A bill that would adjust the temperature at which crematories must incinerate remains advanced unanimously through the Oregon House on Tuesday — and for a moment, partisanship went up in smoke.
House Bill 3729 would lower the temperature that human or animal incinerators must reach during cremation to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit, down from 1,800 degrees.
When the bill was in committee, crematory operators said the change was long overdue, Oregon being one of the last states in the U.S. to make the switch.
Such high temperatures, they said, are not needed to reduce a body to dust. What’s more, getting small animals and people up to the state-mandated temperatures can sometimes prove difficult, operators said, requiring more natural gas and, in turn, generating more emissions.
The current 1,800-degree requirement covers air contaminant discharge permits issued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for “incinerators installed or modified on or after March 13, 1993.”
But the bill would prohibit DEQ, the Environmental Quality Commission or any regional air quality control authority from mandating that a crematory operator go above 1,600 degrees.
Though public displays of political acrimony are common, bills passing with strong bipartisan support is not unheard of, particularly for non-controversial business.
And despite the macabre subject matter, the bill generated a few puns on the House floor Tuesday.
“We’ve had a lot of hot topics on the floor today,” said Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, before urging an aye vote. “Let’s take the temperature down.”
“We’re burning up time here, colleagues,” House Speaker Pro Tempore David Gomberg, a Democrat from Otis, added.
HB 3729 passed with 55 votes in favor and none opposed. The other five lawmakers were excused.
“See how united we can become,” said the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Emily McIntire, R-Eagle Point.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
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