OAR 123-680-0001: Purpose and Scope

This division of administrative rules specifies matters related to the creation and operation of an RREDZ , which as used in these administrative rules, means a rural renewable energy development zone under ORS 285C.350 to 285C.370: (1) The primary purpose of RREDZs is the extension only of the standard enterprise zone incentive to renewable energy projects, especially those that are far-flung or widely dispersed, in lieu of potentially infeasible or physically complex amendment to the boundary of an existing enterprise zone. (2) These administrative rules: (a) Have no bearing on true enterprise zones, including but not limited to such a zone’s designation and so forth, or to an eligible business firm or qualified property in such a zone, even if encompassed by an RREDZ; (b) Do not control or bind the county assessor or Department of Revenue, and they are superseded by OAR chapter 150 in matters related to tax administration; and (c) Utilize definitions found in OAR 123-001 (Procedural Rules) and 123-674, except where the context demands otherwise. (3) The sponsor of the RREDZ is equivalently responsible for the same duties as a local enterprise zone sponsor, including but not limited to those covered in OAR 123-668. (4) For an eligible business firm in an RREDZ, the standard (3 to 5-year) enterprise zone exemption and associated provisions under ORS 285C.050 to 285C.250 apply as they would inside an enterprise zone, as addressed in OAR 123-674, but only insofar as the firm and the firm’s qualified property relate to “renewable energy” facilities and activities under ORS 285C.350, such that for purposes of the first clause of ORS 285C.350(2): (a) The qualified property must generate electricity to a significant degree from the combustion, harnessing or utilization of a renewable energy resource, but it may also produce (even for the most part) other energy forms, including but not limited to steam, heat or mechanical power; and (b) Definitions in OAR 330-090-0110 shall be relied on as appropriate and necessary.