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While the Legislature is in interim and not passing bills, state agencies continue to operate. both the Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Department of Forestry (ODF) have some important updates that will affect our district in the coming months. Please read on to learn more.
As always, if you have questions or concerns or are experiencing an issue with an executive agency, please do not hesitate to contact my office at Rep.KimWallan@oregonlegislature.gov. Our access to USPS mail is limited during the interim, but my staff checks email and phone calls regularly.
Best,
Kim
You may recall that in June 2022, Oregon State University and Oregon Department of Forestry released the Wildfire Risk Map. Many Medford residents received letters from ODF informing you that your home or property had been placed in the "High" or "Extreme" "Wildland-Urban Interface" category. There were significant issues with the original map: it was based solely on modeling from 2018 and not on topographical maps or drone footage, and it did not take into account access to city fire services or fireproofing/vegetation mitigation completed by landowners. The map was so inaccurate that in some places, one side of a duplex was placed in "Extreme" risk while the adjoining side of the building was in "Low" or "No Risk".
Many insurance companies immediately responded to the release of this map, sending out premium increases and cancellations to customers who had become "high risk" overnight. In response, ODF retracted the map and has been revising it since.
 June 30, 2022 Wildfire Risk Map (currently under revision)
This fall, ODF, the OSU professor who created the map, the State Fire Marshal, the Building Codes Division, and the Insurance Commissioner completed a regional listening tour, during which they met with County Commissioners to learn more about the impact this map has had on both landowners and jurisdictions. The new, revised map is supposed to be released in March 2024.
While legislation in 2021 required ODF to create and enforce the Wildfire Risk Map, the agency's primary responsibility is to manage state land and extinguish fires that start on both state and private lands (private owners pay for half of the ODF budget). You may be aware that ODF, through an interagency agreement, also takes responsibility for extinguishing fires that burn on federal BLM land. Fires that start and burn on Forest Service (USFS) land are managed by federal forestry personnel.
Oregon's fire season officially ended on October 13. While many USFS forests--The Willamette National Forest in particular--had many long-duration, high smoke impact fires this summer, ODF was able to minimize acres burned on their protected lands.
The first of the two most significant events ODF responded to was the Golden fire in Klamath County, which despite being kept to approximately 2,000 acres, burned 48 primary and 69 auxiliary structures. The Tyee Ridge Complex in Douglas County was a cluster of 19 lightning-caused fires that burned primarily on BLM land which had been heavily damaged in the February 2019 snowstorm; restoration and repair work was not completed on these tracts of BLM land, meaning rolling logs and snares added hazards to the difficult terrain. Nonetheless, ODF was able to complete fire season with no significant injuries or accidents.
On all ODF protected land across the state, only 17,698 acres were burned; this means the ODF total equaled less than half of an average USFS fire in 2023. I will continue to push during this off season to improve the way the federal government handles fires so that we can minimize the impact to people and ecosystems.
Oregon's transportation system (administered by ODOT) is funded through gas taxes paid by passenger vehicles and weight mile taxes paid by freight trucks. Unlike many other states (like California and Washington) this tax is deposited into a fund that may only be spent on transportation maintenance, repair, and expansion. In other states, gas and weight mile taxes are deposited into the General Fund and can be reallocated to projects other than transportation. This is why you will likely notice a marked difference in road quality as you drive across state lines.
The system is based on the principle of "cost responsibility", meaning that passenger vehicles and freight trucks pay their fair share of the costs of transportation projects. For example, if ODOT is planning to build a new weigh station, freight trucks (through the weight mile tax) bear the primary cost of that project. For a project that primarily benefits passenger vehicles, cars would bear the majority of the cost. For most projects, a combination of both taxes pays cost of projects as determined by a complex calculation of "cost responsibility". This structure is required by the Oregon Constitution.
As you can probably imagine, the process of determining cost responsibility is very complicated. That's why, every two years, the State Economist prepares and presents the Highway Cost Allocation Study (HCAS), based on which the Legislature can fulfill its constitutional responsibility to adjust tax rates to ensure "fairness and proportionality".
This year, the HCAS revealed that tax paid by light duty and heavy duty vehicles is out of balance. A significant contributing factor is the proliferation of hybrid and electric passenger vehicles. These vehicles are much heavier on average than their gas counterparts, so they incur additional damage to roads & bridges. However, because they consume less fuel, the increased maintenance costs are not being covered by the passenger vehicle gas tax.
Additionally, many ODOT projects have been geared toward bike/ped construction instead of adding capacity to or improving conditions of car- and freight-specific roadways. You may have noticed one such project in downtown Medford: the million-dollar restriping of Main Street, which eliminated a lane of car & freight traffic to add bike lanes. We all share the cost of such projects through taxes and increased freight costs and infrastructure for vehicles is not improved nor congestion alleviated by bike/ped projects. There are tremendous financial incentives for cities, counties, and states for prioritizing bike/ped over passenger and freight infrastructure.
Based on the HCAS study, the Legislature is supposed to rebalance our transportation funding structure to ensure that all types of vehicles are paying for their cost responsibility. This rebalancing must occur while maintaining a way to pay for the roads and projects needed to ensure a safe and efficient transportation system.
Currently, ODOT is in an overall budget shortfall that the legislature inadequately addressed in the 2023 session. This deficit was caused in part by lack of tax parity for EV/hybrids, in part by irresponsible spending on ODOT's part, and in part by legislative failure to provide additional funding to bridge the gap. ODOT's plan, currently, is to sacrifice safety and mobility by not plowing during snow events and foregoing road striping. I did not vote for ODOT's budget when it came before the House for approval because I believed it was inadequate and did not address ongoing parity issues. I am working through the interim to find solutions that do not endanger Oregon's drivers and pedestrians.
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1406
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-388, Salem, OR 97301
Email: Rep.KimWallan@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/wallan
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