Funding the Department of Environmental Quality

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has been seriously under funded over the last decade, so that it was incapable of adequately enforcing existing clean air and water safeguards, let alone tackling important new responsibilities. HB 5022 provided a significant increase in funding, including several important new programs. This includes: a comprehensive watershed-based toxics monitoring program in the Willamette, a new clean diesel initiative to help truck and school bus operators retrofit diesel engines, and implementation of new “clean car” standards that will reduce global warming pollution from cars and trucks.