Oregon Marketplace: Summary

Currently in Oregon, no statutes or regulations exist that explicitly prevent the development of a multi-credit ecosystem marketplace. However, there are some laws in place that could affect an agency's participation (buyer, seller, multi-credit bank owner, etc.) in a market system. While these present potential disruptions to the flow of a marketplace, there are still ways to overcome these limitations, ranging from adjusting an agency's role in the market (bank owner vs. credit buyer) to legally removing them. Rather, the major limitation associated with the development of a multi-credit ecosystem marketplace deals with overcoming institutional and political concerns. In particular, some of the relevant agencies are resistant to or skeptical of the notion of a multi-credit system. Yet it is challenging to address this resistance and skepticism since a multi-credit ecosystem marketplace lacks successful precedent. One way to help alleviate these issues may be the development of a pilot project, showing how multiple credits can be generated from a single mitigation bank site and then subsequently bought and sold in a market-like system. Such a project could provide skeptics with the opportunity to address concerns, demonstrate value and see firsthand how a multi-credit system could work on-the-ground. Other concerns, however, may need to be directly addressed in legislation or an executive order.