PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon has been fined $1.2 million for failing to address coastal pollution from logging, agriculture and other sources.
The Oregonian reported federal regulators said Friday they consider the state plan to control runoff that pollutes coastal waterways to be insufficient.
Regulators will take the fine from a pot of about $4 million dedicated to addressing pollution in Oregon and give it to other states.
The decision makes Oregon the first state to face penalties for inadequately meeting federal standards set in 1990.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulators have been warning Oregon officials for years that they were violating terms of the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Program.
The Oregon Board of Forestry began crafting new rules to address logging runoff, but a 2015 bill never reached the Senate floor.
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