Oregon regulators would gain new powers to enter private rural properties under a bill that aims to make the state government more proactive in preventing groundwater pollution.

Senate Bill 1154 would grant state inspectors the authority to examine private septic systems under certain circumstances to ensure they’re not contaminating aquifers, among a host of other measures.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s office says this provision is specifically meant to respond to complaints that agriculture has borne the brunt of groundwater regulation while other sources of pollution have been dismissed or ignored.

“This is an attempt to make sure we are well-equipped as a state to address all causes of contamination,” Chandra Ferrari, the governor’s natural resource policy advisor, said during a recent legislative hearing.

Despite these assurances, a coalition of farm organizations fears the proposal is being rushed through the legislative process without sufficient review.

The initial “sprawling” version of SB 1154 already enabled new concerning restrictions on farm practices and land use in its original 36 pages, but that was before a recent amendment more than doubled the page count, said Ryan Krabill, government affairs manager for the Oregon Farm Bureau.

Lawmakers should give affected landowners and industries the chance to digest the bill’s expanding complexity, he said.

“To be candid, we have not had enough time to adequately understand it,” Krabill said.

An existing law intended to protect groundwater from contaminants, enacted in 1989, doesn’t give state agencies strong enough tools to thwart pollution before it rises to the level that legally warrants regulation, Ferrari said.

“Over time, the deficiencies have become apparent,” she said. “1989 was a long time ago. This statute is due for a refresh.”

The proposal would flesh out the “yellow light” phase at which point the government can identify whether a problem is developing, Ferrari said. Agencies could then encourage voluntary measures to stop it from crossing the threshold that requires stricter regulatory action.

When pollution does reach the “red light” level, the bill would charge an interagency team to implement a remediation plan with the speed and scale that’s proportionate to the problem, she said.

“If we can’t timely address contamination, everybody suffers,” Ferrari said.

Critics say they do not fault SB 1154 for attempting to better protect groundwater, which nobody opposes, but they worry it will allow state agencies to overstep government constraints on search and seizure, among other constitutional concerns.

Much of the hostility among rural residents who testified against SB 1154 was aimed at provisions in the original bill that allowed regulators to require the installation of water measuring devices on wells.

However, an amended version eliminates the water measurement provisions and makes clear the bill does not affect “confined animal feeding operations” or interfere with ongoing efforts to correct pollution in the Lower Umatilla Basin, according to the governor’s office.

“There is nothing in this bill that would further regulate wells on private property,” said Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland.

Even so, some critics raised the possibility that SB 1154 will undergo further revisions that will expand its reach.

Allowing the Department of Environmental Quality to inspect septic systems on private land is also bound to meet with resistance, said Dave Hunnicutt, president of the Oregon Property Owners Association.

“In my rural community, having DEQ come into your property would not be a welcome event,” Hunnicutt said.

Lawmakers may soon repeal a wildfire map that imposed stricter building codes on rural landowners after proponents of the concept determined it was “unworkable.” It’s quite likely intrusive elements of SB 1154 will similarly have to be rescinded when they run into similar obstacles with implementation, Hunnicutt said.

“I have a feeling that if this bill were to pass in this form, we would come back in a couple of sessions to fix a lot of the problems this is going to cause in rural Oregon,” he said.

Sen. Todd Nash, R-Enterprise, lamented that the Senate Natural Resources Committee had only a short time to consider the proposal and questioned how much influence it will have on the bill’s evolution.

“This is frustrating for me, having this limited opportunity to work on this bill,” he said.

The proposal received one public hearing before being moved to the Senate Rules Committee, allowing it to escape legislative deadlines for the remainder of the legislative session.

Now that SB 1154 is no longer subject to looming deadlines, lawmakers will be able to give it the scrutiny it deserves, Golden said. “There’s going to be a little breathing space now,” he said.

The bills seems to go much further than simply clarifying the authority of state agencies to better enforce groundwater regulations, said Katie Murray, executive director of the Oregonians for Food and Shelter agribusiness group.

As negotiations over the legislation continue, lawmakers should focus on allowing the government’s regulatory approach to adapt to real data rather than basing decisions on assumptions, Murray said.

“We’re more than happy to stay at the table and have those discussions,” she said.