Or. Rev. Stat. » Oregon Revised Statutes
Oregon Revised Statutes

Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORSoregonlegislature.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

      465.200 Definitions. As used in ORS 465.200 to 465.485 and 465.900:

      (1) “Claim” means a demand in writing for a sum certain.

      (2) “Commission” means the Environmental Quality Commission.

      (3) “Department” means the Department of Environmental Quality.

      (4) “Director” means the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality.

      (5) “Environment” includes the waters of the state, any drinking water supply, any land surface and subsurface strata and ambient air.

      (6) “Facility” means any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline including any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works, well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, above ground tank, underground storage tank, motor vehicle, rolling stock, aircraft, or any site or area where a hazardous substance has been deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be located and where a release has occurred or where there is a threat of a release, but does not include any consumer product in consumer use or any vessel.

      (7) “Fund” means the Hazardous Substance Remedial Action Fund established by ORS 465.381.

      (8) “Guarantor” means any person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator under ORS 465.200 to 465.485 and 465.900.

      (9) “Hazardous substance” means:

      (a) Hazardous waste as defined in ORS 466.005.

      (b) Any substance defined as a hazardous substance pursuant to section 101(14) of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, P.L. 96-510, as amended, and P.L. 99-499.

      (c) Oil.

      (d) Any substance designated by the commission under ORS 465.400.

      (10) “Natural resources” includes but is not limited to land, fish, wildlife, biota, air, surface water, ground water, drinking water supplies and any other resource owned, managed, held in trust or otherwise controlled by the State of Oregon or a political subdivision of the state.

      (11) “Oil” includes gasoline, crude oil, fuel oil, diesel oil, lubricating oil, oil sludge or refuse and any other petroleum-related product, or waste or fraction thereof that is liquid at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit and pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute.

      (12) “Owner or operator” means any person who owned, leased, operated, controlled or exercised significant control over the operation of a facility. “Owner or operator” does not include a person, who, without participating in the management of a facility, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect a security interest in the facility.

      (13) “Person” means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, joint venture, consortium, commercial entity, partnership, association, corporation, commission, state and any agency thereof, political subdivision of the state, interstate body or the federal government including any agency thereof.

      (14) “Release” means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing into the environment including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers and other closed receptacles containing any hazardous substance, or threat thereof, but excludes:

      (a) Any release that results in exposure to a person solely within a workplace, with respect to a claim that the person may assert against the person’s employer under ORS chapter 656;

      (b) Emissions from the engine exhaust of a motor vehicle, rolling stock, aircraft, vessel or pipeline pumping station engine;

      (c) Any release of source, by-product or special nuclear material from a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, if the release is subject to requirements with respect to financial protection established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under section 170 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or, for the purposes of ORS 465.260 or any other removal or remedial action, any release of source by-product or special nuclear material from any processing site designated under section 102(a)(1) or 302(a) of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978; and

      (d) The normal application of fertilizer.

      (15)(a) “Remedial action” means those actions consistent with a permanent remedial action taken instead of or in addition to removal actions in the event of a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance into the environment, to prevent or minimize the release of a hazardous substance so that it does not migrate to cause substantial danger to present or future public health, safety, welfare or the environment.

      (b) “Remedial action” includes, but is not limited to:

      (A) Such actions at the location of the release as storage, confinement, perimeter protection using dikes, trenches or ditches, clay cover, neutralization, cleanup of released hazardous substances and associated contaminated materials, recycling or reuse, diversion, destruction, segregation of reactive wastes, dredging or excavations, repair or replacement of leaking containers, collection of leachate and runoff, on-site treatment or incineration, provision of alternative drinking and household water supplies, and any monitoring reasonably required to assure that the actions protect the public health, safety, welfare and the environment.

      (B) Offsite transport and offsite storage, treatment, destruction or secure disposition of hazardous substances and associated, contaminated materials.

      (C) Such actions as may be necessary to monitor, assess, evaluate or investigate a release or threat of release.

      (16) “Remedial action costs” means reasonable costs which are attributable to or associated with a removal or remedial action at a facility, including but not limited to the costs of administration, investigation, legal or enforcement activities, contracts and health studies.

      (17) “Removal” means the cleanup or removal of a released hazardous substance from the environment, such actions as may be necessary taken in the event of the threat of release of a hazardous substance into the environment, such actions as may be necessary to monitor, assess and evaluate the release or threat of release of a hazardous substance, the disposal of removed material, or the taking of such other actions as may be necessary to prevent, minimize or mitigate damage to the public health, safety, welfare or to the environment, that may otherwise result from a release or threat of release. “Removal” also includes but is not limited to security fencing or other measures to limit access, provision of alternative drinking and household water supplies, temporary evacuation and housing of threatened individuals and action taken under ORS 465.260.

      (18) “Transport” means the movement of a hazardous substance by any mode, including pipeline and in the case of a hazardous substance that has been accepted for transportation by a common or contract carrier, the term “transport” shall include any stoppage in transit that is temporary, incidental to the transportation movement, and at the ordinary operating convenience of a common or contract carrier, and any such stoppage shall be considered as a continuity of movement and not as the storage of a hazardous substance.

      (19) “Underground storage tank” has the meaning given that term in ORS 466.706.

      (20) “Waters of the state” has the meaning given that term in ORS 468B.005. [Formerly 466.540; 1995 c.427 §1; 2001 c.495 §19; 2003 c.407 §§23,24; 2023 c.262 §3]

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1993–2022 · leading case: Cash Flow Investors, Inc. v. Union Oil Co., 862 P.2d 501 (Or. 1993).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Cash Flow Investors, Inc. v. Union Oil Co., 862 P.2d 501 (Or. 1993). · cites it 17× ““ (5) (b) A person who is liable [for remedial action costs] under this section shall not be barred from seeking contribution from any other person for liability under ORS 465.200 to 465.455 and 465.900.” ORS 465.”
Rudder v. Hosack, 506 P.3d 1156 (Or. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 3× “As we understand that argument, it reduces to the proposi- tion that, despite the breadth of authority conferred by the Declaratory Judgment Act to settle uncertain legal relation- ships, the Oregon environmental statutes, ORS 465.200 to 465.455, create a heightened standard and…”
Goldingay v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co., 306 F. Supp. 3d 1259 (D. Or. 2018). · cites it 2× “Goldingay arranged for Evergreen to perform 'removal' work within the meaning of ORS § 465.200(2)." Under McDonald , such an allegation amounts to a private undertaking, which is not "remedial action" for the purposes of the contribution statute.”
Siltronic Corp. v. Employers Ins., 176 F. Supp. 3d 1033 (D. Or. 2016). · cites it 2× “ORS 465.200(23). Both of those terms “may include investigations, treatment, excavation and offsite disposal, engineering controls, institutional controls, any combination thereof.”
Eden Gate, Inc. v. D&L Excavating & Trucking, Inc., 37 P.3d 233 (Or. Ct. App. 2002). “Consequently, on December 8, 1997, Eden Gate entered into a written contract with D&L, under which D&L agreed to (1) decommission the underground tank “as per DEQ regulations,” (2) excavate and remove “contaminated soil,” (3) backfill the area from which that soil had been…”
Express Car Wash Corp. v. Irinaga Bros., Inc., 967 F. Supp. 1188 (D. Or. 1997). “The basis for my granting of summary judgment regarding plaintiffs RCRA claim has not required me to make findings of fact or reach conclusions of law that are in any way determinative of these state-law claims. In addition, the Oregon statutes governing removal or remedial…”
Baumann v. North Pac. Ins., 952 P.2d 1052 (Or. Ct. App. 1998). “” 5 Plaintiff argues that the state’s regulatory interest in maintaining a clean environment is derived from ORS 465.200(11), which defines environment as “the waters of the state, any drinking water supply, any land surface and subsurface strata and ambient air.”
Frontier Recovery, LLC v. Lane Cnty., 727 F. Supp. 2d 968 (D. Or. 2010). “” ORS 465.200(18). The record shows evidence of possible groundwater contamination.”
ETU, Inc. v. Env't Quality Comm'n, 134 P.3d 1019 (Or. Ct. App. 2006). “) It stated that it was issued pursuant to ORS chapters 183 and 468, ORS 465.200 to 465.455, ORS 466.706 to 466.”
Dep't of Env't Quality v. Baney Corp., 956 P.2d 1060 (Or. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 3× “ORS 465.200. In this case, it is undisputed that Baney Corporation unlawfully hindered DEQ’s investigation of, and remedial action at, the Shell facility, where a release of gasoline had occurred.”
Eden Gate v. D & L Excavating & Trucking, 37 P.3d 233 (Or. Ct. App. 2002). “Consequently, on December 8, 1997, Eden Gate entered into a written contract with D & L, under which D & L agreed to (1) decommission the underground tank "as per DEQ regulations," (2) excavate and remove "contaminated soil," (3) backfill the area from which that soil had been…”
McDonald's Corp. v. Wilson, 814 F. Supp. 935 (D. Or. 1993). “ORS 465.200(16). Under this statutory scheme, the state agency in charge of enforcing its provisions has several options available to it, including *938 taking remedial action itself at a contaminated site and thereafter seeking reimbursement from any liable party or issuing an…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(11) — 1 case
Baumann v. North Pac. Ins., 952 P.2d 1052 (Or. Ct. App. 1998). “” 5 Plaintiff argues that the state’s regulatory interest in maintaining a clean environment is derived from ORS 465.200(11), which defines environment as “the waters of the state, any drinking water supply, any land surface and subsurface strata and ambient air.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(14) — 1 case
Cash Flow Investors, Inc. v. Union Oil Co., 862 P.2d 501 (Or. 1993). ““ (5) (b) A person who is liable [for remedial action costs] under this section shall not be barred from seeking contribution from any other person for liability under ORS 465.200 to 465.455 and 465.900.” ORS 465.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(15) — 1 case
Cash Flow Investors, Inc. v. Union Oil Co., 862 P.2d 501 (Or. 1993). ““ (5) (b) A person who is liable [for remedial action costs] under this section shall not be barred from seeking contribution from any other person for liability under ORS 465.200 to 465.455 and 465.900.” ORS 465.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(16) — 2 cases
Cash Flow Investors, Inc. v. Union Oil Co., 862 P.2d 501 (Or. 1993). ““ (5) (b) A person who is liable [for remedial action costs] under this section shall not be barred from seeking contribution from any other person for liability under ORS 465.200 to 465.455 and 465.900.” ORS 465.”
McDonald's Corp. v. Wilson, 814 F. Supp. 935 (D. Or. 1993). “ORS 465.200(16). Under this statutory scheme, the state agency in charge of enforcing its provisions has several options available to it, including *938 taking remedial action itself at a contaminated site and thereafter seeking reimbursement from any liable party or issuing an…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(18) — 1 case
Frontier Recovery, LLC v. Lane Cnty., 727 F. Supp. 2d 968 (D. Or. 2010). “” ORS 465.200(18). The record shows evidence of possible groundwater contamination.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(2) — 1 case
Goldingay v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co., 306 F. Supp. 3d 1259 (D. Or. 2018). “Goldingay arranged for Evergreen to perform 'removal' work within the meaning of ORS § 465.200(2)." Under McDonald , such an allegation amounts to a private undertaking, which is not "remedial action" for the purposes of the contribution statute.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(22) — 1 case
Dep't of Env't Quality v. Baney Corp., 956 P.2d 1060 (Or. Ct. App. 1998). “ORS 465.200. In this case, it is undisputed that Baney Corporation unlawfully hindered DEQ’s investigation of, and remedial action at, the Shell facility, where a release of gasoline had occurred.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(23) — 2 cases
Siltronic Corp. v. Employers Ins., 176 F. Supp. 3d 1033 (D. Or. 2016). “ORS 465.200(23). Both of those terms “may include investigations, treatment, excavation and offsite disposal, engineering controls, institutional controls, any combination thereof.”
Dep't of Env't Quality v. Baney Corp., 956 P.2d 1060 (Or. Ct. App. 1998). “ORS 465.200. In this case, it is undisputed that Baney Corporation unlawfully hindered DEQ’s investigation of, and remedial action at, the Shell facility, where a release of gasoline had occurred.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(24) — 1 case
Rudder v. Hosack, 506 P.3d 1156 (Or. Ct. App. 2022). “As we understand that argument, it reduces to the proposi- tion that, despite the breadth of authority conferred by the Declaratory Judgment Act to settle uncertain legal relation- ships, the Oregon environmental statutes, ORS 465.200 to 465.455, create a heightened standard and…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 465.200(25) — 1 case
Siltronic Corp. v. Employers Ins., 176 F. Supp. 3d 1033 (D. Or. 2016). “ORS 465.200(23). Both of those terms “may include investigations, treatment, excavation and offsite disposal, engineering controls, institutional controls, any combination thereof.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.