Bill > SB1584

This bill establishes a pilot program for landowners to restore salmon habitat, primarily in the Coquille and Coos watershed basins, by creating a system of "salmon credits." The Department of State Lands (DSL), in collaboration with the State Department of Fish and Wildlife, will develop rules for this program, which aims to incentivize voluntary restoration projects on agricultural or forest land that benefit wild coho and chinook salmon. Landowners who undertake these projects, known as "credit generators," can earn salmon credits, which can then be sold to "credit purchasers" who need to meet mitigation requirements for permits issued for projects within these specific watershed basins. The program also establishes a "Salmon Credit Trust Fund" to manage payments and ensure credit generators receive a portion of the credit sale price, known as a "salmon credit dividend," for the duration their project remains successful. The program's implementation is contingent on federal approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a "bank instrument" (a formal agreement for managing mitigation credits) and authorization for activities in navigable waters, and the DSL will cease approving new salmon credit projects six years after this federal approval.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2026R1/Measures/Overview/SB1584