Union County opts out of revised solar siting rules
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, December 19th, 2025 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – During a regular meeting on Wednesday, December 17, the Union County board of commissioners, per the recommendations of the county planning department, formally opted out of new solar siting rules adopted by the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission. The new rules, without commissioner action, would have gone into effect by default on January 1st, 2026.
According to the planning department, the new rules greatly expand the amount of land that can be sited as a solar facility, and introduce new criteria for reviewing solar applications, including more extensive staff review.
More specifically, as written in a planning department summary provided to commissioners, a copy of which was provided to Elkhorn Media Group, the following criteria would have changed:
Maximum Acreage (without goal 3 exception)
- High-value farmland
- Current: 12 acres
- New: 160 acres
- Arable Land:
- Current: 20 acres
- New: 1,280 acres
- Non-arable land:
- Old: 320 acres
- New: 1,920 acres
(For context, under both versions, county officials can make exceptions for agricultural land goals (referred to as the goal 3 exception) on a case-by-case basis.)
Additional changed/updated requirements under the new rules also include
- Standardized mitigation criteria during conditional use permit review.
- The implementation of wildlife habitat assessments, cultural resource evaluations, agriculture impact analysis, soil sciences, solar energy specifications, and tribal consultation protocols.
- A new/untested regulatory framework, possibly requiring ongoing DLCD interpretation during implementation.
- Required additional staff training, technical expertise development, and potential consultants (no additional funding provided).
During the meeting, Union County Planning Director Inga Williams expressed concern from the planning department regarding the additional staff requirements. In particular, concerns were raised regarding the potential strain on staff time and resources needed to abide by the new rules, especially for larger projects, along with the possible costs of hiring and training additional specialized staff to meet the requirements.
Other concerns raised during the meeting and reflected in the summary documents included insufficient data to properly analyze and review the impact of potentially massively expanded solar projects that would be allowed, and the untested nature of the new framework compared to current rules. Commissioners also, briefly, discussed concerns about the expanded size of the high value farmland allotments.
Ultimately, the Union County Board of Commissioners voted to opt Union County out of the new rules for 2026. It should be that, according to Williams, the county can opt-in to the new rules at any time at the discretion of commissioners.
