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Oregon Sustainability Board (OSB)
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The Oregon Sustainability Board (OSB) encourages activities that best sustain, protect and enhance the environment, economy and community for the present and future benefit of Oregonians. The Governor appoints Board members who represent a variety of stakeholders within the state of Oregon.
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| Members |
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Kate Brown, Chair, Governor's Representative, Secretary of State
John D. Miller, Co-chair, Wildwood/Mahonia
Robin Morris Collin, Willamette University professor
Trey Senn, Executive Director, Klamath County Economic Dev. Association
Sara Vickerman, Director, West Coast Office, Defenders of Wildlife
Mark Webb, Chair of Grant County Commission
Maurice Rahming, President, O'Neill Electric
Alando Simpson, Vice President/General Manager, City of Roses Disposal and Recycling
David Gremmels, President and Cheesemaker of Rogue Creamery
Lori Hollingsworth, Owner of Back in Touch Massage in Lincoln City.
1 Position Vacant |
| History |
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In 2001, the legislature adopted the Oregon Sustainability Act (ORS 184.423), which established the state's overall sustainability policy. Among other things, the legislation created the Oregon Sustainability Board and established legislative goals for state government around sustainability. In order to implement the act, Governor Kulongoski issued Executive Order 03-03 in June 2003 along with a letter of suggested agency actions, which directed the Sustainability Board to oversee the process for carrying out the Act. The Executive Order specifically requests that the Board oversee development of sustainability plans by twenty state agencies. A January 2013 memo from the Office of the Governor directed the Oregon Sustainability Board to oversee agency implementation of sustainability related Executive oreders and identify areas of joint interest and action with the Oregon Small Business Advisory Council and Environmental Justice Task Force.
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| Meeting Information (all PDF) |
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Board minutes are published and posted once approved by the Board.
| 2013 Meeting Schedule |
| Meeting Date |
Location |
Agenda |
Minutes |
| January 11, 2013 |
Portland |
Agenda |
Minutes |
March 15, 2013 |
Salem |
Agenda |
Pending Approval |
May 17, 2013 |
Salem |
Agenda |
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October 3 & 4, 2013 |
TBD |
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| Board Publications |
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Report to the 2005 Legislative Assembly (pdf) and Letter
Report to the 2009 Legislative Assembly (pdf)
Report to the 2011 Legislative Assembly (pdf)
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Presentations to the Board (.pdf files)
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| Board Projects |
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Sustainability Awards
The Governor's Sustainability Awards Program is intended to promote and advance the inclusion of sustainable practices in government and the private sector. Sustainable practices are broadly defined as those that strive to optimize an organization's financial, environmental and social performance.
The winners of the 2012 Sustainability Awards:
- Technology: EasyStreet Online Services - Since 1995, EasyStreet has helped customers integrate Cloud, co-location, Internet connectivity, and related services with a strong commitment to sustainable practices. EasyStreet has 34 fulltime employees.
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- Manufacturing: Oregon Iron Works - Oregon Iron Works is a metal fabricator headquartered in Clackamas, Oregon. It was founded in 1944 and has 464 employees. Oregon Iron Works worked with federal and state agencies to develop a 40-acre Superfund site into their streetcar test track. They restore native habitat, several wetlands and native plantings. They recycle high levels of aluminum, steel and scrap metal in their operation. They also recycle the paint and abrasive materials through creative, local products. To integrate a high level of sustainability into their business model, Oregon Iron Works created an internal Sustainability Department.
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- Grand Champion: Hopworks Urban Brewery - Hopworks Urban Brewery and Hopworks BikeBar are Portland’s first Eco-Brewpubs. They have 109 employees. Hopworks constructed both of their facilities with sustainability in mind. The SE Power location is a re-purpose industrial facility that used reclaimed materials. Energy efficiency was incorporated with efficient lighting, exhaust heat capture from pizza ovens,and high-efficient equipment. They offset 100% of their electrical consumption through PGE’s Clean Wind program. They have high standards for water efficiency, including industry-best practices in processing, rain-water capture systems, and pervious pavers. They supply 50% of the restaurant supplies by local, organic or certified sustainable producers and have several garden beds at sites for growing their own produce. They maintain zero-waste-to-landfill practices at both facilities, including sending the spent grain from mash ton to a local organic dairy farm for cow feed. The milk from the dairy farm then comes back and is served in the restaurant.
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- Grand Champion: Mountain Rose Herbs - Mountain Rose Herbs has one office in Eugene, OR and has offered organic botanical products since 1987. They have 140 full-time employees.Mountain Rose Herbs only negotiates with USDA-accredited farmers, and their primary source of herbal material is from American farms. They are a certified organic processor through Oregon Tilth and they have a policy that guarantees workers a fair market value and fair wages for the materials they sell. .They have strong partnerships with Oregon Fish & Wildlife, SOLV, Oregon Toxics Alliance, Oregon Wild and McKenzie River Trust to protect and enhance watersheds. They manage 6-8 restoration projects annually, primarily on the Willamette and McKenzie Rivers, through the Mountain Rose River Project. They maintain a 4-mile stretch along the river called Angler’s Trail by removing invasives, planting natives, and clearing garbage. They practice integrated pest management and maintain a chemical-free facility for cleaning and industrial processes. Mountain Rose Herbs implements Fair for Life program, which reviews working conditions, labor practices, environmental program, and transparency of their business. They adopted the Good Trade Program, which ensures fair practices for suppliers and the harvest sites are monitored regularly. They allocate an average of $100,000 a year for charitable giving and work with non-profits.
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Sustainability board members visit eastern Oregon innovators in September 2011.
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Sustainable Oregon Schools Initiative (SOSI)
With the assistance of several volunteers, the Board undertook a special initiative aimed at improving sustainability practices within the K-12 school system.
For more information about the SOSI Oregon Sustainable Schools Awards (OSSA), please click on the following link: http://www.sustainableschools.org/oregon-award-program.
Higher Education
The Sustainability Board supported the work of Academic Excellence and Economic Development Working Group (AEED) of the Oregon Board of Higher Education. In 2004, the AEED concluded that sustainability and renewable energy showed promise as an area for investment. Through collaborations with the Oregon Sustainability Board, Oregon University System and AEED the Oregon B.E.S.T. was created in 2008. The mission of Oregon B.E.S.T. is to showcase innovative, sustainable technologies created in Oregon universities and market them to the world.
Agriculture and Rural Communities
In September 2004, the Board established an Agricultural sub-committee to catalyze and advance strategies and projects that will help rural Oregon, especially agricultural communities and producers, to achieve more resiliency and profitability in the face of increasing global, regional and local economic, environmental and social changes and challenges. The sub-committee identified three initial project areas: an effort to increase the efficiency of container truck operations in the rural sector; an effort to increase the amount of federal and foundation grants that flow to rural Oregonians; and an effort to maximize the development of renewable energy in rural Oregon and to develop urban/rural partnerships in the area of renewable energy. These three projects are just getting under development in the first quarter of ’05.
Climate Change
The Board chair and one of its members were appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Group on Global Warming. The committee was appointed by the Governor to develop recommendations to him on possible actions the state might undertake to reduce the threats posed by global warming and climate change. The committee developed a strategy which, if adopted, is intended to complement the agenda of the West Coast Governors’ Initiative on Global Warming undertaken by the governors of California, Oregon and Washington.
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The Advisory Group invited Oregon citizens, businesses and organizations to offer their comments, additions and criticisms of the goals, approaches and actions assembled in the report. The Advisory Group received citizen input from three public meetings, letters and emails.
The report proposes three objectives to achieve Oregon Benchmark #76, which set the goal of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels at or below 1990 levels by the year 2010:
- By 2010, arrest the growth of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions (including, but not limited to CO2) and begin to reduce them, making measurable progress towards meeting the existing Benchmark of not exceeding 1990 levels.
- By 2020, achieve a 10 percent reduction below 1990 greenhouse gas levels.
- By 2050, achieve a “climate stabilization” emissions level at least 75 percent below 1990 levels.
At its January 2005 meeting, the Board reviewed the Advisory Group’s report and made recommendations to the Governor on its implementation. The Board specifically did not endorse those parts of the report that proposed negative incentives.
Budget Instructions
In 2005, to ensure that agency budgets are aligned with the agency sustainability plans, DAS instructed the 20 agencies subject to the Governor’s Executive Order on sustainability to include a “Sustainability Narrative” in their budget submissions describing the sustainability programs they have underway and their progress in achieving them. In 2007, this requirement expanded to include all agencies. In the 2009 budget development, agencies continue to complete these narratives. This is now a permanent part of the process.
Agency Sustainability Plans |
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