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Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
NEWS
Ag groups buck
GHG reporting
Community Health Beat
What's new at BMHD?
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Mammograms save lives! If you're due for an
appointment, give us a call to schedule your
3D mammogram today! 3D exams are
clinically proven to significantly increase the
detection of breast cancers.
541-575-4163
Locally Grown
Prenatal/Postpartum
Classes
If you're expecting, join us for our next series of
Prenatal/Postpartum classes starting on October 18th. These are
FREE of charge, and a great opportunity for parents to prepare
for delivering your baby here in Grant County! Meet your
delivery team, ask questions and learn all you'll need to know
before your family grows! Register now for August
prenatal/postpartum classes by visiting our website. Dinner is
provided & all who attend will be entered to win an Elvie Double
Breast Pump.
Dates: October 18th, 25th, & November 1st.
5:30pm-8:00pm
Masks Still Required in Healthcare
Facilities in Oregon
You may have recently heard the CDC has changed their
masking guidelines for healthcare facilities. However, BMHD
has to follow the Oregon Health Authority, CMS, and OSHA
guidelines which still require masks within healthcare
facilities. We appreciate your cooperation while we continue
to navigate the guidelines set in place for us! If and when
things change, we will be sure to let you know.
We're Hiring!
Administrator | Care Center - (Full Time)
Activities Director | Care Center - (Full Time)
Nurse Informaticist | Hospital - (Full Time)
Director of Infection Control - (Full Time)
Speech Language Pathologist - (Full Time)
Many other full-time, part-time & casual positions open,
visit our website for more information & to apply.
Flu Shots now available!
Call for an appointment:
541-575-0404
www.bluemountainhospital.org
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
WASHINGTON — Agri-
culture organizations are voic-
ing support for legislation that
would prohibit the Securities
and Exchange Commission
from requiring publicly traded
companies to disclose green-
house gas emissions along their
supply chain arising from farms
and ranches.
The Protect Farmers from
the SEC Act was introduced
by Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla.,
on Thursday. In April, the SEC
published a proposed a rule to
require SEC registrants to pro-
vide information about cli-
mate-related risks that are likely
to have an impact on their busi-
ness or fi nancial condition.
The Enhancement and Stan-
dardization of Climate-Related
Disclosures for Investors would
require companies to report
their direct emissions (Scope
1), emissions primarily result-
ing from the generation of elec-
tricity they consume (Scope 2)
and all other indirect emissions
(Scope 3).
Farm groups say Scope 3
would include emissions from
the vast majority of farms and
ranches, as they provide almost
every raw product that goes into
the food supply chain.
The groups have raised con-
cerns that farmers and ranch-
ers could be forced to report
personal information and busi-
ness-related data, creating oner-
ous reporting requirements.
They contend the pro-
posal would be burdensome
and expensive if not altogether
impossible for many small and
mid-sized farmers to comply.
“The proposed climate rule
is so unwieldy and convoluted
that publicly traded companies
will be forced to require small,
independent, family farms to
report on-farm data regarding
individual operations and day-
to-day activities,” Lucas said.
“In this capacity, the SEC
would be granted unprecedented
jurisdiction over family farms
and ranches … creating oner-
ous compliance requirements
for operations with few or no
employees,” he said.
The SEC’s proposed climate
disclosure rule could create sub-
stantial costs and legal liabili-
ties for farm families, said Zippy
Duvall, president of American
Farm Bureau Federation.
“Unlike large corporations,
farmers don’t have teams of
compliance offi cers or attorneys
dedicated to handling SEC com-
pliance issues,” he said.
“We appreciate Rep. Lucas
for his eff orts to ensure the SEC
remains focused on Wall Street
while farmers remain focused
on putting food on the table for
America’s families.”
National Cattlemen’s Beef
Association is grateful to Rep.
Lucas for protecting cattle from
more federal overreach, said
Kaitlynn Glover, NCBA execu-
tive director of natural resources.
“The SEC’s climate disclo-
sure rule would lead to unin-
tended consequences for small
businesses like farms and
ranches and adds yet another
regulatory burden on cattle pro-
ducers. The SEC should stick to
regulating Wall Street, not main
street,” she said.
The National Associa-
tion of Wheat Growers thanks
Rep. Lucas for introducing this
important legislation addressing
the inclusion of farming in SEC
regulation, said Nicole Berg,
NAWG president.
EO Media Group, File
A crew works on a transmission line tower outside Boardman in
this undated photo.
State moves ahead
on B2H power line
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
SALEM — The Oregon
Energy Facility Siting Council
has approved a site certifi cate
for the Boardman to Heming-
way transmission line.
The approximately 290-
mile power line would connect
the proposed Longhorn Substa-
tion east of Boardman to Idaho
Power’s Hemingway Substa-
tion in Owyhee County, Idaho.
Cost is estimated at $1 billion to
$1.2 billion.
Several steps remain in
the approval process, said
Sven Berg, an Idaho Power
spokesman.
The company will ask pub-
lic utilities commissions in both
states to recognize that Board-
man to Hemingway is in the
public interest, he said. It will
seek a permit from Owyhee
County to build the eastern
stretch of the line across county
land. The project also needs a
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
permit for any part of the line
that crosses wetlands.
The council’s site certifi -
cate can be appealed to the Ore-
gon Supreme Court. “We would
expect that to be fully adjudi-
cated by mid-2023,” Berg said.
The company is conduct-
ing environmental, cultural
and geotechnical surveys. It
is acquiring easement options
and rights of entry for pri-
vate land on or near the route.
These steps likely will be part
of the conditions of one or
more approvals still needed,
he said.
Demand grows in the win-
ter in the Northwest and in the
summer in the Mountain West,
but transmission lines connect-
ing the growing regions can-
not carry more energy when it is
needed most, the company said.
The Boardman to Heming-
way line is less expensive than
building carbon-emitting plants
or solar or battery storage facil-
ities, the company said. Plus, it
would meet new needs.
More energy from wind,
solar and other sources is under
development. Better transmis-
sion connections to surrounding
regions “will help incorporate
this clean energy while enhanc-
ing grid reliability and keep-
ing customer prices aff ordable,”
Lindsay Barretto, Idaho Power
senior manager for high volt-
age and joint projects, said in a
release.
The company aims to pro-
vide all electricity from “clean”
sources by 2045.
Idaho Power leads federal,
state and local permitting. It
is working on the project with
Pacifi Corp and the Bonneville
Power Administration. Federal
agencies previously granted per-
mission for the line to cross land
they manage.
Construction is expected to
start in 2023 and take three to
four years.
“Many problems with the
site certifi cate are unresolved or
incomplete,” said Jim Kreider
of the Stop B2H Coalition.
“There’s still a ways to go.”
Various mitigation plans that
the certifi cate addresses are still
in draft form and need to be
completed and approved, the
coalition said. They cover issues
from wildfi re and sage grouse
habitat mitigation to weed con-
trol and underground blasting
for tower footings.
The coalition is evaluating
the site certifi cate and its condi-
tions of approval with respect to
compliance with state laws and
standards. It is considering an
appeal, it said in a release.