Item 2C: Ratification of IGR Actions of June 18, 2008

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Councilor Taylor asked about smokers. Ms. Wilson said the proposed bill provides that if a public employer can show that smoking was the likely cause of a cancer, it could be rebutted. Ms. Ortiz said smoking negated all cancers, from her understanding. When she listened to the health report for the Bethel area, there were cancer clusters, but they said 70% of the people were smokers. Ms. Wilson said her understanding from the last session was that the five cancers that were left on the table could only be caused by other things besides smoking. She was unsure about the additional seven cancers. She planned to have the increase to the PERS cost for a public employer analyzed, given that work-related disabilities were solely funded by the employer. The City had opposed this in the last session. Councilor Taylor asked who proposed it besides Sen. Prozanski. The firefighters, Ms. Wilson replied. Councilor Taylor commented that there had been discussion about all bills going through CCIGR instead of individual departments. Ms. Wilson did not know the previous process, but four bills had been introduced on the City’s behalf last session. Under the current operating agreements, all proposed bills from City departments had to go through CCIGR first. Councilor Ortiz inquired whether that applied to unions. Councilor Poling said the firefighters, as a union, would not have to go through the City. Ms. Wilson agreed and said the CCIGR would still review the bill if it was introduced. ? Burning Phase Down and Smoke Management Coordination. Ms. Wilson commented that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) presented this concept to phase down field burning in the Willamette Valley. She said the timeline was still unclear, and it would allow more burning on more acres than already allowed under the law, if it could be shown that there were no viable alternatives, which the grass farmers had been arguing all along. She said the City would definitely want to take a look at the bill when it came out. She had spoken with Rep. Paul Holvey, who has stated he intends to make a complete ban on field burning one of his priority issues again in the upcoming session. Mayor Piercy said Lisa Arkin, executive director of the Oregon Toxics Alliance, had been in a work group working on what would come out, and she thought it had been a DEQ group. Ms. Wilson said she would check with Ms. Arkin. ? Bottle Bill Task Force Ms. Wilson listed some of the issues that almost killed the bottle bill in the last session: what containers could be recycled, how much, would they go through grocery stores or curbside recycling. She wanted the committee to be thinking about what role the City could play on this. The City was on the Bottle Bill Task Force last session. ? Producer Responsibility for Difficult-to-Manage Products MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations June 18, 2008 Page 4