Court Opinion

ID: 9788477
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 00:55:02.329171+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:57.959498
License: Public Domain

DEITS, C. J.,
concurring.
In my opinion, it is doubtful that the legislature intended to preempt the authority of local governments to regulate groundwater wells in the manner that the county has attempted to do in Ordinances 94-89 and 94-90. As the state and county assert, the purpose of those local ordinances is a matter of legitimate local concern and the ordinances involve objectives that are quite different from that of the state regulatory authority. Nonetheless, as the majority concludes, the text and context of ORS 537.769 do not provide a basis to limit the preemptive effect of the statute on local authority in the manner that the county desires. Accordingly, I must concur with the majority opinion with respect to plaintiffs’ claims against the county defendants.