(1) No municipality shall:

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(a) Dump polluting substances into any public or private body of water that empties directly or indirectly into any navigable body of water in or adjacent to a municipality, except by permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality.

(b) Dump polluting substances into any open dump or sanitary landfill where by drainage or seepage any navigable body of water in or adjacent to a municipality may be affected adversely unless:

(A) The municipality is operating a sanitary landfill in accordance with the terms and conditions of a valid permit;

(B) The Environmental Quality Commission finds the municipality is improving for other purposes each section of the landfill as it is completed; and

(C) The commission finds the municipality is continuously developing and implementing, where feasible, improvements in its solid waste disposal program that incorporate new and alternative methods, including recycling, reuse and resource recovery.

(2) As used in this section:

(a) ‘Municipality’ means any city having a population of 250,000 or more or any home-rule county having a population of 350,000 or more.

(b) ‘Polluting substances’ means dead animal carcasses, excrement, and putrid, nauseous, noisome, decaying, deleterious or offensive substances including refuse of any kind or description.

(3) Any municipality found by the commission to have performed any of the actions prohibited by subsection (1) of this section shall be ineligible for any grants or loans to which it would otherwise be eligible from the Pollution Control Fund pursuant to ORS § 468.195 to 468.245 unless:

(a) The municipality is operating a sanitary landfill in accordance with the terms and conditions of a valid permit;

(b) The commission finds the municipality is improving for other purposes each section of the landfill as it is completed; and

(c) The commission finds the municipality is continuously developing and implementing, where feasible, improvements in its solid waste disposal program that incorporate new and alternative methods, including recycling, reuse and resource recovery. [Formerly 449.113 and then 468.755]