All Roll Calls
Yes: 68 • No: 26
OregonSB 11542025 Regular SessionSenateWALLET
Relating to ground water.
Sponsored By: Sponsor information unavailable
Signed by Governor
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
11 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 0 costs, 5 mixed.
More help paying for septic repairs
Oregon expands grants, loans, and other help for eligible septic repairs, replacements, upgrades, system evaluations, and waste-well replacements. Projects must protect water quality or address health and safety risks; short-term lodging properties are excluded. Priority goes to programs serving low- and moderate-income households, housing providers, small-business owners lacking traditional financing, and designated groundwater areas. Eligible small businesses generate less than 3,500 gallons of wastewater daily. Loans cover 100% of eligible costs unless borrowers request and agree to less; lender liens must rank behind borrowers' mortgage liens. When a property must connect to an available sewer, assistance must fund that connection. Help depends on eligibility and available funding.
Water users face meters and safety rules
Oregon may treat groundwater contamination in designated areas as a serious water-management problem when needed to protect public health. When accurate use data is needed, the state may require water-right owners to install total-use meters and file annual reports. It must first hold a local hearing and allow alternatives; this authority cannot require meters for legally exempt groundwater uses. Water officials must require compliance with backflow-prevention rules in management areas. The state may also set and enforce surface-water backflow standards in concern or management areas.
Rural homes gain water service options
Counties may provide water or wastewater service to homes outside urban growth boundaries in declared concern or management areas. They may also contract with cities or districts to provide it, but service is not required. Needed facilities and service lines are allowed in exclusive farm-use zones, including counties with specified older marginal-lands rules. Providing service does not authorize urban rezoning or justify an exception to state land-use planning requirements.
Contamination triggers state action for well users
Oregon must recommend concern-area status for confirmed contamination linked partly to suspected nonpoint sources when statutory warning signs appear. Those signs include significant effects on wells or other sensitive sites, sources needing investigation, or likely threshold breaches within 20 years. Health officials must also recommend concern-area status for persistent, widespread drinking-groundwater contamination linked partly to suspected nonpoint sources. Nitrate above 70% of its statutory benchmark, or another contaminant above 50%, triggers health-agency notice and, after environmental confirmation, a management-area recommendation. Recommendations require accredited-lab results, quality-assured data, and published methods; declarations identify contaminants and potentially affected aquifers.
Public systems can replace abandoned wells
Public water systems in management areas can seek groundwater permits to replace qualifying abandoned-well supplies for expanded group domestic use. Approved amounts must match those supplies, capped at 5,000 gallons per abandoned well daily unless state rules raise the cap. The replacement well's effect on connected surface waters must be similar to or less than the abandoned wells' combined effect. Initial review presumes public welfare, safety, and health protection and skips water-availability review; specified proposed-order findings may also be omitted. These special review rules do not guarantee approval.
State teams must plan groundwater cleanup
After a concern or management area is declared, the Governor must name a lead agency and state response team. Concern-area work includes source assessments, monitoring, outreach, public contamination information, and county and local committee input. Management-area plans must identify harmful practices, alternatives, mandatory actions, schedules, progress checks, and needed land-use changes. Draft action plans receive 60 days of public comment; final plans are due within 90 days afterward. Agencies must coordinate and start needed rulemaking within 180 days after the final action plan. The environmental department coordinates groundwater work and provides project staff only as directed by the lead agency. Agencies may use concern-area pollution-control powers in management areas even without an earlier concern designation.
Well users get health response plans
In concern areas, Oregon health officials must assess risks to domestic-well users and public water systems and estimate response costs. They must prepare accessible, language-appropriate guidance on health risks, well testing, and safety; distribution depends on available resources. In management areas, officials must develop and carry out a public-health response plan with local health authorities. They must prepare a preliminary assessment if none exists. The completed plan goes to the Governor and legislative budget committee with needed funding requests; no funding amount is set.
Home sewage inspections include repair protections
Oregon must gather available sewage-system information and encourage voluntary inspections under its groundwater assessment plans. In declared management areas, inspectors may inspect home sewage systems that available evidence identifies as possible significant contamination sources. They must notify owners and residents, try to arrange a convenient time, and provide help information; refused entry requires court action. For violations found through these inspections, the state must give written notice, repair resources, and reasonable repair time before civil penalties. Low-income households get extensions when repair-aid applications are denied for lack of funds or remain pending and may be approved.
Farms get support and tighter pollution rules
Oregon must review voluntary farm practices, prioritize affected watersheds, and provide local technical support where feasible. In management areas, agriculture officials must adopt needed contaminant-control rules consistent with the action plan and may offer stewardship agreements. Agencies cannot issue general wastewater discharge or disposal permits to new large confined livestock operations applying waste within those areas. Stormwater permits are excluded from that ban. Anyone applying confined livestock waste there needs a nutrient application permit unless a qualifying discharge or disposal permit authorizes it. Nutrient permit holders must give a copy to the operation supplying the waste.
Groundwater controls continue until cleanup safeguards
Existing management-area declarations continue under the law, and lead agencies may credit earlier work to avoid duplicate requirements. Once contamination no longer exceeds management-area thresholds, the commission decides whether to replace management status with concern-area status. Before that change, environmental officials must find that a new or revised voluntary local plan can work without state enforcement. Agencies may end mandatory controls only after the local committee produces a plan the state team finds workable without enforcement.
Well users gain local planning seats
Concern-area committees must balance local interests and have at least seven members, including two homeowners or tenants using affected drinking-water wells. Committees develop voluntary local plans consistent with state plans, with 30 days for public comment. They have 120 days after receiving the draft agency plan to comment; management-area committees advise agencies on local action plans. Committees preparing voluntary plans may seek grants for staff or committee expenses. Across the groundwater project grant pool, no more than one-third may fund projects directly tied to management-area issues.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
There is no primary sponsor on record.
Cosponsors
Natural Resources and Wildfire
Affiliation unavailable
Roll Call Votes
House vote • 6/27/2025
Third reading as Special Order of Business. Carried by Helm. Passed.
Yes: 39 • No: 11
House vote • 6/23/2025
Rules: Heard and Reported Out
Yes: 4 • No: 0
Senate vote • 6/17/2025
Third reading. Carried by Taylor. Passed.
Yes: 18 • No: 12
Senate vote • 6/10/2025
Rules: Heard and Reported Out with Amendments
Yes: 3 • No: 2
Senate vote • 4/8/2025
Natural Resources and Wildfire: Heard and Reported Out with Amendments
Yes: 4 • No: 1
Actions Timeline
Effective date, January 1, 2026.
8/8/2025SenateChapter 605, 2025 Laws.
8/8/2025SenateGovernor signed.
7/24/2025SenateSpeaker signed.
6/30/2025HousePresident signed.
6/30/2025SenateThird reading as Special Order of Business. Carried by Helm. Passed.
6/27/2025HouseRules suspended. Made a Special Order of Business immediately.
6/27/2025HouseCarried over to June 27, 2025 Calendar.
6/26/2025HouseThird reading.
6/26/2025HouseRules suspended. Carried over to June 26, 2025 Calendar.
6/25/2025HouseRules suspended. Carried over to June 25, 2025 Calendar.
6/24/2025HouseSecond reading.
6/23/2025HouseRecommendation: Do pass.
6/23/2025HouseWork Session held.
6/23/2025HousePublic Hearing held.
6/19/2025HouseReferred to Rules.
6/17/2025HouseFirst reading. Referred to Speaker's desk.
6/17/2025HouseThird reading. Carried by Taylor. Passed.
6/17/2025SenateSecond reading.
6/16/2025SenateRecommendation: Do pass with amendments to the A-Eng. bill. (Printed B-Eng.)
6/13/2025SenateWork Session held.
6/10/2025SenatePublic Hearing held.
6/9/2025SenateReferred to Rules by Order of the President.
4/17/2025SenateRecommendation: Without recommendation as to passage but w/amendments and requesting referral to Rules. (Printed A-Eng.)
4/17/2025SenatePublic Hearing and Work Session held.
4/8/2025Senate
Bill Text
SRULES Amendment -A3 (Adopted)
6/10/2025
SRULES Amendment -A3 (Proposed)
6/9/2025
SNRW Amendment -1 (Adopted)
4/8/2025
A-Engrossed
B-Engrossed
Enrolled
Introduced
Senate Amendments to A-Engrossed
Senate Amendments to Introduced
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