House Passes Field Burning Bill, Now to Governor!

On a 31-29 vote, the Oregon House passed SB 528, a bill to limit the amount of field burning in Oregon. The bill now heads to the Governor.

Senate Bill 528 would limits on field burning
throughout the Willamette Valley, phasing out the practice by 2013 except for 15,000 acres in the Silverton Hills. There is a
large body of evidence linking the practice of open field burning of grass seed
crops to severe health effects as well as increasing the average particulate
pollution by as much as 40% on field burning days.

Congratulations to Rep. Paul Holvey and Sen. Floyd Prozanski, who have worked tirelessly on this issue. All 24 House Republicans voted against the bill, as did Reps. Clem, Komp, Schaufler, VanOrman, and Witt.