Senate Bill 1566 passes, giving counties new control over right of way fees
By Garrett Christensen on Thursday, March 7th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
SALEM – On Tuesday, March 5, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 1556, “Relating to county permitting; declaring an emergency.” Broadly, the bill grants county governments the authority to create and charge permit fees for utility infrastructure within the right of ways on county owned roads, granting a new potential source of revenue for counties. This applies to the construction, relocation, and certain types of maintenance of water, gas, electric, and communication infrastructure and facilities. The official summary of the bill, as written on the Oregon legislature website, reads:
“Allows a county to charge a permit fee to build, move or change a line, fixture or facility that is in the right of way of a county public road. There are exceptions. Sunsets on January 2, 2031. (Flesch Readability Score: 68.5). [Digest: Allows a county to charge a permit fee to build, move or change a line, fixture or facility that is in the right of way of a county public road. There are exceptions. Sunsets on January 1, 2031. (Flesch Readability Score: 68.5).] Authorizes a county governing body to charge a fee for the administration and issuance of a permit to construct, alter, relocate, maintain or repair a water, gas, electric or communication service line, fixture or facility within the right of way of a public road under the jurisdiction of the county, subject to specified exceptions. Sunsets January [1,] 2, 2031. Declares an emergency, effective on passage.”
According to section 2, subsection 5(a), the maximum limit of this fee will initially be set at $500, though may increase annually on July 1 of each year based on a rate set by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or by five percent, as written in Section 2, subsection 5(b)(A)(II) and 5(b)(A)(II).
As written in Section 2, Subsection 4, exceptions to this fee do exist for vegetation management, “routine replacement or maintenance of a line, fixture or other facility, including but not limited to pole replacement,” replacement of electrical or water infrastructure as required by national safety codes, work required by the county itself, or for otherwise urgent/emergency repairs meant to restore services.
As of the time of writing, the location of the bill is listed as “Legislative Counsel – Enrollment.” More information on the bill and it’s history can be found at on the Oregon Legislative Website. The full text of the latest version of the bill can be found here.
