SALEM — Wastewater violations that brought down a notorious Oregon dairy five years ago have now culminated in legislative reforms affecting livestock operations across the state.

Stricter rules for “confined animal feeding operations,” or CAFOs, under Senate Bill 85, including water and land use restrictions, have passed both chambers of the Oregon Legislature in recent days.

Both supporters and opponents of SB 85 say regulatory problems at Lost Valley Farm near Boardman, Ore., helped inspire the legislation, which has been debated in various forms since the dairy’s implosion in 2018.

“Frankly, we dodged a bullet on that. It put at risk not only the aquifer but the animals,” said Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, who devised the version of SB 85 that proved successful.

Overflowing lagoons and other wastewater violations convinced Oregon farm regulators to slap Lost Valley farm with a $187,000 fine, the biggest civil penalty for a CAFO in state history.

Lost Valley Farm ended up shutting down and going into bankruptcy while owner Greg Te Velde, who also operated dairies in California, faced arrests for possession of methamphetamine and solicitation of prostitution.

The fiasco garnered widespread attention and was considered a “black eye” for Oregon’s dairies and other CAFOs, with industry leaders anticipating it would increase pressure on lawmakers to impose new livestock regulations.

Various legislative strategies have been proposed in the intervening years, though none proved successful until SB 85. The bill began as a moratorium on large CAFOs but was revised over the course of nine hearings and work sessions this year.

After being the subject of hours of testimony during the 2023 session, SB 85 was approved after about 10 minutes of debate apiece in each chamber. The Senate passed the bill 17-8 on June 20 and the House passed it 31-19 June 21.

Critics of SB 85 argued that transgressions by a single CAFO don’t justify punishing other livestock operations, especially since faulty government oversight could also be blamed for the situation.

“We’re holding all the rest of the hundreds of CAFO operators liable for the lack of performance by state agencies not doing their jobs and an operator who clearly didn’t want to do it the right way,” said Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale.

Regulators were able to get Lost Valley Farm under control but it nonetheless pointed to the need for statutory changes for CAFOs, said Dembrow. While the legislation was motivated by the dairy’s pollution issues, the bill also intends to deal with water scarcity.

Groundwater withdrawals for large CAFOs are limited to 12,000 gallons per day under SB 85, which also requires such facilities to submit water supply plans to regulators and potentially to measure and report their water usage.

The bill also requires large CAFOs to obtain land use compatibility statements from local government officials, who’d be able to require setbacks and buffers between such facilities and residential areas, among other legal provisions.

Nearly $800,000 is allocated for two new positions overseeing CAFOs at the state’s Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Quality.

Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, praised the bill as “a monument to tenacity” by Dembrow, who’s tried to find a compromise on CAFO regulations for years.

However, Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, said he was troubled by lawmakers from Portland — the state’s biggest source of pollution — adding to the regulatory burden on livestock operations.

“I absolutely resent they’re in my district, raising hell,” Girod said.

Findley also objected to the characterization of SB 85 as a compromise, claiming it involved more coercion than collaboration with the livestock industry.

“You either agree to this or you’re going to get something much worse next session,” he said.