowa-Whit- man National Forest. BRIEFLY Gun seller, sheriff sued for $10M in 2018 murder-suicide PORTLAND (AP) — The mother of a woman fatally shot by an ex-boyfriend, who then killed himself, is suing the man who illegally sold the rifle involved and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office for fail- ing to serve the shooter with a restraining order filed against him. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported a $10 million lawsuit filed Friday alleges their actions led to the wrongful death of Bethany Schuch in March 2018. The suit names Justin Coleman, his business, the county, Sheriff Craig Roberts and Deputy Anthony Mayer. Schuch was shot outside her mother’s West Linn home by David Cote, who used an SKS semi-automatic rifle that had been sold to him by Coleman. Coleman’s federal firearms license was revoked and he was arrested in 2018 in connection with the rifle sale. He was sen- tenced in June to 60 days in jail. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment. Firefighters making progress on southwestern Oregon wildfire GRANTS PASS (AP) — Favorable weather conditions allowed firefighters to make substantial progress in containing a blaze in southwestern Oregon. The Oregon Department of Forestry said Wednesday that a fire adjacent to the Inter- state 5 highway is now 25% contained. Fire managers are working to contain as much of the fire as possible before the weekend is expected to bring hotter and drier weather conditions. The department says crews have so far been able to pre- vent 4.7 square miles of timberland from burning. Oregon’s Milepost 97 fire is believed to have started Wednesday because of an ille- gal campfire. The fire has burned over 18 square miles in rugged terrain between Roseburg and Grants Pass. CORRECTION: In the Page A6 community brief “Community dinner cashes in with centennial,” published Tuesday, July 30, the wrong date was provided for the Pilot Rock reunion dinner. The event is Friday, Aug. 16. 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. Subscriber services: For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 SUBSCRIPTION RATES EZPay 52 weeks 26 weeks 13 weeks president of public policy. Under HB 2329, develop- ers can choose whether to go through the EFSC or county process. On the bright side, local farmers may be more willing to participate in the county process for solar projects instead of the more confusing EFSC process, she said. Cooper said she isn’t sure counties will have an incen- tive to approve solar facilities for economic reasons, since these facilities generally don’t create as many jobs as other developments, such as indus- trial parks. “I think those are going to be very different analyses,” she said. While it’s true that county approvals for solar facilities would take less time than under the EFSC process, that doesn’t take into account legal challenges, said Todd Cornett, assistant director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s siting division. Decisions made by EFSC can be challenged directly to the Oregon Supreme Court, while county decisions must first go through the Land Use Board of Appeals and the Oregon Court of Appeals, he said. “If there are appeals, those can go on for a long time,” Cornett said. “There’s no obligation to have the timeline we have at the state level.” Steelhead return to Beaver Creek after century-long absence Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s issues in their region.” Solar advocates say there’s unlikely to be an over- all increase of solar arrays on sensitive lands because there’s not a lengthy backlog of projects that have yet to be analyzed by EFSC. The num- ber of appropriate sites next to transmission lines is also limited. “There’s not a ton of space to site these solar projects,” Crowley-Koch said. However, the 1,000 Friends of Oregon conserva- tion group has qualms about the ability of short-staffed rural counties to conduct robust analyses of complex siting issues. “They just have less staff than more populous coun- ties or cities,” said McCurdy, the group’s executive direc- tor. “It’s a staff and expertise issue.” The EFSC process has more experience in analyzing the effects of solar facilities on wildlife and the cumula- tive impact of multiple proj- ects on agriculture, she said. “We think there will be more solar development,” McCurdy said. The Oregon Farm Bureau agrees it’s unlikely that projects can be reviewed more swiftly without sac- rificing thoroughness and opposes the idea of “juris- diction shopping” by devel- opers, said Mary Anne Cooper, the group’s vice Local home delivery Savings (cover price) $13/month 60 percent $173.67 41 percent $91.86 38 percent $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge Single copy price: $1.50 Tuesday through Saturday Circulation Dept. 800-781-3214 ADVERTISING Regional Publisher and Revenue Director: • Christopher Rush 541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com Advertising Services: • Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com • Grace Bubar 541-276-2214 • gbubar@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Business Office Coordinator • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com Business Office Manager: 541-966-0824 COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
