Farm Bureau Weighs In

As previously reported, the Stop the Dump Coalition and its local allies will take to the Oregon Supreme Court their appeal of the Court of Appeals (COA) decision upholding some aspects of Riverbend Landfill's proposed expansion.

STDC has been joined in this appeal by some heavy hitters: the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation.  The Farm Bureau filed its brief today, succinctly laying out the issues.

The parties agree that state law prohibits non-farm uses (like landfills) in exclusive farm use zones if those non-farm uses impact neighboring farms by "significantly" increasing farming costs or "forcing a significant change" in farming practices.  The COA upheld Yamhill County's determination that Riverbend could get around this "significant impacts" test by compensating landowners for lost crops and extra work required due to impacts resulting from landfill activities. 

The County relied on a provision in the state law that allows a non-farm use to "mitigate" the impacts that normally result from its activities.  However, the Farm Bureau points out that mitigation should apply to the non-farm use activities -- not the existing farm activities.  The statute is clear that the applicant for a non-farm use -- in this case, Riverbend Landfill -- bears the burden, not the farmers.  But in Riverbend's case, the County approved "mitigation" that requires farmers, not the landfill, to alter practices.

The Farm Bureau argues:

"...inherent in ORS 215.296(2) is the requirement that any conditions must apply to the applicant’s proposal and must render the impact insignificant by altering the applicant’s proposal to avoid the impact or render it insignificant. The local governing body and the applicant cannot put this burden on a farmer and require that farmers’ operations be altered to avoid the impact."  Farm Bureau brief, p. 4.

Instead, "A correct interpretation of the statute requires that when a local governing body finds that the proposed non-farm use will increase the cost of farming practices significantly or force a significant change in those practices, the local governing body must require the applicant to avoid or render insignificant any changes or costs through changes to its proposal, not through imposing new obligations on surrounding farms."  Farm Bureau brief, pp. 6-7.

STDC's brief and those of the other appellants must be filed with the Court by August 10.  The County and the landfill must file their arguments within 42 days after that.  The Supreme Court is expected to hold oral argument in November and to issue a decision within a few months.