The Pacific Coast Collaborative recently released its Vision and Action Plan to promote a regional low-carbon construction sector that promotes equity-centered policies, job creation, and regional markets. Through the PCC, Oregon, British Columbia, Washington, California, and the cities of Portland, Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles are working together to build the low carbon economy of the future.
Continue reading “Pacific Coast Leaders Release Strategy for Building More with Less Carbon”All About Asbestos
Homeowners, potential homebuyers, and renters, if you plan on renovating or demolishing a home in Oregon you need to think about asbestos – a natural mineral that might be in your building materials.
DEQ’s Hillarie Sales and Dylan Darling help make asbestos regulations relatable by talking with two inspectors from DEQ, and an Oregon Health Authority toxicologist explains why asbestos is a health concern in the first place.
“If you are planning on doing any renovation work then the concerns, they’re there,” said DEQ Asbestos Inspector Akim Williams. “You have to have testing done. You have to an abatement contractor remove that material in a safe manner.”
There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos. This makes asbestos a serious health concern and subject to regulation by DEQ.
“The reason it’s a problem is because it’s a persistent mineral and because it is in the shape of a thin fiber,” said David Farrer, an Oregon Health Authority toxicologist. “In certain forms it can be like a very fine, invisible even, particle that you inhale. And because it is a long fiber and it doesn’t dissolve it gets stuck in your lungs and then your lungs can’t get rid of it.”
Continue reading “All About Asbestos”DEQ’s Ximena Cruz Cuevas takes environmental justice to a new level
Ximena Cruz Cuevas
Oregon DEQ’s own Ximena Cruz Cuevas was recently appointed to the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. She is the only member from the State of Oregon representing both State and Local government, on the 26-member council that includes representatives from a wide range of backgrounds, sectors, and experiences in environmental justice. The council will provide independent advice and recommendations to the EPA Administrator. Ximena says, “I’m excited about this opportunity at the federal level because I will be able to contribute even more to EJ work for DEQ and communities in Oregon.”
Continue reading “DEQ’s Ximena Cruz Cuevas takes environmental justice to a new level”DEQ congratulates Leadership Oregon graduates, Angel Gillette and Zach Mandera
Photo: DEQ Director Leah Feldon, Angel Gillette, Zach Mandera and DEQ Lab Administrator, Lori Pillsbury celebrating graduation, Dec. 2023.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is proud of Angel Gillette and Zach Mandera for recently completing the Leadership Oregon program, the executive leadership development program for the State of Oregon.
Leadership Oregon’s mission is to strengthen the professional and personal development of state managers, preparing them for leadership roles in state government. The Department of Administrative Services established the program in 1989.
Continue reading “DEQ congratulates Leadership Oregon graduates, Angel Gillette and Zach Mandera “A new future for old mattresses
Mattress are bulky and made up of layers of materials, including wood, steel and foam. This has made them a problem in landfills and a candidate for recycling.
GreenState podcast co-hosts Dylan Darling and Katie Romano visit a mattress recycling facility in Eugene to learn how the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County pulls apart mattresses to keep most of material out of the waste stream. Terry McDonald, emeritus director for St. Vinnie’s led them on a tour and then sat down for an interview.
“The industry average is about 75 to 80 percent (of a mattresses’ components) can be recycled in one form or another,” McDonald said. “That changes depending upon what the design of mattresses are.”
Rachel Harding, product stewardship specialist with DEQ, also joined GreenState to talk about the agency’s new Mattress Stewardship Program. In 2022, Oregon became the fourth U.S. state to enact a law establishing a statewide mattress recycling program and the program will ramp up in 2024.
“This is a brand new program for the state,” Harding said. “It’ll provide collection and responsible management of discarded mattresses throughout the state.”
Continue reading “A new future for old mattresses”Closing out the year with new rules
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s governing body, the Environmental Quality Commission, adopted six different sets of rules at their November meeting last Thursday and Friday.
Why do rules matter? Rules determine how DEQ regulates. When the legislature passes laws, they’re often very general. The agency responsible for implementing the law has to write the rules that include all the details. For more information on how rulemaking works, check out DEQ’s GreenState Podcast on this topic.
Continue reading “Closing out the year with new rules”Waste Not, Want Not: Food Planning and Shopping Tips for the Holidays
Food waste can cause a sour taste after the fun of holiday feasting.
So, GreenState podcast co-hosts Dylan Darling and Katie Romano catch up with two DEQ food waste prevention experts to learn how to better plan and shop ahead of holiday meals. The advice is good year round and taking on food waste is an easy way to help protect the environment.
Jerin Dinkins and Elaine Blatt offer up a buffet of tips, aimed at making you a better planner and shopper.
Dinkins joined DEQ about a year ago, bringing an interest and background in food education. “I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection of food in our society from the lens of environmentalism and from the lens,” she said in the podcast.
Blatt has been with DEQ for more than seven years and helps share food waste prevention advice throughout Oregon. “If you care about climate change, reducing your food waste is the easiest, simplest thing you can possibly do to combat the generation of greenhouse gases,” Blatt said. “And you can do it tonight at dinner. You can do it tomorrow at breakfast.”
The episode follows up on the conversation from Ep 18. Preventing Holiday Food Waste when GreenState focused on leftovers.
Continue reading “Waste Not, Want Not: Food Planning and Shopping Tips for the Holidays”Buildings shape our world, reflections on Sustainable Building Week in Portland
Sustainable Building Week in Portland, Oct. 9-13 provided DEQ’s Built Environment program staff with an opportunity to hear from and talk to Portland’s sustainable building community about how to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time.
Buildings account for approximately 28 percent of Oregon’s consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions, 8 percent due to the embodied carbon of construction materials themselves. The built environment affects human and ecological health through exposure to toxics in materials, proximity to sources of pollutants and vulnerability during extreme weather events. In addition, the built environment has played and continues to play a role in the structural inequities that exacerbate the burdens of the climate crisis, environmental injustice and economic opportunities.
Sustainable Building Week was filled with over 25 events with discussions on these issues including low global warming potential refrigerants, low carbon concrete, deconstruction, mass timber, accessory dwelling units, equity and more. We enjoyed a rainy site tour of The Nature Conservancy’s Headquarters to learn about climate adapted native planting design on urban sites.
People packed into the June Key Delta Community Center in Northeast Portland for a DEQ-sponsored event on Amplifying Black Vision in the Sustainable Design Industry. Important takeaways from the esteemed panel included a focus on designing for no harm, the importance of flexibility to eliminate barriers and the message that Black joy is sustainability.
The week closed out with a keynote by Lindsay Baker, CEO of the International Living Future Institute, who urged the sustainable building industry to recognize themselves as part of a movement, to collaborate, strategize and organize together. She also shared that the world is looking to Portland when it comes to addressing the housing crisis so many communities are facing. Her call to action was for Portland to show others how to prioritize care and community as we work on this urgent issue.
The mission of DEQ’s program is to build relationships, influence policy, and support work that accelerates progress toward eliminating harmful impacts of the built environment, enhancing the well-being of people and place (both natural and human-made), and creating a more just future for all beings.
Learn more about the built environment through videos (English, Spanish) here.
By Amanda Ingmire, Architect and Senior Policy Analyst, Built Environment Program
Staff spotlight on Matt Davis
Matt and his family at Joshua Tree National Park
For October, DEQ turns the spotlight on Matt Davis. Matt joined the agency in 2017 and served in several positions, including managing air quality teams in Headquarters and Northwest Region, and spending several years representing DEQ at the Oregon Legislature as a Senior Legislative and Policy Analyst. Last month, he was named as our permanent Policy and External Affairs Manager after serving in the position as interim since January.
You have been a fixture here for some time and worn a lot of hats, but for our readers who haven’t had an opportunity to work with you, what do you do here at DEQ currently?
As DEQ’s Policy and External Affairs Manager, I focus my time on supporting an amazing group of professionals responsible for budget development, communications, engagement with the Environmental Quality Commission, and government relations.. My day-to-day is extremely diverse – which is something I love!
What is your favorite part of working for the agency?
My favorite thing about working for DEQ is the DEQ’ers. Meeting people throughout the agency and learning about their work is so energizing to me. I have always been so impressed with the incredible skill, knowledge, passion, and care that people bring to their work at DEQ – be it at the lab, vehicle inspection stations, the regions and headquarters.
We also like to ask some questions about fun stuff too. Away from the office, what is your favorite hobby?
I LOVE motorcycles and motorcycling, but after a couple close calls and a baby, I traded my motorcycle in for an e-bike with a toddler seat. Exploring Portland with the wind in my face, and my daughter on the back is a new thrill that I’m fully embracing!
DEQ’ers are big on travel, so I have to ask, if you could travel anywhere, where would you like to go?
The Oyamel fir forests in Mexico, where Monarch butterflies migrate and roost every winter. Their multi-generational migratory journey is really awe-inspiring to me. I’d love to see it some day!
Lastly, if you could have any meal tonight, what would it be?
I’m a big believer that the best meals are those enjoyed in good company. I love feasting with my friends and family, no matter the cuisine. That said, oysters on the half-shell are never a bad thing.
I totally agree! Thanks Matt for taking the time to answer our questions. Stay safe on that bike!
—Michele Thompson, DEQ Web Publisher
DEQ receives Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award with Pollution Prevention Resource Center
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is honored to win the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award with the Pollution Prevention Resource Center for leadership in advancing safer chemicals and the EPA Safer Choice program.
Continue reading “DEQ receives Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award with Pollution Prevention Resource Center”