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Oregon’s 2026 legislative session advanced the state’s goals on environmental protection, clean energy development, and regulatory efficiency. Lawmakers passed legislation addressing energy facility siting, extended producer responsibility (EPR) for batteries, permitting reforms for major economic development projects, and financial assurance requirements for bulk oil and liquid fuels facilities.
With lawyers based in the Pacific Northwest, including Portland, Oregon, Beveridge & Diamond (B&D) closely tracks developments, upcoming deadlines, and business implications for companies with operations in Oregon. This article highlights significant environmental and sustainability-related legislation from Oregon’s 2026 session and explores the impacts and next steps for Oregon’s regulated community.
Energy
HB 4076 aims to streamline the siting process for collocated energy facilities. The bill allows an energy facility to satisfy statewide planning goal compliance requirements if it delivers power through an existing facility’s surplus interconnection capacity and will not require associated transmission lines longer than two miles from an existing facility. The bill supports the state’s clean energy development goals and is particularly relevant to developers seeking to collocate storage facilities with existing renewable generation.
HB 4031, like HB 4076, seeks to streamline the siting process for energy facilities. The bill grants renewable energy facilities the option to obtain siting approval from a local county authority rather than the Energy Facility Siting Council. To qualify, the facility must meet the standards for federal renewable energy tax credits and be placed in service on or before December 31, 2030. The bill supports the rapid deployment of new renewable generation not only to meet growing energy demands but also to support the state’s aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals.
HB 4086 directs the Oregon Business Development Department to create a plan to encourage “industrial symbiosis” in the state—the use of one firm’s resources or byproducts by another. The plan is due to the legislature by May 1, 2027. The department must also provide technical assistance to four pilot communities in the state. “Industrial symbiosis” aims to reduce waste and emissions by turning byproducts into useful resources and is another example of the legislature’s efforts to promote the state’s climate policy in parallel with economic interests.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
HB 4144 adds another West Coast battery EPR program to the growing patchwork of state EPR laws. The law will require producers of covered batteries and battery-containing products sold, offered for sale, or distributed in or into Oregon to participate in a battery producer responsibility organization (PRO). Covered batteries include portable and medium-format batteries, subject to several exclusions. Companies that manufacture or sell batteries or battery-containing products in or into Oregon should assess whether they qualify as covered producers and track DEQ rulemaking and implementation activity ahead of the July 1, 2029 program launch. For more information on HB 4144, see B&D’s prior alert, Oregon Battery EPR Bill Headed to Governor for Signature.
Permitting Reforms
HB 4084 creates a Joint Permitting Council in the Governor’s Office to coordinate and expedite state permitting for qualifying economic development projects that meet specified capital investment thresholds, ranging from more than $25 million in nonurban counties to more than $100 million within the Portland-area metropolitan service district urban growth boundary. The bill requires key agencies to publish detailed permit catalogs and establishes a fast-track permitting program for projects that require multiple state regulatory approvals, demonstrate readiness, advance job creation or gross domestic product growth through a target industry cluster, and are land-use compatible. The legislation may be relevant to data center development from a permitting standpoint, but it also restricts data centers’ ability to access and benefit from Oregon’s enterprise zone program, a property tax incentive regime. HB 4084 temporarily bars new enterprise zone authorization for data center projects, prohibits data centers from receiving extended enterprise zone exemption periods, and excludes them from flexible hiring and alternative performance provisions otherwise available to certain enterprise zone participants.
HB 4102 provides a more structured process for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to enter into cost-reimbursement agreements with applicants, permittees, and regulated entities to expedite regulatory review by hiring additional staff or engaging third-party service providers. Before entering into such an agreement, among other conditions, both the requesting party and DEQ must demonstrate that it is in the public interest and that they have secured the necessary land-use approvals or permits. If DEQ denies a request for an agreement but then fails to substantially complete the relevant regulatory process within one year, the requesting party becomes entitled to an agreement. The law, which will become operative in 2027, has the potential to reduce regulatory delays. It will not, however, alter substantive environmental requirements, public participation obligations, or DEQ’s regulatory authority.
Petroleum & Fuel Production
HB 4100 requires owners and operators of facilities that store or distribute bulk oils or liquid fuels to provide financial assurance that they will be can cover spill-related liabilities associated with the facility. The bill adds to earlier legislation that established the Fuel Seismic Tank Stability Program, which requires such facilities to assess their earthquake vulnerability and develop mitigation plans. The bill allows facilities to use several types of financial assurance mechanisms, including bonds and insurance, and sets a $300 million cap on the amount of financial assurance. DEQ will issue standards for financial assurance and initial deadlines that facilities must to comply with. Counties and municipalities are preempted from adopting any ordinances or rules stricter than those established under the bill. An advisory committee, including industry stakeholders, will provide input on DEQ’s rulemaking process. Industry stakeholders should track the rulemaking and consider participation on the advisory committee.
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