HB 4076
Plain-language analysis
Generated analysis, not an official summary or legal advice. Confirm with linked Oregon documents.
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.
high confidence. Analysis is grounded exclusively in the enrolled bill text and official legislative revenue/fiscal/staff summaries. No speculative claims are presented as fact.
Possible effects if adopted; not current bill text.
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
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
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
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 takes effect.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary A
The delay postpones regulatory obligations and eligibility for developers seeking to use surplus interconnection. It creates 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
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 causes 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
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.
Allows 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
Reduces 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 extends market uncertainty for developers relying on this provision to secure financing or meet federal incentive deadlines.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Staff Measure Summary A
Creates 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
high confidence. 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.
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. Material consequences 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
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 permits and justify exceptions to agricultural land use goals when utilizing surplus interconnection.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -A2 — proposed amendment
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
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 must secure financial assurances for restoration and decommissioning, conduct habitat assessments, and coordinate with state agencies before submitting final applications to counties. Counties will 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 requires 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
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
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 legally permits counties to approve exceptions to agricultural land goals and issue permits 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
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.
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 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
high confidence. The analysis is grounded exclusively in the supplied proposed amendment text and official fiscal/staff summaries. No enacted provisions or external speculation are used.
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 creates 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. Material consequences include accelerated permitting for qualifying projects, reduced reliance on local comprehensive plan compliance for certain siting decisions, mandatory updates 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
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
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
Must 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 provides 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 must elect a compliance pathway and submit surplus interconnection documentation before proceeding.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Local governments face mandatory comprehensive plan amendments following EFSC site certificate decisions.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Capital costs for new transmission lines are reduced for projects meeting the two-mile boundary limit.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
Eligibility is strictly capped at original interconnection capacity limits, preventing grid overload beyond authorized thresholds.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Amendment -1 — proposed amendment
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
high confidence. 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.
41 records currently loaded
Records available in the current snapshot.
Earliest loaded signal
Introduced bill text posted
Posted Jan 28, 2026, 3:25 PM PST
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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.
“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.