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HB 4076
The enrolled bill creates a streamlined siting pathway that allows energy developers to build new solar, wind, or geothermal facilities on existing energy sites by utilizing unused grid interconnection capacity without exceeding original limits or constructing new transmission lines beyond two miles. It establishes county-level permitting standards for renewable projects, authorizes local governments to override agricultural land use protections if specific infrastructure and mitigation findings are adopted, and narrows judicial review of these approvals.
Generated explanation · Enrolled · Analyzed 8/21/2026 · Open official Enrolled text
Affected groups have not been established in a brief for the latest available text. Check the official text for eligibility and exceptions.
No upcoming event is verified in the available records.
Enactment and effective dates are separate. Effective dates have not been verified here; provisions may take effect at different times. Check the official text.
Plain-language analysis
Generated analysis, not an official summary or legal advice. Confirm with linked Oregon documents.
This measure became law. Enactment does not establish that every provision is already effective; check each effective date in the official text.
The enrolled bill creates a streamlined siting pathway that allows energy developers to build new solar, wind, or geothermal facilities on existing energy sites by utilizing unused grid interconnection capacity without exceeding original limits or constructing new transmission lines beyond two miles. It establishes county-level permitting standards for renewable projects, authorizes local governments to override agricultural land use protections if specific infrastructure and mitigation findings are adopted, and narrows judicial review of these approvals.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Sources: Enrolled; Staff Measure Summary B
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The measure appears designed to accelerate clean energy deployment by leveraging existing grid infrastructure rather than building new transmission corridors, thereby reducing siting delays and land use conflicts.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Enrolled; Staff Measure Summary A
Gain a defined statutory pathway to bypass certain statewide land use goal exceptions for agricultural and rural lands if projects utilize surplus interconnection and stay within the two-mile transmission limit. Must comply with new habitat assessments, historic resource reviews, decommissioning plans, and financial bonding requirements.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Assume primary permitting authority for qualifying renewable facilities. Must conduct or oversee habitat and historic reviews, require financial assurances, adopt specific findings to justify agricultural land exceptions, and coordinate with state agencies through cost-reimbursed agreements.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Gains authority to evaluate facilities against statewide planning goals or local substantive criteria. Must issue a compliance finding if surplus interconnection criteria are met, resolve conflicts between local and state rules, and direct local governments to amend comprehensive plans accordingly.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Must amend comprehensive plans to reflect EFSC site certificate decisions. Lose broader judicial review rights for land use approvals related to these facilities, limiting challenges to the specific procedures outlined in ORS 469.403.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Receive mandatory notice of applications and may provide comments or cost-reimbursed oversight. Gain formalized consultation roles but no direct permitting authority.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Developers must secure surplus interconnection capacity, limit new transmission to two miles or less, conduct habitat and historic assessments, and post decommissioning bonds. Counties must process applications, coordinate with state agencies, and adopt specific findings for agricultural land exceptions.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Minimal direct fiscal impact on state or local governments. Developers face upfront assessment and bonding costs but may save on transmission construction and interconnection wait times. Eligibility hinges on strict acreage/capacity thresholds and proximity to existing infrastructure.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Enrolled; Fiscal Impact Statement B
EFSC and counties gain clearer authority to approve projects using existing grid capacity, potentially accelerating timelines. Judicial review is narrowed, reducing legal challenges to land use approvals but limiting community recourse.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Energy developers and grid operators
A developer repurposes a decommissioned fossil fuel plant site, uses its remaining interconnection capacity to add 200 MW of solar panels on adjacent marginal farmland, avoids new transmission construction entirely, and receives expedited county/state approval under the surplus interconnection pathway, delivering grid capacity months faster than standard siting.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Agricultural landowners and conservation stakeholders
A developer fragments contiguous agricultural land by clustering multiple smaller renewable facilities just under acreage thresholds, uses the surplus interconnection exception to bypass agricultural preservation goals without adequate mitigation, and leaves degraded soil or unmitigated habitat loss after decommissioning due to insufficient bonding enforcement.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
inference
Sources · Enrolled
Accelerates renewable energy deployment and grid utilization by streamlining siting and bypassing certain land use restrictions, but shifts regulatory burden to counties, narrows judicial oversight, and risks agricultural land fragmentation if mitigation and bonding standards are not rigorously enforced.
Potential loss of productive farmland and habitat if agricultural land use protections are overridden without robust mitigation.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
Increased county administrative liability and reduced community/legal recourse due to narrowed judicial review.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Enrolled
The enrolled text incorporates the Senate-amended Section 2 (ORS 215.446) establishing county permitting standards for renewable energy facilities, but refines ORS 469.504 to explicitly tie EFSC exception approvals to surplus interconnection and a two-mile transmission limit. The enrolled version streamlines the statewide planning goal exception process, clarifies conflict resolution between local and state rules, mandates comprehensive plan amendments by local governments, and narrows judicial review of land use approvals to ORS 469.403. The core structure remains unchanged: EFSC oversight for large facilities and county permitting for smaller renewable projects, both now unified under a surplus interconnection pathway.
Explicitly defines surplus interconnection and mandates EFSC compliance findings when criteria are met, removing ambiguity from the previous version's exception standards.
high
Sources · Enrolled
Narrows judicial review of local land use approvals and special advisory group recommendations to ORS 469.403, limiting broader legal challenges.
high
Sources · Enrolled
Requires affected local governments to amend comprehensive plans to reflect EFSC site certificate decisions during the next periodic review.
medium
Sources · Enrolled
Tradeoff: The enrolled version tightens the surplus interconnection pathway and limits judicial review compared to the previous draft, prioritizing regulatory certainty and project acceleration over broader community legal recourse.
Model self-rating: high. Analysis is grounded exclusively in the enrolled bill text and official legislative revenue/fiscal/staff summaries. No speculative claims are presented as fact. This is the model’s assessment of its own analysis, not independent verification or human review.
Possible effects if adopted; not current bill text.
This proposal has not become law. The generated effects below describe what it would require if enacted.
The measure amends Oregon statutes to allow the Energy Facility Siting Council and county governments to bypass certain statewide agricultural land use goals for renewable energy projects that utilize unused capacity at existing grid interconnections and avoid new transmission lines extending beyond two miles from the site. It would establish specific environmental review, mitigation, and financial assurance requirements for these facilities while streamlining the permitting pathway for qualifying projects.
Basis: Bill text · Sources: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed; Staff Measure Summary B
Official staff analysis indicates the measure aligns with executive branch directives to streamline land use, environmental reviews, siting, and interconnection processes for clean energy infrastructure, explicitly referencing Executive Orders 25-25 and 25-29 as context for accelerating renewable development before federal tax credit deadlines.
Basis: Official analysis · Sources: Staff Measure Summary A; Staff Measure Summary B
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The statutory focus on surplus interconnection and a strict two-mile transmission limit suggests a policy objective to maximize the efficiency of existing electrical grid assets, thereby reducing the time, land acquisition costs, and permitting complexity typically associated with constructing new long-distance transmission corridors for renewable projects.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Gain a statutory pathway to site medium-to-large solar, wind, or geothermal facilities on agricultural land without triggering full statewide goal compliance, provided they meet surplus interconnection and transmission limits. They would have to comply with mandated habitat assessments, historic resource reviews, decommissioning plans, and bonding requirements.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Potential effect if enacted: Assume authority to approve exceptions to agricultural land use goals under defined criteria, but bear administrative responsibilities for coordinating state agency consultations, adopting required findings, managing cost-reimbursement agreements, and enforcing mitigation and financial assurance standards.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Potential effect if enacted: Receive codified roles in the permitting process, including mandatory consultation periods and opportunities to enter cost-reimbursement agreements with counties for review services.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Potential effect if enacted: may experience conversion of farmland to energy infrastructure but are statutorily protected by requirements for compatibility findings, mitigation plans addressing farm practices and water impacts, and decommissioning bonds.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Developers would have to verify surplus interconnection capacity with existing grid operators, limit new transmission infrastructure to a two-mile radius, and secure county approval through a structured exception process. Counties would need to allocate staff for habitat/historic coordination, evaluate financial assurance adequacy, and enforce decommissioning plans. The measure would shift project costs from grid expansion to site preparation and environmental mitigation, while creating eligibility caps based on specific acreage and megawatt thresholds that determine which facilities require full bonding and decommissioning plans.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Renewable energy developers
Potential effect if enacted: A developer successfully sites a 240-acre solar facility on high-value farmland adjacent to an existing substation, utilizes 100% of its unused interconnection capacity, avoids new transmission lines entirely, posts comprehensive decommissioning bonds, and receives county approval within months, rapidly adding significant clean energy capacity with minimal grid infrastructure costs.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Agricultural landowners and rural communities
Potential effect if enacted: A developer fragments a contiguous agricultural landscape by siting multiple facilities just under statutory acreage thresholds (e.g., 239 acres each), repeatedly uses the exception process despite cumulative habitat loss, and relies on insufficient county capacity to verify surplus capacity or enforce mitigation plans, leading to long-term soil degradation, wildlife displacement, and unmitigated agricultural disruption.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Potential effect if enacted: The statutory framework relies heavily on county discretion and cost-reimbursement agreements without mandating uniform state-level verification of surplus capacity or standardized mitigation metrics, leaving implementation vulnerable to variable local enforcement.
Sources · Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
The measure accelerates renewable energy deployment by leveraging existing grid infrastructure and streamlining land use exceptions, but shifts regulatory burden to counties and would require strict adherence to environmental mitigation and bonding to prevent agricultural and ecological degradation.
Potential effect if enacted: Faster permitting timelines for qualifying projects
Basis: Bill text · Source: Staff Measure Summary B
Potential effect if enacted: Reduced transmission infrastructure costs and right-of-way acquisition delays
Basis: Bill text · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Potential effect if enacted: Increased clean energy capacity through utilization of existing grid assets
Basis: Bill text · Source: Staff Measure Summary B
Potential effect if enacted: Potential conversion of high-value farmland and agricultural landscapes
Basis: Bill text · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Potential effect if enacted: County administrative strain from coordination, review, and enforcement responsibilities
Basis: Bill text · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Potential effect if enacted: Risk of inadequate mitigation enforcement due to variable local capacity and cost-reimbursement dependencies
Basis: Bill text · Source: Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Model self-rating: high. The analysis is grounded exclusively in the provided bill text and official legislative staff summaries. No external speculation or unverified claims are included. This is the model’s assessment of its own analysis, not independent verification or human review.
This proposal has not become law. The generated effects below describe what it would require if enacted.
If adopted, Amendment A3 would delay the effective date of HB 4076 until the 91st day after the 2026 regular legislative session adjourns sine die, postponing the implementation of its new surplus interconnection siting criteria and local government exception process.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A3 — proposed amendment
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The 91-day window likely provides state agencies and local governments with a standardized implementation period to develop rules, guidance, and administrative procedures for the new surplus interconnection framework before it becomes operative.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Staff Measure Summary A; Staff Measure Summary B
Potential effect if enacted: Face a delayed timeline for utilizing the new surplus interconnection siting pathway, affecting project scheduling, financing windows, and alignment with expiring federal clean energy incentives.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary A
Potential effect if enacted: Gain additional time to draft administrative rules, update review procedures, coordinate with the special advisory group, and prepare for increased siting applications under the new criteria.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Staff Measure Summary A; Staff Measure Summary B
Potential effect if enacted: Receive a delayed start to applying the new agricultural land exception criteria, required findings process, and comprehensive plan amendment obligations.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary B
Indirectly affected by potential future shifts in interconnection demand, grid capacity utilization, and transmission planning once the provision would take effect.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary A
The delay postpones regulatory obligations and eligibility for developers seeking to use surplus interconnection. It would create a window for agencies to establish compliance standards but may extend market uncertainty, potentially impacting project financing timelines or alignment with expiring federal clean energy incentives.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A3 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary A
Energy developers and clean energy investors
Potential effect if enacted: A developer successfully leverages the delayed effective date to secure long-term power purchase agreements and federal tax credits, then rapidly deploys a renewable facility using existing grid capacity without new transmission, accelerating Oregon's clean energy goals post-implementation.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary A
Energy developers and grid planners
Prolonged uncertainty during the delay would cause multiple developers to abandon projects or lose eligibility for time-sensitive federal incentives, resulting in lost investment and delayed grid decarbonization despite the eventual availability of the provision.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary A
The definition relies on existing interconnection agreements and original capacity limits. Weak verification mechanisms could allow overuse of grid capacity under the guise of surplus utilization.
Sources · Staff Measure Summary A; Amendment -A3 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: The amendment trades immediate deployment of a new siting pathway for administrative preparation time, reducing implementation friction but extending market uncertainty and delaying potential clean energy infrastructure gains.
Would allow state agencies and counties adequate time to draft rules, update procedures, and coordinate with the special advisory group before compliance obligations begin.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary A
Would reduce immediate implementation friction for a complex regulatory change, lowering the risk of administrative errors or inconsistent local government application.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary B
Delays potential clean energy deployment and would extend market uncertainty for developers relying on this provision to secure financing or meet federal incentive deadlines.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary A
Would create a regulatory gap where pending projects cannot utilize the new pathway until implementation, potentially stalling near-term grid modernization efforts.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary B
Model self-rating: high. Analysis is grounded in the explicit text of Amendment A3, official staff summaries, and fiscal/revenue notices. Inferences are clearly labeled and bounded by the provided documents. This is the model’s assessment of its own analysis, not independent verification or human review.
This proposal has not become law. The generated effects below describe what it would require if enacted.
If adopted, HB 4076-A2 would amend ORS 215.446 to create a county-level permitting framework for medium-sized renewable energy facilities, including solar photovoltaic projects on specific acreage thresholds across farmland and soil capability classes, geothermal plants between 35 and 50 megawatts, and wind plants between 35 and 100 megawatts. The amendment would mandate habitat assessments, mitigation plans aligned with state administrative rules, historic and cultural resource reviews, financial assurances for site restoration, and compliance with Energy Facility Siting Council standards. It would also establish a streamlined exception process to statewide agricultural land use goals when projects utilize surplus interconnection capacity and limit new transmission lines to within two miles of existing boundaries. Potential effects could include granting counties explicit statutory authority and procedural duties to approve or deny these facilities, while providing developers a standardized pathway to bypass certain agricultural land restrictions under defined grid-interconnection conditions, alongside increased administrative burdens for local governments and state agencies.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The amendment’s specific thresholds for facility size, its explicit carve-out for agricultural land goals when utilizing unused interconnection capacity, and its alignment with state directives to streamline clean energy permitting suggest a policy objective to accelerate renewable energy deployment by leveraging existing grid infrastructure and reducing siting friction on productive lands.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary A
Potential effect if enacted: Gain statutory permitting authority and procedural duties, including habitat review, historic resource checks, financial assurance collection, public notice processing, and cost-reimbursement agreements with state agencies.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
Face standardized environmental mitigation, decommissioning bonding, and EFSC standard compliance requirements, but gain a defined pathway to obtain county would permit and justify exceptions to agricultural land use goals when utilizing surplus interconnection.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: Receive mandatory notice of applications and may enter cost-reimbursement agreements for review services; their administrative rules on habitat mitigation and sage-grouse action plans become directly applicable to county permitting decisions.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: Gain statutory notice rights and a formalized opportunity to submit comments or testimony during the county permitting process.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
Developers would have to secure financial assurances for restoration and decommissioning, conduct habitat assessments, and coordinate with state agencies before submitting final applications to counties. Counties would need administrative capacity to evaluate compliance with EFSC standards, manage cost-reimbursement agreements, and process public notices. The surplus interconnection exception lowers the barrier to siting on agricultural land but would require counties to make specific findings on infrastructure availability, public health, compatibility, and mitigation. Enforcement relies on county discretion for financial assurance amounts and restoration adequacy, with state rules providing the substantive environmental standards.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary A
Developer and grid operators
Potential effect if enacted: A developer sites a 240-acre solar facility on high-value farmland by utilizing one hundred percent of an existing substation's unused interconnection capacity, avoiding new transmission lines entirely. The county approves the agricultural land exception after verifying compatibility and securing full restoration bonds, enabling rapid grid integration without state-level EFSC site certificate review.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
Wildlife habitats and adjacent agricultural operations
Potential effect if enacted: A developer fragments a contiguous wildlife corridor by splitting a 3,840-acre wind project across multiple parcels or utilizing the 35-to-50 megawatt geothermal carve-out, relying on county discretion to approve mitigation plans that inadequately address cumulative habitat loss, while financial assurances prove insufficient for full site restoration decades later.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
The text would legally permit counties to approve exceptions to agricultural land goals and issue would permit based on county-determined adequacy of mitigation and financial assurances. A potentially unlawful outcome could arise if counties systematically underfund restoration bonds, misclassify high-value farmland or capability class I-IV soils to avoid stricter thresholds, or waive habitat requirements through narrow interpretations of significant adverse impacts, effectively bypassing state environmental protections without violating the letter of the statute due to weak enforcement or duty creep.
Sources · Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: The measure trades localized agricultural land preservation and rigorous state-level siting oversight for accelerated renewable energy deployment through county permitting, surplus interconnection utilization, and streamlined environmental mitigation requirements. Upsides include faster project timelines, reduced transmission infrastructure costs, and leveraging existing grid capacity. Downsides include potential fragmentation of productive farmland, reliance on county capacity and discretion for environmental safeguards, and risk of inadequate long-term site restoration if financial assurances are insufficient.
Potential effect if enacted: Faster project timelines and reduced transmission infrastructure costs by leveraging existing grid capacity.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary A
Potential effect if enacted: Potential fragmentation of productive farmland, reliance on county capacity and discretion for environmental safeguards, and risk of inadequate long-term site restoration if financial assurances are insufficient.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
Model self-rating: high. The analysis is grounded exclusively in the supplied proposed amendment text and official fiscal/staff summaries. No enacted provisions or external speculation are used. This is the model’s assessment of its own analysis, not independent verification or human review.
This proposal has not become law. The generated effects below describe what it would require if enacted.
The measure amends ORS 469.504 to create a mandatory state-level siting pathway for new energy facilities that utilize unused capacity at an existing facility’s grid interconnection, provided they do not require new transmission lines extending more than two miles from the original site. It would restrict local governments from blocking these projects through comprehensive plan exceptions, limits judicial review to ORS 469.403, and would require local plans to be updated to reflect EFSC decisions.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Official staff analysis notes that the measure aligns with executive branch directives to streamline land use and environmental reviews, siting, and interconnection processes for clean energy infrastructure.
Basis: Official analysis · Source: Staff Measure Summary A
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The text likely aims to reduce siting delays and infrastructure bottlenecks by leveraging existing grid capacity, thereby accelerating project deployment without requiring new right-of-way acquisitions or triggering full statewide goal exception processes.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Potential effect if enacted: Gain a mandatory EFSC approval pathway for surplus interconnection projects, bypassing local comprehensive plan restrictions and reducing permitting timelines.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Lose discretionary authority to deny land use exceptions for qualifying projects; would have to amend comprehensive plans to reflect EFSC site certificate decisions.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Potential effect if enacted: Assumes mandatory approval duty for qualifying surplus interconnection projects and gains conflict resolution authority over conflicting local criteria.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Potential effect if enacted: Tasked with providing technical assistance to local governments and recommending substantive criteria for multi-jurisdictional facility reviews.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Applicants would have to elect a compliance pathway early in the process. Local governments would have to update comprehensive plans post-certification. EFSC would have to resolve conflicts with local criteria in the public interest without waiving state statutes.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Potential effect if enacted: Fiscal offices report minimal to no revenue impact. Developers save on transmission line costs and permitting timelines. Eligibility is strictly limited to facilities using unused interconnection capacity that does not exceed original limits.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: House Amendments to Introduced; Fiscal Impact Statement A; Revenue Impact Statement A
Potential effect if enacted: Judicial review for both local approvals and EFSC decisions is restricted to ORS 469.403, concentrating legal challenges at the state level and limiting broader land use litigation avenues.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Energy facility developers
Potential effect if enacted: A developer rapidly deploys a large-scale renewable generation project on previously developed industrial land adjacent to an existing substation, utilizing 100% of the substation's unused interconnection capacity. The project secures EFSC approval in months rather than years, delivers power without acquiring new easements, and complies with all mitigation requirements while bypassing local zoning delays.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Adjacent landowners and agricultural stakeholders
Potential effect if enacted: A developer fragments a contiguous agricultural zone by siting multiple small facilities at different points along an existing transmission corridor, each claiming surplus status to bypass local comprehensive plan protections. Cumulatively, the projects degrade prime farmland and strain local infrastructure while avoiding state-level goal exceptions through technical compliance with the two-mile transmission limit.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
The text would legally permit EFSC to override local land use restrictions for any facility meeting the surplus interconnection and two-mile transmission limits. Weak enforcement or misclassification of interconnection capacity could allow developers to artificially inflate unused capacity by manipulating agreements or temporarily reducing output at existing facilities, then layering new generation that cumulatively exceeds grid safety standards or local zoning intent, exploiting the mandatory EFSC finding to bypass local land use authority.
Sources · House Amendments to Introduced
Accelerates energy infrastructure deployment and would reduce permitting costs by prioritizing state-level siting authority over local land use discretion, but concentrates decision-making power at the state level and limits judicial review, potentially reducing community input and localized environmental safeguards.
Potential effect if enacted: Faster project timelines and reduced transmission infrastructure costs due to mandatory EFSC approval pathways.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Predictable state-level approval process that would reduce local zoning uncertainty for qualifying surplus interconnection projects.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Potential effect if enacted: Erosion of local comprehensive plan authority and reduced avenues for public or legal challenge under restricted judicial review.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Potential effect if enacted: Potential for cumulative land use impacts if multiple surplus-interconnection projects are sited in close proximity without coordinated local oversight.
Basis: Inferred · Source: House Amendments to Introduced
Model self-rating: high. Analysis is grounded exclusively in the provided House Amendment text and official legislative fiscal/staff summaries. No external speculation or unverified claims are included. This is the model’s assessment of its own analysis, not independent verification or human review.
This proposal has not become law. The generated effects below describe what it would require if enacted.
If adopted, the amendment would replace the original study-focused bill with substantive changes to Oregon’s energy facility siting process under ORS 469.504. It would create a statutory pathway for new energy facilities to obtain site certificates and local land use approvals by utilizing unused capacity at existing grid interconnections, provided they do not exceed original interconnection limits or require new transmission lines extending more than two miles beyond the existing facility’s boundaries. Potential effects could include accelerated permitting for qualifying projects, reduced reliance on local comprehensive plan compliance for certain siting decisions, mandatory would update to local land use regulations following EFSC approvals, and a narrowed scope of judicial review for local government actions.
Basis: Stakeholder claim · Sources: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment; Staff Measure Summary B; Fiscal Impact Statement B
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The amendment explicitly defines and prioritizes surplus interconnection to bypass certain land use criteria, and supporting staff summaries reference executive orders directing agencies to streamline siting and permitting for clean energy infrastructure.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Staff Measure Summary B; Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: Gain a statutory pathway to qualify for site certificates and local approvals by leveraging existing grid capacity, reducing permitting timelines and infrastructure costs.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: Gains authority to evaluate facilities against statewide planning goals or recommended substantive criteria, with mandatory exception-finding powers for surplus interconnection projects.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Would have to amend comprehensive plans and land use regulations to reflect EFSC decisions; gain conditional authority to approve exceptions to agricultural land goals if specific public health, safety, and compatibility findings are made.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
ODOE would provide technical assistance; DLCD rules interact with EFSC criteria; PUC jurisdiction is noted but not directly altered by the text. Oregon law governs the exemption process regardless of any federal definitions incorporated by reference.
Basis: Inferred · Sources: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment; Fiscal Impact Statement B
Applicants would have to elect a compliance pathway and submit surplus interconnection documentation before proceeding.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: Local governments face mandatory comprehensive plan amendments following EFSC site certificate decisions.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: Capital costs for new transmission lines are reduced for projects meeting the two-mile boundary limit.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: Eligibility is strictly capped at original interconnection capacity limits, preventing grid overload beyond authorized thresholds.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: Judicial review of local approvals and advisory group recommendations is restricted to ORS 469.403 procedures, increasing project certainty but limiting local recourse.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Energy facility developers and applicants
Potential effect if enacted: A developer rapidly deploys a large-scale renewable facility on previously undeveloped agricultural land by utilizing one hundred percent of an existing plant's unused interconnection capacity, avoiding years of local zoning delays and new transmission construction while meeting all statewide planning goals through the statutory exception pathway.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Local governments and counties
Potential effect if enacted: Multiple overlapping facilities cumulatively exhaust an existing interconnection's nominal surplus capacity without triggering new physical limits, causing grid congestion or localized environmental degradation that local governments cannot mitigate because their land use approvals are bound to EFSC decisions and judicial review is restricted.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: The distinction rests on whether capacity is genuinely unutilized under existing interconnection agreements versus functionally exhausted through cumulative operational load, and whether mitigation plans are substantively enforced rather than procedurally satisfied.
Sources · Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Potential effect if enacted: Accelerating clean energy infrastructure deployment through streamlined siting and interconnection utilization trades expanded state-level permitting authority and reduced local land use control for potentially concentrated environmental impacts and diminished community oversight.
Potential effect if enacted: Faster project timelines, lower transmission costs, increased grid capacity utilization, and alignment with executive directives to expand reliable energy supply.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary B
Potential effect if enacted: Erosion of local comprehensive plan authority, potential cumulative environmental or agricultural land loss, restricted judicial review limiting local recourse, and reliance on EFSC discretion for exception approvals.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Model self-rating: high. The amendment text is explicit regarding statutory changes, jurisdictional boundaries, and procedural requirements. Supporting fiscal and staff analyses confirm minimal revenue impact and clarify the surplus interconnection definition without contradicting the primary text. This is the model’s assessment of its own analysis, not independent verification or human review.
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Earliest loaded signal
Introduced bill text posted
Posted Jan 28, 2026, 3:25 PM PST
AI-assessed adopted replacement
The adopted introduced-to-A-engrossed transition removes the entire study and substitutes operative energy-siting law, changing the purpose from research to siting authorization.
AI assessment dated 2026-09-29. This classification is separate from enactment and legal effect.
Evidence snapshot: 2026-09-29. Later legislative records are not automatically reassessed.
Policy purpose: substantially changed.
Reviewer: /root/review_recent_a · 2026-09-29
AI-assessed adopted replacement
The adopted introduced-to-A-engrossed transition removes the entire study and substitutes operative energy-siting law, changing the purpose from research to siting authorization.
Policy purpose: substantially changed.
“SECTION 1. The State Department of Energy shall study energy. The department shall 5 submit a report in the manner provided by ORS 192.245, and may include recommendations 6 for legislation, to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to energy no 7 later than S”
Introduced
“SECTION 1. ORS 469.504 is amended to read: 5 469.504. (1) A proposed facility shall be found in compliance with the statewide planning goals 6 under ORS 469.503 (4) if: 7 (a) The facility has received local land use approval under the acknowledged comprehensive 8 plan and lan”
A-Engrossed
Reviewer: /root/review_recent_b · 2026-09-29
AI-assessed adopted replacement
The adopted -1 amendment deletes the generic energy study and inserts binding siting criteria, changing research to a regulatory exception.
Policy purpose: substantially changed.
“SECTION 1. The State Department of Energy shall study energy. The department shall 5 submit a report in the manner provided by ORS 192.245, and may include recommendations 6 for legislation, to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly relat”
Introduced
“SECTION 1. ORS 469.504 is amended to read: 5 469.504. (1) A proposed facility shall be found in compliance with the statewide planning goals 6 under ORS 469.503 (4) if: 7 (a) The facility has received local land use approval under the acknowledged comprehensive 8 plan and land use regulations of”
A-Engrossed
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Substantial replacement
What the document says to change
Delete lines 4 through 8 and insert:
Official records (1)
No deeper official pre-number history was found.
The text changed substantially while keeping measure number HB 4076.
Chief sponsors: Representative John Lively
Regular sponsors: Senator James Manning Jr.
House carrier
Representative Mark Gamba
Third Reading Of House Bills · Version A
Senate carrier
Senator David Brock Smith
Third Reading Of House Measures · Version B
House carrier
Representative John Lively
Possible Consideration Of Senate Amendments · Version B
A carrier presents the measure or report but is not necessarily its sponsor or author.
Records already listed in Activity are not repeated here.
Official origin records are incomplete; missing facts are not inferred.
41 events
Full timeline
41 entries shown.
Chapter 46, (2026 Laws): Effective date June 5, 2026.
Governor signed.
President signed.
Speaker signed.
House concurred in Senate amendments and repassed bill.
Ayes, 41; Nays, 13--Breese-Iverson, Cate, Diehl, Harbick, Helfrich, Lewis, McIntire, Osborne, Reschke, Scharf, Skarlatos, Wallan, Yunker; Excused, 3--Hartman, Levy B, Valderrama; Excused for Business of the House, 3--Boshart Davis, Elmer, Levy E.
Potential conflict(s) of interest declared by Scharf.
Third reading. Carried by Smith DB. Passed.
Ayes, 28; Excused, 2--Drazan, Linthicum.
Second reading.
Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed bill text posted
Recommendation: Do pass with amendments to the A-Eng. bill. (Printed B-Eng.)
Staff Measure Summary · Version B
Public Hearing and Work Session held.
Public Hearing and Work Session
Heard and Reported Out with Amendments · Agenda item 3 · Room HR 30 · Requires the Energy Facility Siting Council to find that reasons justify why the state policy in applicable statewide planning goals should not apply to a proposed energy facility if the council finds that the proposed energy facility will deliver electricity to the electric grid using an existing energy facility's surplus interconnection and does not require associated transmission lines more than two miles from the existing energy facility.
IS_Impact HB 4076 A2
Revenue Impact Statement
IS_Impact HB 4076 A3
Revenue Impact Statement
Amendment -A3 proposed
Amendment -A2 adopted
IS_Impact HB 4076 A
Revenue Impact Statement
Referred to Energy and Environment.
First reading. Referred to President's desk.
Third reading. Carried by Gamba. Passed.
Ayes, 36; Nays, 5--Cate, Elmer, Harbick, McIntire, Reschke; Excused, 18--Boice, Boshart Davis, Breese-Iverson, Diehl, Hartman, Helfrich, Levy B, Lewis, Lively, Nelson, Osborne, Skarlatos, Tran, Valderrama, Wallan, Watanabe, Wright, Yunker; Excused for Business of the House, 1--Scharf.
Rules suspended. Carried over to February 20, 2026 Calendar.
Rules suspended. Carried over to February 19, 2026 Calendar.
Second reading.
House Amendments to Introduced bill text posted
Recommendation: Do pass with amendments and be printed A-Engrossed.
Public Hearing and Work Session held.
Public Hearing and Work Session
Heard and Reported Out with Amendments · Agenda item 6 · Room HR 30 · Requires the State Department of Energy to study energy.
IS_Impact HB 4076 1
Revenue Impact Statement
Amendment -1 adopted
Referred to Climate, Energy, and Environment.
First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk.
Source title: Requires the Energy Facility Siting Council to find that reasons justify why the state policy in applicable statewide planning goals should not apply to a proposed energy facility if the council finds that the proposed energy facility will deliver electricity to the electric grid using an existing energy facility's surplus interconnection and does not require associated transmission lines more than two miles from the existing energy facility.This source title may describe an earlier version. Read the current brief and version history above.
“Enrolled bill text posted”
Confirm with the official record.
Supplemental, source-linked analysis from project researchers and community contributors. It is separate from Oregon's official record.