A bill to protect certain homeowners from changes on their insurance due to wildfire risks has been signed into law by Gov. Tina Kotek.
The bill calls for insurance companies not to use the state’s wildfire risk map to set rates. Insurers also must be transparent about any changes with customers premiums.
The new law comes after last year’s controversial rollout of the wildfire map.
The Oregon Explorer Wildfire Risk Map, mandated by Senate Bill 762 in 2021, was released in June 2022. The Department of Forestry sent notices to property owners who were considered to be in the high or extreme risk classifications. But the state pulled the map a little more than a month later after receiving feedback from some 2,000 Oregonians.
The Oregon Department of Forestry said in January that the rollout of a new map was being put on hold until the legislature determined what to do going forward.
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