71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
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 LC 1453
 
                   Senate Joint Resolution 23
 
Sponsored by Senator TROW (at the request of Diane Merten)
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Declares need for State of Oregon to decrease risk of harm from
natural disasters.
 
                        JOINT RESOLUTION
  Whereas Oregon is subject to risks from earthquakes, tsunamis,
landslides, floods, coastal erosion and volcanoes; and
  Whereas earthquakes in 1993 caused $40 million in damage, and
floods in 1996 and 1997 caused more than $200 million in damage
and eight lives were lost; and
  Whereas Oregon has the third highest risk of future earthquake
losses in the nation; and
  Whereas Oregon experienced its last major subduction earthquake
more than 300 years ago on January 26, 1700, with considerable
losses to the coastal Native American population; and
  Whereas the State of Oregon has a risk of more than $12 billion
in damages to buildings and thousands of casualties from the next
large offshore earthquake; and
  Whereas Oregon has risk from both an offshore Cascadia
earthquake and widely distributed inland earthquakes; and
  Whereas many buildings in the state are not designed to
withstand earthquake shaking; and
  Whereas in the event of an earthquake, damage can be very
severe if structures are not designed to withstand earthquake
shaking; and
  Whereas it is the goal of the State of Oregon to increase
public safety and decrease the risk from natural hazards; and
  Whereas proper preparation before a major earthquake provides
both economic and environmental savings to society due to the
earthquake resistance of its infrastructure; and
  Whereas there is a need for a coordinated action toward the
status of a disaster-resistant state; and
  Whereas the State of Oregon's strategic plan, 'Oregon Shines,'
contains benchmarks relating to disaster resistance; and
  Whereas there are important steps the Legislative Assembly and
state agencies can take to reduce these risks and meet these
important goals; and
  Whereas the people of the State of Oregon have a long history
of finding innovative solutions to complex problems; now,
therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:
  (1) The State of Oregon should adopt a permanent Oregon
Benchmark to describe and measure disaster resistance on a
statewide level, determining the percentage of communities
prepared for disaster;
  (2) The State of Oregon should examine its state-owned
facilities for earthquake disaster resistance and categorize them
according to need for attention;
  (3) The State of Oregon should identify high-risk
infrastructure, such as highways and schools, on a systems-wide
basis and should report its findings to the Legislative Assembly
so that the Legislative Assembly can better prioritize
hazard-related expenditures that it authorizes;
  (4) The State of Oregon should provide an instructive example
for Oregon cities by evaluating state-owned and state-leased
buildings, developing loss scenarios and using the information to
help guide further expenditures for risk reduction; and
  (5) The State of Oregon should continue to cooperatively seek
additional cost-effective public and private strategies at the
local, state and national levels to realistically reduce the
level of risk to citizens and to the economy from natural
disasters.
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