A10
OREGON
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 25, 2022
Ballot title certifi ed for revived animal cruelty initiative
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
SALEM — A controver-
sial voter initiative in Oregon
that would remove exemp-
tions for farming and ranch-
ing under the state’s animal
cruelty laws is being revived
for another run.
Proponents of Initia-
tive Petition 3 — named the
Abuse, Neglect and Assault
Exemption Modifi cation and
Improvement Act — took
another step toward quali-
fying for the 2024 general
election after being issued a
certifi ed ballot title on June 13.
IP3 is essentially a
reboot on Initiative Peti-
tion 13, which was filed
last year for the 2022 elec-
tion. It calls for amending
Oregon’s animal abuse and
neglect statutes, abolishing
longstanding exemptions
for agriculture.
The result would make it a
crime to slaughter livestock
for food, while also banning
common animal husbandry
practices such as branding
and dehorning cattle. Arti-
ficial insemination would
furthermore be considered
sexual assault of an animal,
a Class C felony.
Exemptions for hunting,
fi shing, rodeos, pest control,
scientifi c research and wild-
life management would like-
wise be stripped away under
the the proposal.
According to the “Yes on
IP3” campaign website, the
laws would retain exemp-
tions for killing or injuring
animals in cases of self-de-
fense and providing veteri-
nary care.
David Michelson, a Port-
land-based animal rights
activist and lead organizer
for the campaign, said IP13
failed to garner enough
signatures for the 2022
ballot because, “unlike the
claims some have made that
we receive funding from the
likes of (George) Soros or
(Bill) Gates, this is a very
grassroots initiative that had
started with very few team
members.”
“Since we started this
process in November 2020,
we have steadily grown in
support and are hopeful of
our chances for qualifying
in 2024,” Michelson said
in response to questions
emailed by the Capital Press.
Petitioners fi led IP3 on
March 16. It is largely the
same as IP13, but with two
additions, Michelson said.
First, he said IP3 would
remove additional exemp-
tions for livestock and
far med animals under
animal neglect statutes
requiring they have access to
“adequate bedding, adequate
shelter and other minimum
care provisions.”
Second, the initiative
would make it so that anyone
convicted of animal cruelty
could not own any animal for
5-15 years, depending on the
severity of the crime.
W hile the at tor ney
general did certify the ballot
title for IP3, supporters are
not yet approved to start
circulating the petition.
Those who commented on
the draft ballot title for IP3
may appeal the certified
title to the Oregon Supreme
Court. Appeals are due
June 28.
If approved, the campaign
would need to collect 112,020
signatures to place IP3 on the
2024 ballot.
Tami Kerr, executive
director of the Oregon Dairy
Farmers Association, said
IP3 would put dairies and
cattle producers out of busi-
ness, hurting rural commu-
nities statewide.
Industry groups challenge heat and smoke workplace rules
By SIERRA DAWN
MCCLAIN
Capital Press
SALEM — A coalition of
Oregon business and timber
groups is challenging the
state’s new workplace rules
on heat and wildfi re smoke.
Oregon Occupational
Safet y and Health on
May 10 adopted permanent
rules intended to protect
workers, including farm-
workers, from high heat
and wildfire smoke. The
rules instruct employers
on how to provide work-
ers with shade and water,
breaks and other preventa-
tive measures.
Last week, industr y
groups challenged these
rules, arguing the guidelines
are too vague.
“The provisions … are
so vague that they do not
provide employers, includ-
ing plaintiff s’ members, with
fair notice of what conduct is
required or proscribed,” the
suit alleges in court docu-
ments.
The lawsuit, fi led June 15,
asks the U.S. District Court
for the District of Oregon
Medford Division to issue
a temporary restraining
order preventing Oregon
OSHA from enforcing the
Tim O’Hara/Forest Resources Association
H-2B workers plant new seedlings. Business and timber industry groups are challenging Ore-
gon Occupational Safety and Health’s new workplace rules on heat and wildfi re smoke.
rules while the court consid-
ers whether to block their
enforcement permanently.
T he c oa l it ion t h at
brought the suit included
Oregon Manufacturers and
Commerce, Associated
Oregon Loggers Inc. and
Oregon Forest Industries
Council.
Defendants are OSHA
and the Oregon Depart-
ment of Consumer and
Business Services. The suit
also named agency lead-
ers, Oregon OSHA’s acting
administrator Renee Staple-
ton and Oregon DCBS’s
director Andrew Stolfi , as
defendants.
Sara Duncan, spokes-
person for Oregon Forest
Industries Council, said the
council considers OSHA’s
rules unreasonable.
“Given extraordinary
events like the 2020 Labor
Day wildfires and last
summer’s heat dome, we
agree with all Oregonians
that the health and safety of
employees must be priori-
tized, and employers should
adapt as we acclimate to
a changing climate,” said
Duncan. “But these rules
aren’t all reasonable — many
go far beyond extreme events
and are dramatically more
strict than any other state.”
Duncan pointed out, for
example, that the air quality
index requirements under
Oregon’s new rules are twice
as stringent as California’s
rules.
According to Oregon
OSHA, the heat rules apply
to outdoor and indoor work
activities where there is no
climate control when the heat
index equals or exceeds 80
degrees Fahrenheit.
These requirements,
Duncan of OFIC said, “will
signifi cantly restrict work in
benign circumstances like a
typical Oregon summer day.”
Industry groups are also
concerned about smoke-re-
lated rules. In court docu-
ments, plaintiff s allege that
the rules “do not distinguish
between contributions to the
Air Quality Index level from
wildfi re smoke in compar-
ison to other pollutants”
and don’t give employers a
method by which to deter-
mine whether particulates
from wildfire smoke are
present at a work site.
Rex Storm, executive
vice president of Associated
Oregon Loggers Inc., another
plaintiff , said he “concurs”
with Oregon Forest Indus-
tries Council’s statements,
though he did not elaborate.
Oregon OSHA spokes-
person Aaron Corvin said
the agency’s staff “do not
comment on pending litiga-
tion.”
PCUN, an Oregon-based
farmworker union, expressed
frustration that business
groups fi led the lawsuit.
“We’re frustrated to see
corporate lobbyists and
lawyers attempt to delay the
recently-adopted heat and
smoke standards from going
into eff ect, right as summer
heats up,” said Reyna Lopez,
PCUN’s executive director
and president.
Oregon OSHA’s rules,
she said, provide work-
ers with “common-sense
protections such as access
to cool water, shaded rest
areas and additional breaks
in high-heat temperatures.”