Bill in the Oregon Legislature would ban diesel fuel sales by end of decade

(The Center Square) – A bill in the Oregon Legislature this session would ban the sale of diesel fuel by the end of this decade, but not if Republican lawmakers can help it.

Introduced by state Rep. Karen Power, D-Milwaukie, House Bill 3305 would see the state enact a phased ban on diesel fuel over the next eight years starting with non-retail fuel dealers in Oregon’s most populous counties.

The ban would hit non-retail dealers in Clackamas, Washington, and Multnomah Counties in 2024, then all non-retail dealers statewide in 2027, before applying to all retail dealers in 2028.

HB 3305 builds on legislation passed by state lawmakers in 2019 requiring big rig truck owners to upgrade their rides with diesel engines from 2010 or newer by 2025. Under the law, those upgrades would be paid for with $50 million in state money won from Oregon’s 2017 settlement with automaker Volkswagen over its diesel emissions scandal.

Diesel emissions make up a big part of Gov. Kate Brown’s 2020 executive order directing state agencies to regulate greenhouse gas emissions​ with the goal of cutting state carbon emissions to at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Such efforts are akin to those in Washington where state lawmakers are want to adopt a clean fuels program much in line with Oregon’s as they decide how to pay for another decade of overdue road maintenance.

Power’s bill stirred strong feelings among her Republican colleagues who accused it of threatening working class Oregonians.

In a news release, state Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis described the bill as “blindsiding,” and voiced concern that the bill could turn thousands of heavy duty vehicles into scrap metal and put thousands of drivers out of work.

“I’m not sure where to begin with this bill,” Boshart Davis said. “Our entire economy depends on the free flow of freight by both truck and rail, nearly all of which is powered by diesel engines. There is simply no commercially available, cost-effective alternative to transporting these goods.”

Boshart Davis’s concerns were shared by state Rep. Vicki Breese Iverson, R-Prineville who characterized the legislation as wildly unrealistic.

“There is absolutely no way we can implement this legislation in accordance to these timelines without extreme disruption to Oregonians’ daily lives and the obliteration of our economy as we know it,” Breese Iverson said. “If enacted, Oregonians could no longer rely on everyday goods like food, groceries and medicine being readily available.”

The most recent data available on Oregon’s diesel emissions show they were 10 times higher in 2015 than were considered healthy according to state health metrics. Road vehicles, however, only account for 56% of the problem according to findings by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality.

Last March, the agency shot down a petition to regulate diesel emissions from construction sites, distribution centers, and other off-road sources citing sparse state resources. The commission instead threw its support behind existing anti-pollution efforts like Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program.

Regulating off-road diesel emissions has also been a historic challenge due to a combination of federal laws preempting and constraining state and local authors from passing such regulations.

On Thursday, Power said she introduced the bill on behalf of a local trucking company in her district, Titan Freight, which acted as a primary consultant on it.

According to Power, the company has seen “bottom line savings for their business and better performance from their trucks” from renewable diesel fuels which it hopes the bill will promote. Those fuels, Power said, will not require technological upgrades, nor will the bill ban diesel equipment after 2028.

Power said the company plans to testify on the bill later in the session, which she said is a conversation starter that has a lot of work ahead of it.

“We are still learning more from their technical experts and continue to participate in meetings on the bill and the technology,” Power said.

As of Friday, HB 3305 awaits referral to a committee and a hearing in the House.

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