Title 197 · ORS Chapter 197

285A.010. �� (2) �Regionally significant industrial area� means an area planned and zoned for industrial use that: �� (a) Contains vacant sites, including brownfields, that are suitable for th

Citation: ORS 285A.010

Section: 285A.010

285A.010.

�� (2) �Regionally significant industrial area� means an area planned and zoned for industrial use that:

�� (a) Contains vacant sites, including brownfields, that are suitable for the location of new industrial uses or the expansion of existing industrial uses and that collectively can provide significant additional employment in the region;

�� (b) Has site characteristics that give the area significant competitive advantages that are difficult or impossible to replicate in the region;

�� (c) Has superior access to transportation and freight infrastructure, including, but not limited to, rail, port, airport, multimodal freight or transshipment facilities, and other major transportation facilities or routes; and

�� (d) Is located in close proximity to major labor markets. [2011 c.564 �6]

�� Note: 197.722 to 197.728 were enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but were not added to or made a part of ORS chapter 197 or any series therein by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.

�� 197.723 Designation of regionally significant industrial areas; rules. (1) Within three years after June 28, 2011, in cooperation with local governments and private industry, the Economic Recovery Review Council, by rule, shall designate at least five and not more than 15 regionally significant industrial areas. The council shall base the designation of regionally significant industrial areas on the criteria in the definition of �regionally significant industrial area� and the judgment of the council concerning the relative importance of the areas in terms of potential, long-term job creation.

�� (2) A local government may nominate a regionally significant industrial area for designation by the council.

�� (3) An area containing multiple sites certified by the Oregon Business Development Department as ready for development within six months or less is eligible for designation by the council if the area is a regionally significant industrial area.

�� (4) In addition to demonstrating compliance with other provisions of law, including, but not limited to, a statewide land use planning goal concerning economic development and rules implementing the goal, the future employment potential of a regionally significant industrial area shall be protected from conflicting development in the following ways:

�� (a) A local government may not adopt a provision of a comprehensive plan or land use regulation that prevents industrial uses within the area.

�� (b) A local government may not adopt a provision of a comprehensive plan or land use regulation that allows new nonindustrial uses within the area that conflict with existing or planned industrial uses.

�� (c) A local government may not decrease the land area planned or zoned for industrial uses within the regionally significant industrial area.

�� (d) A local government may adopt a provision of a comprehensive plan or land use regulation, including development standards or overlay zones, that restricts the type or extent of current or future industrial uses within the area, but only if the local government mitigates at the same time the effect of the new provision by:

�� (A) Clearly maintaining or increasing the industrial employment potential of the area; and

�� (B) Clearly maintaining the important site characteristics and functions that led to the designation of the site as a regionally significant industrial area.

�� (5) Subsection (4) of this section does not apply to a provision of a comprehensive plan or land use regulation that is necessary:

�� (a) To protect public health or safety; or

�� (b) To implement federal law.

�� (6) If 50 percent of the developable land within a regionally significant industrial area has not been developed within 10 years after designation of the area, the council shall remove the designation, unless landowners representing a majority of the land within the area request that the designation be continued.

�� (7) Within a regionally significant industrial area, a new industrial use or the expansion of an existing industrial use is eligible for an expedited industrial land use permit issued under ORS 197.724 if the new or expanded use does not require a change to the acknowledged comprehensive plan or land use regulations.

�� (8) In addition to other criteria for distribution of available funds, the Oregon Infrastructure Finance Authority and the Oregon Transportation Commission may consider the designation of an area as a regionally significant industrial area in prioritizing funding for transportation and other public infrastructure.

�� (9) ORS 197.722 to 197.728 do not apply to land in the Willamette River Greenway Plan boundary between river mile 1 and river mile 11. [2011 c.564 �7]

�� Note: See note under 197.722.

�� 197.724 Review of application for land use permit within regionally significant industrial area. (1) An applicant for a new industrial use or the expansion of an existing industrial use located within a regionally significant industrial area may request that an application for a land use permit be reviewed as an application for an expedited industrial land use permit under this section if the proposed use does not require:

�� (a) An exception taken under ORS 197.732 to a statewide land use planning goal;

�� (b) A change to the acknowledged comprehensive plan or land use regulations of the local government within whose land use jurisdiction the new or expanded industrial use would occur; or

�� (c) A federal environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act.

�� (2) If the applicant makes a request that complies with subsection (1) of this section, the local government shall review the applications for land use permits for the proposed industrial use by applying the standards and criteria that otherwise apply to the review and by using the procedures set forth for review of an expedited land division in ORS 197A.140. [2011 c.564 �8; 2025 c.476 �32]

�� Note: See note under 197.722.

�� 197.725 [1973 c.482 �4; repealed by 1977 c.665 �24]

�� 197.726 [2011 c.564 �9; repealed by 2025 c.476 �21]

�� 197.727 [2011 c.564 �10; repealed by 2025 c.476 �21]

�� 197.728 Rules. The Land Conservation and Development Commission shall administer regionally significant industrial areas and may adopt rules as necessary to implement ORS 197.722 to 197.728. [2011 c.564 �11]

�� Note: See note under 197.722.

�� 197.729 Local government encouragement of microgrids. (1) As used in this section:

�� (a) �Community microgrid� means a microgrid that is located within a geographical area that a local government designates as a microgrid zone under this section.

�� (b) �Consumer-owned utility,� �electric company� and �governing body� have the meanings given those terms in ORS 757.600.

�� (c) �Microgrid� means a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that functions as a single controllable system, irrespective of whether the microgrid is operating independently of or in conjunction with an electric grid.

�� (2) A local government may:

�� (a) Adopt land use regulations that correspond to microgrid zones to encourage development that is compatible with microgrids and community microgrids.

�� (b) Designate a geographical area based on existing electric service infrastructure located within the jurisdiction of the local government as a microgrid zone, subject to the approval of:

�� (A) The Public Utility Commission, if the microgrid zone is located within the service territory of an electric company; or

�� (B) The governing body of a consumer-owned utility, if the microgrid zone is located within the service territory of a consumer-owned utility.

�� (c) Enter into an intergovernmental agreement with one or more local governments to designate a geographical area based on existing electric service infrastructure located within and across the jurisdictions of the local governments as a microgrid zone, subject to the approval of:

�� (A) The commission, if the microgrid zone is located within the service territory of an electric company; or

�� (B) The governing body of a consumer-owned utility, if the microgrid zone is located within the service territory of a consumer-owned utility. [2025 c.472 �7]

�� 197.730 [1973 c.482 �6; repealed by 1977 c.665 �24]

GOAL EXCEPTIONS

�� 197.732 Goal exceptions; criteria; rules; review. (1) As used in this section:

�� (a) �Compatible� is not intended as an absolute term meaning no interference or adverse impacts of any type with adjacent uses.

�� (b) �Exception� means a comprehensive plan provision, including an amendment to an acknowledged comprehensive plan, that:

�� (A) Is applicable to specific properties or situations and does not establish a planning or zoning policy of general applicability;

�� (B) Does not comply with some or all goal requirements applicable to the subject properties or situations; and

�� (C) Complies with standards under subsection (2) of this section.

�� (2) A local government may adopt an exception to a goal if:

�� (a) The land subject to the exception is physically developed to the extent that it is no longer available for uses allowed by the applicable goal;

�� (b) The land subject to the exception is irrevocably committed as described by Land Conservation and Development Commission rule to uses not allowed by the applicable goal because existing adjacent uses and other relevant factors make uses allowed by the applicable goal impracticable; or

�� (c) The following standards are met:

�� (A) Reasons justify why the state policy embodied in the applicable goals should not apply;

�� (B) Areas that do not require a new exception cannot reasonably accommodate the use;

�� (C) The long term environmental, economic, social and energy consequences resulting from the use at the proposed site with measures designed to reduce adverse impacts are not significantly more adverse than would typically result from the same proposal being located in areas requiring a goal exception other than the proposed site; and

�� (D) The proposed uses are compatible with other adjacent uses or will be so rendered through measures designed to reduce adverse impacts.

�� (3) The commission shall adopt rules establishing:

�� (a) That an exception may be adopted to allow a use authorized by a statewide planning goal that cannot comply with the approval standards for that type of use;

�� (b) Under what circumstances particular reasons may or may not be used to justify an exception under subsection (2)(c)(A) of this section; and

�� (c) Which uses allowed by the applicable goal must be found impracticable under subsection (2) of this section.

�� (4) A local government approving or denying a proposed exception shall set forth findings of fact and a statement of reasons that demonstrate that the standards of subsection (2) of this section have or have not been met.

�� (5) Each notice of a public hearing on a proposed exception shall specifically note that a goal exception is proposed and shall summarize the issues in an understandable manner.

�� (6) Upon review of a decision approving or denying an exception:

�� (a) The Land Use Board of Appeals or the commission shall be bound by any finding of fact for which there is substantial evidence in the record of the local government proceedings resulting in approval or denial of the exception;

�� (b) The board upon petition, or the commission, shall determine whether the local government�s findings and reasons demonstrate that the standards of subsection (2) of this section have or have not been met; and

�� (c) The board or commission shall adopt a clear statement of reasons that sets forth the basis for the determination that the standards of subsection (2) of this section have or have not been met.

�� (7) The commission shall by rule establish the standards required to justify an exception to the definition of �needed housing� authorized by ORS 197A.348.

�� (8) An exception acknowledged under ORS 197.251, 197.625 or 197.630 (1) (1981 Replacement Part) on or before August 9, 1983, continues to be valid and is not subject to this section. [1983 c.827 �19a; 1995 c.521 �3; 2005 c.67 �1; 2007 c.71 �68; 2011 c.354 �6]

�� 197.734 Exceptions to certain statewide planning goal criteria; rules. (1) The Land Conservation and Development Commission shall adopt or amend rules regarding the statewide planning goal criteria described in ORS 197.732 (2)(a) and (b). The rules adopted or amended pursuant to this subsection must allow a local government to rezone land in an area physically developed or committed to residential use, as described in ORS 197.732, without requiring the local government to take a new exception to statewide planning goals related to agricultural and forest lands. The rules must allow for a rezoning that authorizes the change, continuation or expansion of an industrial use that has been in operation for the five years immediately preceding the formal land use planning action that was initiated for the change, continuation or expansion of use.

�� (2) The rules adopted pursuant to subsection (1) of this section must provide that:

�� (a) The rezoned use will maintain the land:

�� (A) As rural land as described by commission rule; and

�� (B) In a manner consistent with other statewide planning goal requirements;

�� (b) The rural uses, density and public facilities and services permitted by the rezoning will not commit adjacent or other nearby resource land to uses that are not permitted by statewide planning goals related to agricultural and forest lands;

�� (c) The rural uses, density and public facilities and services permitted by the rezoning are compatible with the uses of adjacent and other nearby resource land uses; and

�� (d) The land to be rezoned is not in an area designated as a rural or urban reserve under ORS