New legislation could improve Oregon’s fairgrounds emergency evacuation capability
By Garrett Christensen on Thursday, February 6th, 2025 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
SALEM – A new bill currently under consideration in the 2025 Oregon Legislative Session could greatly improve the ability of the State’s fairgrounds to act as emergency evacuation sites. House Bill 2136, Relating to fairground; prescribing an effective date, would allocate twenty million dollars from the state’s general funds for a new grant program under the Oregon Department of Emergency Management. If approved, these grants would be used to improve infrastructure for fairgrounds designated as emergency evacuation sites. The full introductory text for the bill, as posted to the Oregon Legislative Information System, is as follows:
House Bill 2136
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. There is appropriated to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management, for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025, out of the General Fund, the amount of
$20,000,000 for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of section 2 of this 2025 Act.
SECTION 2. (1) The Oregon Department of Emergency Management shall develop and
implement a program to award grants for improvement of fairgrounds that are used as
emergency evacuation sites.
(2) Grants awarded under this section may be used only for the purposes of improving
fairgrounds in Oregon that are designated as emergency evacuation sites by a local government, as defined in ORS 174.116.
(3) Grants awarded under this section must be used to construct or improve fairground
infrastructure that is essential for emergency needs, including power, water, telecommunications and sewer infrastructure.
(4) The department shall prescribe the form and process by which owners or operators
of fairgrounds may apply for and be awarded grants under the program.
(5) The department shall require recipients of grants under this section to report annually to the department on the progress of projects funded by the grants until the projects
are completed.
(6) In awarding grants under this section, the department shall seek to maximize the
overall emergency preparedness of communities that have designated a fairground as an
emergency evacuation site.
SECTION 3. Section 2 of this 2025 Act is repealed on January 2, 2029.
SECTION 4. This 2025 Act takes effect on the 91st day after the date on which the 2025
regular session of the Eighty-third Legislative Assembly adjourns sine die.
As of the time of writing, the bill has its second public hearing scheduled for 1:00 p.m. today.
