Section 469.279 - Tier 1 buildings report; exemptions; department support program; correction notice; civil penalties(1) An eligible building owner of a tier 1 building shall report to the State Department of Energy concerning the eligible building owner's compliance with the energy performance standard described in ORS 469.277. The eligible building owner shall submit the report in accordance with the schedule specified in subsection (4) of this section and shall submit a new report at the end of every successive five-year period. Each report the eligible building owner submits must include documentation that demonstrates that: (a) The tier 1 building's weather normalized energy use intensity during the previous calendar year is less than or equal to the applicable energy use intensity target;(b) The eligible building owner is taking actions and making investments in accordance with a conditional compliance method the department approved; or(c) The tier 1 building is exempt from an energy performance standard that otherwise would apply to the tier 1 building because:(A) The tier 1 building did not have a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate of occupancy during all of the 12 months that preceded the date on which the eligible building owner's report is due;(B) The tier 1 building did not have an actual rate of occupancy that exceeded 50 percent of the tier 1 building's capacity during all of the 12 months that preceded the date on which the eligible building owner's report is due;(C) The sum of the tier 1 building's gross floor area, minus unconditioned spaces and semiheated spaces, is less than 35,000 square feet;(D) The primary use for the tier 1 building is manufacturing or another industrial use, as defined in accordance with the following use designations of the International Building Code:(ii) High hazard group H;(E) The tier 1 building is an agricultural building; or(F) The eligible building owner or the tier 1 building has undergone or is undergoing financial hardship, as measured in accordance with the following criteria:(i) Within the 24 months that precede the date on which the eligible building owner's report is due, a city or county listed the tier 1 building on the city's or county's annual tax lien sale list because of arrears in property taxes or water or wastewater charges;(ii) A court appointed receiver controls the tier 1 building because of financial distress;(iii) A financial institution owns the tier 1 building because of a borrower's default;(iv) Within the 24 months that precede the date on which the eligible building owner's report is due, the eligible building owner acquired the tier 1 building by means of a deed in lieu of foreclosure;(v) The tier 1 building has a senior mortgage that is subject to a notice of default; or(vi) Other criteria that the department specifies by rule as indicative of financial hardship.(2) The department shall develop methods and procedures for administering reports that eligible building owners of tier 1 buildings submit to the department under subsection (1) of this section.(3)(a) The department shall provide a support program to eligible building owners of covered commercial buildings that includes, at a minimum, information and periodic training, technical assistance and telephone and electronic mail support that will assist eligible building owners in complying with the energy performance standard, applicable energy use intensity targets and reporting requirements under ORS 469.275 to 469.279.(b) As part of the support program described in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the department may encourage eligible building owners to seek for maintenance staff accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council's Green Janitors Education Program.(4) An eligible building owner must comply with the energy performance standard adopted under ORS 469.277 by the following dates: (a) If the eligible building owner's tier 1 building has a gross floor area of 200,000 square feet or more, not later than June 1, 2028;(b) If the eligible building owner's tier 1 building has a gross floor area of 90,000 square feet or more but less than 200,000 square feet, not later than June 1, 2029; and(c) If the eligible building owner's tier 1 building has a gross floor area of 35,000 square feet or more but less than 90,000 square feet, not later than June 1, 2030.(5)(a) The department shall notify an eligible building owner of a tier 1 building of a failure to comply with ORS 469.275 to 469.279 if the eligible building owner fails to:(A) Submit the report described in subsection (1) of this section by the date required or in a form and manner the department requires;(B) Meet the energy performance standard or an applicable energy use intensity target or, in lieu of meeting the standard or target, fails to obtain the department's approval to use a conditional compliance method;(C) Provide accurate reporting that meets the requirements of ORS 469.275 to 469.279; or(D) Demonstrate as provided in subsection (1)(c) of this section that the eligible building owner is exempt from an otherwise applicable energy performance standard.(b) In the notice described in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the department may specify a date by which the eligible building owner of a tier 1 building must correct the failure the department identified in the notice. In addition, the department shall specify the date by which the eligible building owner's failure to comply or failure to correct a lack of compliance will subject the eligible building owner to a civil penalty under subsection (6) of this section.(c) At an eligible building owner's request, the department shall cite the specific legal authority upon which the department relied as a basis for issuing a notice to the eligible building owner under paragraph (a) of this subsection.(6)(a) The department may impose a civil penalty as provided in ORS 183.745 upon an eligible building owner of a tier 1 building to which the department issued a notice under subsection (5) of this section if the department determines that the eligible building owner:(A) Has not complied with the requirement set forth in the notice or has not corrected a lack of compliance by the date for correction that the department specifies in the notice; or(B) Otherwise violated a provision of ORS 469.275 to 469.279 or a rule the department adopted under ORS 469.275 to 469.279.(b) A civil penalty the department imposes under paragraph (a) of this subsection may not exceed $5,000 plus an amount for the duration of a continuing violation, which may not exceed a daily amount that the department calculates by multiplying $1 per year per square foot of gross floor area of the tier 1 building that is the subject of the department's notice.(c) The department shall deposit the proceeds of any civil penalty the department imposes and collects under this subsection into the State Department of Energy Account established under ORS 469.120 and shall allocate the proceeds for the purpose of administering the department's energy efficiency programs.Added by 2023 Ch. 442, § 10