HB 1726, from Rep. Kevin Waters (R–Stevenson), requires that public works projects funded with $500,000 or more of state dollars, and when the state funds over half of the project costs, must use lumber procured from Washington, Oregon, or at least within the U.S. First priority must go to Washington lumber, second priority to lumber from Oregon, otherwise the lumber must come from the U.S.

The new requirements may be waived by the city if the city determines that:

• Meeting the requirements would be inconsistent with the public interest;
• Lumber is not available in the priority locations in sufficient or reasonably available quantities and of satisfactory quality; or
• Inclusion of domestically produced material will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 10%.

Cities must provide public notice, hold a 30-day public comment period, and publish a detailed justification of the decision that addresses the public comments received, before making the final determination on whether to waive the bill’s requirements.

Date to remember

SB 1726 is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Capital Budget Committee on Thursday, February 13 at 1:30 pm.