Hearing on Cable Bill

Onshore base for Facebook's cable project at Tierra del Mar.\Photo by Ron Bourke.

House Bill 2603, now being considered by the current Oregon Legislature, is an attempt by Rep. David Gomberg (D-Lincoln City) to address the Facebook fiasco, in which an internet cable being installed across the shore at Tierra del Mar (by Edge Cable, a Facebook subsidiary, ran into a snag.  The company left equipment and drilling debris on the seafloor.  The bill requires owners or operators of undersea fiber optic telecommunication cables to obtain financial assurances and create plans for removing cables.  Oregon Shores supports the bill, although we also believe that more comprehensive reform of permitting processes for cables and anything else crossing the shore is needed.

The bill has its first public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m.  It is an information hearing, with only invited testimony during the session, although members of the public can submit written testimony or seek an invitation to testify.

All legislative hearings are remote at present.  To see an agenda for the meeting, and obtain instructions for attending via livestream, submitting written testimony, or requesting to testify, go here.