The 2025 Oregon Legislative Session is well underway with a full boat of ocean and coastal issues this year. From combatting plastic pollution and marine debris to protecting Oregon's public beaches and adapting to climate change, Surfrider is tracking over 50 bills this session. Learn more about where we are leading the lineup and where we're feeling underwater this legislative session.
Topping off the list of policy priorities for our Oregon Chapters this legislative session is once again plastic pollution. This isn't surprising given the immense amount of time Surfrider volunteers put into cleaning it up on our beaches, rivers, highway and green street cleanup efforts. As more and more of Surfrider's policy interests faces the production end of plastics, we continue to chip away at consumer and business opportunities that make good sense. Two key bills that have risen to the top, Microfiber Prevention (SB 526) and Beyond the Bag Ban (SB 551) have risen to priority campaigns for our Oregon network. Both bills had hearings this week (watch) and Surfrider organized with a coalition of groups to activate at the Capitol - read more about both these bills and our Capitol efforts this week.
Surfrider and coalition partners stand at head of Oregon's Senate chamber floor with Senator Janeen Sollman, a key legislator fighting plastic pollution and advancing policies in Salem, following Wednesday's hearings on SB 551 and SB 526.
And in the arena of ocean protection, Surfrider worked with the Oregon Ocean Alliance and chief Sponsor Representative David Gomberg to file two key bills this week to advance protection of special rocky habitats areas in our oceans (HB 3587) and set conservation targets for eelgrass in our estuaries (HB 3580). These are essential habitats for protection offering us a range of ecosystem services and climate benefits, but also extremely valuable to recreational users. Thus these have also risen as priority campaigns for Oregon's Surfrider network this session. Learn more about each of these bill on our Ocean Alliance legislative action page!
As part of our movement to keep our beach-loving Oregonians happy, Surfrider is cranking up the policy volume in Salem this session to ensure our public beaches remain accessible and adaptable to climate change. Sea level rise and coastal development are putting the squeeze on public beaches, a birthright we're losing ground on by the day. Advancing nature-based solutions that nourish our beaches (SB 504) and rethinking how structures are permitted on Oregon's shore (HB 2925) have advanced as bills we're supporting as part of our Oregon Beaches Forever Campaign.
And as federal cuts loom over many of our state and federal programs for ocean and coastal management, protecting budgets for Oregon's natural resource agencies will be a significant focus this session. We have testified on behalf of the Department of Land Conservation and Development's budget hearings given the agencies critical nexus with federal funds and coordinating ocean management under the Coastal Zone Management Act. Surfrider will be heavily active in both the state and federal budget spaces to ensure our critical coastal management programs and agencies stay as whole as possible.
As always, you can track bills, learn more and engage on our state legislative policy efforts by visiting our Surfrider Oregon Legislative Action Page.