Bill Text: OR HB3321 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to wells allowing exempt ground water use.

Sponsorship: Strong Partisan Bill (Republican 14-1)

Status: (Failed) 2013-07-08 - In committee upon adjournment. [HB3321 Detail]

Download: Oregon-2013-HB3321-Introduced.html

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     77th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2013 Regular Session

NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .

LC 1952

                         House Bill 3321

Sponsored by Representative WHITSETT; Representatives ESQUIVEL,
  FREEMAN, KRIEGER, OLSON, RICHARDSON, SMITH, SPRENGER, THATCHER,
  WHISNANT, Senators BAERTSCHIGER JR, BOQUIST, KNOPP, KRUSE,
  WHITSETT

                             SUMMARY

The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.

  Prohibits Water Resources Department collection of periodic or
recurring fee or charge pertaining to well allowing ground water
use for single or group domestic purposes.

                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to wells allowing exempt ground water use; amending ORS
  537.545.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 537.545 is amended to read:
  537.545. (1) No registration, certificate of registration,
application for a permit, permit, certificate of completion or
ground water right certificate under ORS 537.505 to 537.795 and
537.992 is required for the use of ground water for:
  (a) Stockwatering purposes;
  (b) Watering any lawn or noncommercial garden not exceeding
one-half acre in area;
  (c) Watering the lawns, grounds and fields not exceeding 10
acres in area of schools located within a critical ground water
area established pursuant to ORS 537.730 to 537.740;
  (d) Single or group domestic purposes in an amount not
exceeding 15,000 gallons a day;
  (e) Down-hole heat exchange purposes;
  (f) Any single industrial or commercial purpose in an amount
not exceeding 5,000 gallons a day; or
  (g) Land application, so long as the ground water:
  (A) Has first been appropriated and used under a permit or
certificate issued under ORS 537.625 or 537.630 for a water right
issued for industrial purposes or a water right authorizing use
of water for confined animal feeding purposes;
  (B) Is reused for irrigation purposes and the period of
irrigation is a period during which the reused water has never
been discharged to the waters of the state; and
  (C) Is applied pursuant to a permit issued by the Department of
Environmental Quality or the State Department of Agriculture
under either ORS 468B.050 to construct and operate a disposal
system or ORS 468B.215 to operate a confined animal feeding
operation.

  (2) A ground water use for a purpose that is exempt under
subsection (1) of this section, to the extent that the use is
beneficial, constitutes a right to appropriate ground water equal
to that established by a ground water right certificate issued
under ORS 537.700.
  (3) Except for the use of water under subsection (1)(g) of this
section, the Water Resources Commission by rule may require any
person or public agency using ground water for any such purpose
to furnish information with regard to such ground water and the
use thereof. For a use of water described in subsection (1)(g) of
this section, the Department of Environmental Quality or the
State Department of Agriculture shall provide to the Water
Resources Department a copy of the permit issued under ORS
468B.050 or 468B.215 authorizing the land application of ground
water for reuse. The permit shall provide the information
regarding the place of use of such water and the nature of the
beneficial reuse.
  (4) If it is necessary for the Water Resources Department to
regulate the use or distribution of ground water, including uses
for purposes that are exempt under subsection (1) of this
section, the department shall use as a priority date for the
exempt uses the date indicated in the log for the well filed with
the department under ORS 537.765 or other documentation provided
by the well owner showing when water use began.
  (5) The owner of land on which a well is drilled to allow
ground water use for a purpose that is exempt under subsection
(1) of this section shall provide the Water Resources Department
with a map showing the exact location of the well on the tax lot.
The landowner shall provide a map required by this subsection to
the department no later than 30 days after the well is completed.
The map must be prepared in accordance with standards established
by the department.
  (6) The owner of land on which a well described in subsection
(5) of this section is located shall file the exempt ground water
use with the Water Resources Department for recording. The filing
must be accompanied by the fee described in subsection (7) of
this section. The filing must be received by the department no
later than 30 days after the well is completed.
  (7) The Water Resources Department shall collect a fee of $300
for recording an exempt ground water use under subsection (6) of
this section. Moneys from fees collected under this subsection
shall be deposited to the credit of the Water Resources
Department Water Right Operating Fund. Notwithstanding ORS
536.009, moneys deposited to the fund under this subsection shall
be used for the purposes of evaluating ground water supplies,
conducting ground water studies, carrying out ground water
monitoring, processing ground water data and the administration
and enforcement of this subsection and subsections (3), (5), (6)
and (8) of this section.
  (8) The Water Resources Commission shall adopt rules to
implement, administer and enforce subsections (5) to (7) of this
section.
   { +  (9) The Water Resources Department may not collect any
periodic or other recurring fee or charge pertaining to a well
allowing ground water use for a purpose that is exempt under
subsection (1)(d) of this section, including but not limited to
any periodic or recurring fee or charge pertaining to the
existence, ownership or operation of, or production from, the
well. This subsection does not prohibit the collection of any fee
or charge for providing a requested service. + }
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