FRIDAY, APRIL 20

Fridays

Oregon regulators are challenging a plan to allow more rural housing on farmland and forestland in Douglas County that was approved last month.

In March, Douglas County decided to open about 22,500 acres to the development of 20-acre homes sites on properties that it had found were of marginal value for agriculture and forestry.

Two Oregon agencies — the Department of Land Conservation and Development and the Department of Fish and Wildlife — have now objected to that amendment of the county’s comprehensive plan before the state’s Land Use Board of Appeals.

A conservation nonprofit, 1,000 Friends of Oregon, has also appealed the change to LUBA.

“Our livelihood depends on this land,” said Shelley Wetherell, president of local affiliate Friends of Douglas County. “We’d like to see it preserved long-term for farm and forest uses, not residential sprawl.”

Originally, Douglas County planned to designate 35,000 acres as “rural open space” where larger parcels can be divided into 20-acre home sites.

The properties eligible for that zone change were scaled down to 22,500 acres after the county used additional data overlays to exclude higher-quality farmland, forestland and wildife habitat from the designation.

Properties must also fall within two miles of 25 existing cities and rural communities to qualify for the new zone.

Less than one percent of Douglas County’s total area qualifies for the “rural open space” designation and county officials only expect about one-fourth of eligible properties will be developed.

However, Friends of Douglas County believes the plan sets too high a threshold for what’s considered valuable farm and forest land, said Wetherell.

Lower-quality soils, for example, “are still suitable for grazing and they may be suitable for other things,” she said.

The county would allow 20-acre parcels on forestland that annually generates fewer than 85 cubic feet of timber per acre, but “a lot of logs” are harvested from such properties, Wetherell said.

Some areas in Douglas County are suitable for timber and grazing, she said. “It’s dual purpose.”

It’s also possible that more rural development won’t be financially beneficial for the county, Wetherell said. “The (tax) revenue from the houses may not be what it costs for the county services.”

Josh LeBombard, Southern Oregon Regional Representative for DLCD, said state officials can’t comment on the pending litigation. Capital Press was unable to reach Keith Cubic, Douglas County’s planning director, for comment.

On average, appeals to LUBA are resolved within four to eight months, but the board’s decision can then be challenged before the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Oregon State University announced April 18 it has hired Ryan Graebner, who just a week earlier obtain his Ph.D. in crop science, as extension cereals scientist.

Graebner will work out of the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center in Pendleton. His predecessor, former OSU Extension Cereals Specialist Mike Flowers, worked on the Corvallis campus.

Flowers left OSU last September after a dozen years at the university to take a position with Limagrain Cereal Seeds.

“We are excited to have Ryan,” said Jay Noller, head of the Department of Crop and Soil Science. “With Ryan and other new faculty that we have brought on, and others we will be announcing soon, we are looking for an even brighter future for our agricultural sector in Oregon.”

Noller said the department expects to fill three field crops extension positions in coming weeks, including two in the Willamette Valley and one in Malheur County.

Graebner holds a master’s degree in crop science specializing in barley breeding, and a Ph.D. with a specialty in potato breeding. He obtained both degrees from OSU.

Noller said Graebner’s background in plant breeding should serve him well in his new position.

“We anticipate great synergy between Ryan and (OSU wheat breeder) Bob (Zemetra),” Noller said.

Mary Corp, director of the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, said she is delighted with the change in location of the cereal variety program from Corvallis to Pendleton and in having Graebner take over the program’s leadership.

“I think he has the skills and training to do a great job, and I know he is committed to the region and to the growers,” Corp said.

Corp said OSU consulted wheat growers before deciding to move the position to Pendleton. “We talked to the wheat growers about if it made more sense to move the program to where we grow the most wheat in the state, and they were very supportive of the idea,” she said. “I think it is going to be a great fit.”

With the help of faculty research assistants, Graebner will conduct trials in wheat growing regions throughout the state, Noller said, including in the Willamette Valley, where he will work closely with Zemetra and plant pathologist Chris Mundt, both of whom are stationed on campus.

OSU Extension field crops agent Nicole Anderson, who recently moved her office from McMinnville to the North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, also will do some wheat research, Noller said.

Noller noted that OSU has changed the statewide cereals extension position from tenure track, as it was under Flowers, to professor of practice, a change that relaxes some of the position’s academic publishing requirements in exchange for more outreach and applied research.

Flowers’ position also included some teaching responsibilities, which Graebner will not have.

Graebner, who was stationed in Hermiston while working on his Ph.D., said he is excited over his new position.

“I like the crop, I like the place and I like the growers,” Graebner said. “I am excited to be working with Oregon wheat.”

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho officials have approved an agreement allowing a utility company’s $216.5 million in relicensing expenses for a three-dam hydroelectric project on the Snake River on the Idaho-Oregon border.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission issued the order on Friday that allows Boise-based Idaho Power to include the costs involving the Hells Canyon Complex in customer rates at a future time. That rate increase would take a separate request from Idaho Power.

The company in December 2016 requested about $220 million to cover relicensing costs that started in 1991.

The company’s 50-year license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission expired in 2005, and it has been operating the dams under annual licenses renewed each August.

A relicensing sticking point is that Oregon officials want salmon above the dams, while Idaho officials don’t.

Farmers have a final chance to plant canola in Oregon’s Willamette Valley under special legislation before the crop enters uncharted legal territory next year.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is accepting applications until May 11 to plant canola this autumn in time for harvest in 2019, which marks the end of a six-year program allowing 500 acres of annual production in the region.

Lawmakers imposed the 500-acre limit in 2013 after an ODA proposal to relax canola restrictions in the valley upset specialty seed producers, who feared cross-pollination with related crops as well as increased pest and disease pressure.

Initially, canola was only allowed to be grown in the area during a three-year Oregon State University study, but lawmakers later extended the 500-acre cap for another three years.

The study, conducted by OSU weed scientist Carol Mallory-Smith, concluded that canola doesn’t pose a greater hazard than turnips, radish or other Brassicas.

A recommendation to the Legislature about canola’s future is due from ODA later this year, but right now, it’s unclear what plan the agency may propose and whether lawmakers will accept it in 2019.

In the meantime, applications to ODA will help determine how much demand exists to cultivate the crop, said Anna Scharf, president of the Willamette Valley Oilseed Producers Association.

“We need to be getting a better picture of how many people want to grow,” Scharf said. “A lot of them are already growing brassica crops so they already know how to grow this.”

Canola is permitted to be grown outside isolation distances for related Brassica seed crops that receive priority on a pinning map maintained by the Willamette Valley Specialty Seed Association, she said.

For that reason, it helps to have more potential acres from which to choose — typically, up to 1,500 proposed acres are necessary to identify the 500 acres allowable for production, Scharf said.

“The biggest challenge is we have to have thousands of acres to find the 500,” she said.

Among farmers, the two biggest misconceptions about growing canola under the current legislation is that they must be members of the oilseed producers association and have a contract for the crop, she said.

In reality, members of WVOPA receive no preferential treatment, Scharf said. “You simply have to apply and hope to get your pin in the map.”

As for contracts, none are necessary — growers can sell canola to Willamette Biomass Processors in Rickreall, Ore., but they can also deliver it to another facility that accepts the commodity crop in Washington or elsewhere, she said.

“It is absolutely no different than if you were growing wheat,” Scharf said.

Over the course of using the pinning system, it’s become apparent canola growers want to plan where fields will be located a year ahead, said Greg Loberg, public relations chair for the Willamette Valley Specialty Seed Association.

Loberg said the OSU study hasn’t necessarily resolved questions about canola’s coexistence with other Brassicas, since a larger acreage of the crop may prove disruptive even though 500 acres did not, Loberg said.

“You can’t really know how 10,000 acres will work without growing 10,000 acres,” he said.

Growers who want to see if they’re within the Willamette Valley control area for canola, or one of the three other control areas for the crop, can use an online “geographic information system” map developed by ODA, said Sunny Jones, an agency employee overseeing canola issues.

Fields within the Willamette Valley control district are subject to the 500-acre cap, so growers within its boundaries must apply to ODA to grow canola. The map can be found online at oda.direct/canola.

Officials from ODA plan to solicit feedback from farmers about canola’s future in the valley during meetings in May or June, but no firm dates have yet been set, Jones said.

With Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declaring a drought emergency in Klamath County, the state Water Resources Commission has approved temporary rules granting a preference to water rights for human consumption, such as drinking, cooking and sanitation.

A second set of preferences was also approved for livestock watering in the Williamson River Basin, provided ranchers meet certain requirements. Both provisions were approved by the commission during a special meeting April 13.

Water rights holders seeking to exercise either of these preferences need to submit a notice to the district watermaster. Forms can be found online at www.oregon.gov/owrd.

Under the rules, water rights that would otherwise be shut off to accommodate senior rights holders will be allowed to continue usage, provided they satisfy criteria for human consumption in Klamath County, or livestock watering in the Williamson River Basin.

The commission has passed similar preferences in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Tom Byler, director of the Oregon Water Resources Department, said the goal is to provide short-term relief during difficult water years.

“However, given that it reduces water available to senior water right holders, it is not a desirable solution for long-term water management,” Byler said.

A complete list of requirements is available on the OWRD website. For human consumption rights, that includes using the most efficiency means of water delivery possible and curtailing all other water uses.

As for livestock watering, water diversion is limited to the number of animals not to exceed one-tenth of one cubic foot per second, roughly equivalent to 45 gallons per minute, per thousand head. Streams also cannot drop below 2 cubic feet per second for live flow.

OWRD is working with water users in the Klamath Basin to transition to alternative methods for stock water and human consumption needs, Byler said, so emergency preferences will not be necessary in the future.

“I am pleased by the progress that has been made, but I strongly encourage water users to complete efforts to develop more permanent solutions to their needs through alternative sources,” Byler said. “Our staff can help explain those options to water rights holders.”

An Oregon farmer should be held liable without a jury trial for violating the Clean Water Act by stabilizing a riverbank, according to a federal judge.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin has agreed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that “ample evidence” shows farmer Bill Case of Albany, Ore., broke the law by working below the North Santiam River’s ordinary high water mark.

The farmer hasn’t proven “a reasonable jury could find a serious injustice had been committed” in holding him liable, Coffin said.

Because there is no question regarding a “genuine issue of material fact,” the issue can be resolved on “summary judgment” by a judge instead of a jury, he said.

The judge also rejected the argument that Case should not be held liable because he didn’t know a Clean Water Act permit was necessary, government officials had been aware of the work, and he had relied on the federal government’s advice when stabilizing the riverbank.

Although the farmer “presented sufficient evidence” that these elements were satisfied, he didn’t show the government had committed “affirmative misconduct” — such as a “deliberate lie” or a “pattern of false promises” — as required by legal precedent, Coffin said.

Under the Clear Water Act, it’s illegal to discharge material below the ordinary high water mark of a navigable water without a permit, with penalties of up to $37,500 per day of violation.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a lawsuit against Case in 2016, claiming he violated the statute by placing large “riprap” rocks along the river in 2009 and later expanding levees in 2012 and 2013.

The judge said that Case’s own photos indicate that fill material was placed beneath the North Santiam river’s ordinary high water mark during the 2009 stabilization, but there’s no evidence the government approved him going below that level.

Case also didn’t provide evidence, apart from testimony, that the 2012 and 2013 work occurred above the ordinary high water mark, Coffin said.

The government, meanwhile, had sufficient evidence the levee improvements occurred below that level, he said.

“Although Mr. Case may have been unaware that the areas in which he worked and the types of changes to the dike he performed were subject to permit requirements, the CWA imposes strict liability upon its violators,” the judge said.

While the magistrate judge has found that Case should be held liable, that is not the final word on the matter. His recommendation has now been referred to U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken.

Case said he plans to challenge the recommendation and is also negotiating with EPA about mitigation work to the riverbank.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers never mentioned he’d have to stay above the ordinary high water mark when stabilizing the riverbank, Case said.

“The only thing they said was stay out of the river,” he said.

Case said it’s implausible that he’d document the stabilization work with photos if he thought the work was unlawful.

“We weren’t trying to hide anything, we were just doing what they told,” he said.

A jury would likely have understood the situation and thrown out the lawsuit, which is why the judge didn’t like that option, Case said. “You get a judge on the side of the EPA, he’s going to go in that direction.”

HALFWAY, Ore. — Northeast Oregon ranchers are again seeking to eradicate the entire Pine Creek wolf pack from Baker County after the apex predators attacked livestock for the third time in just over a week.

The most recent incident was confirmed Sunday, April 15 at Pine Creek Ranch in Halfway, Ore. A 125-pound calf was found dead with bite marks on its hind legs and fresh wolf tracks at the scene. GPS collar data also shows OR-50 and OR-57, members of the Pine Creek pack, were within a mile of the carcass earlier that morning.

The pack is now responsible for killing five calves and wounding four others at two different ranches since April 6, prompting the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association to ask the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to kill all Pine Creek wolves to prevent further losses.

“The wolves are being seen on the valley floor, and that’s what’s really disconcerting folks,” said George Rollins, a Baker County rancher and co-chairman of the OCA wolf committee for Eastern Oregon. “So many people have seen them now, it’s like daily sightings.”

ODFW has already issued one lethal take permit for up to two wolves from the Pine Creek pack. Wildlife officials shot one yearling female from the pack on April 10. The permit expires May 4.

But incremental take has not proven effective in changing the pack’s behavior, Rollins said.

“They just keep coming back,” he said. “They are not following the herds of elk that are on the low hills area.”

Michelle Dennehy, spokeswoman for ODFW, said the agency has not decided yet whether to kill more Pine Creek wolves.

Earlier this year, University of Wisconsin researchers released a study suggesting that government killing of wolves may benefit one farmer or rancher, but by fracturing the pack it could actually increase the risk of predation at neighboring farms up to three miles away.

In this case, ODFW authorized killing two wolves from the Pine Creek pack after back-to-back attacks on private land leased by rancher Chad DelCurto. Nine days later, the pack notched its third depredation at Pine Creek Ranch roughly five to six miles away.

Environmental groups are staunchly opposed to killing any wolves in Oregon, arguing the population is still too small and fragile. ODFW reports there were at least 124 wolves statewide at the end of 2017, an 11 percent increase over 2016.

Conservationists also point to four cases of wolves that were illegally killed in 2017. Out of 13 total wolf deaths throughout the year, 12 were human-caused.

Under Phase III of the Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, ODFW can authorize killing wolves that make a habit of preying on livestock in Eastern Oregon. The species remains federally protected west of highways 395, 78 and 95.

Jerome Rosa, executive director for the OCA, said incremental take of wolves will not solve the problems ranchers face, and actually leads to packs becoming more aggressive.

“It’s a no-win situation,” Rosa said.

The Pine Creek pack includes seven known wolves — after one was shot earlier this month — occupying territory mostly south of the Imnaha River and east of Halfway to the Idaho state line. In 2017, the pack produced at least five pups that survived to the end of the year.

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — New plans call for reduced salvage logging on land that burned during last summer’s Chetco Bar wildfire in southwestern Oregon.

The Mail Tribune reports the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest had eyed about 20 square miles of land in January but forest officials Monday released a new draft environmental study that calls for a salvage-logging area of about 6 square miles.

The lightning-sparked wildfire burned more than 300 square miles last summer. Most of the forestland will either be left alone or tapped for removal of hazardous trees near roads, trails and recreation areas.

The possible salvage areas are in the Chetco and Pistol river basins in Curry County.

The final scope of the project is expected to be determined in June.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A closely watched medicine made from the marijuana plant reduces seizures in children with severe forms of epilepsy and warrants approval in the United States, health officials said Tuesday.

British drugmaker GW Pharmaceuticals is seeking permission to sell its purified form of an ingredient found in cannabis — one that doesn’t get users high — as a medication for rare, hard-to-treat seizures in children. If successful, the company’s liquid formula would be the first government-approved drug derived from the cannabis plant in the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration’s approval would technically limit the treatment to a small group of epilepsy patients. But doctors would have the option to prescribe it for other uses and it could spur new pharmaceutical research and interest into other cannabis-based products. Man-made versions of a different marijuana ingredient have previously been approved for other purposes.

The FDA posted its review of the experimental medication Epidiolex ahead of a public meeting Thursday when a panel of outside experts will vote on the medicine’s safety and effectiveness. It’s a non-binding recommendation that the FDA will consider in its final decision by late June.

Patients taking the treatment had fewer seizures, according to the FDA’s internal review posted online. Scientists concluded that GW Pharmaceutical’s submission “appears to support approval” despite some potential side effects including risks of liver injury.

More than two dozen states allow marijuana use for a variety of ailments, but the FDA has not approved it for any medical use. In 2016, the agency recommended against easing federal restrictions on marijuana. The U.S. continues to classify marijuana as a high-risk substance with no medical use, alongside other illicit drugs like heroin and LSD.

For years, desperate patients and parents have pushed for wider access to medical marijuana products for a host of conditions including pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and epilepsy, with only anecdotal stories and limited studies on their side.

But studies conducted by GW Pharmaceuticals have begun to change that picture.

Across three studies involving more than 500 patients, Epidiolex generally cut the number of monthly seizures by about 40 percent, compared with reductions between 15 and 20 percent for patients taking a dummy medicine.

Most patients in the study were already taking at least three other medications to try and control their seizures.

Epidiolex is essentially a pharmaceutical-grade version of cannabidiol, or CBD oil, which some parents have used for years to treat children with epilepsy. CBD is one of more than 100 chemicals found in the cannabis plant and it doesn’t contain THC, the ingredient that gives marijuana its mind-altering effect.

CBD oil is currently sold online and in specialty shops across the U.S., though its legal status remains murky. Most producers say their oil is made from hemp, a plant in the cannabis family that contains little THC and can be legally farmed in a number of states for clothing, food and other uses.

A doctor who treats children with epilepsy says it’s important to have an FDA-approved version of CBD.

“I think it needs to be approved because everyone is using it across the internet without knowing the safety ... and no one is watching the interactions with other drugs,” said Dr. Joan Conry of Children’s National Health System in Washington, who was not involved in the studies.

Conry and other researchers say it’s not yet clear why CBD reduces seizures in some patients.

GW Pharmaceuticals makes its drug from cannabis plants that are specially bred to contain high levels of CBD. It’s seeking approval for two rare forms of childhood epilepsy — Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes.

Common side effects included diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue and sleep problems. FDA reviewers flagged a more serious issue with potential liver injury, but said doctors could manage the risk by monitoring patients’ enzyme levels.

Wednesdays

The Tumalo Irrigation District in Central Oregon could save 4.9 billion gallons of water per season by converting nearly 70 miles of open ditches to pipes, according to a preliminary study by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Greater efficiency means more water available in-stream for fish and wildlife in the Deschutes River and Tumalo Creek, including Chinook salmon, summer steelhead, bull trout and the Oregon spotted frog, which was the subject of an environmental lawsuit in 2016.

The TID Irrigation Modernization Project calls for updating infrastructure to boost water conservation, enhance stream flows and provide greater reliability for farmers in the 28,000-acre district northwest of Bend.

Project funding is available in part through the NRCS, which released its draft Watershed Plan and Environmental Assessment on April 16. A public meeting is scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, from at the Cascades Academy on Tumalo Reservoir Road in Bend.

Tom Makowski, assistant state conservationist for Watershed Resources and Planning with NRCS Oregon, said feedback will help the agency craft a final analysis and recommendation, which then goes to NRCS National Headquarters for authorization.

The entire project is expected to cost roughly $43 million, broken up into seven phases through 2028. The first phase, which Makowski said they hope to start this fall, will be the focus of the May 8 meeting.

Phase I will replace 1.9 miles of Tumalo Feed Canal, with $4.7 million provided by the NRCS Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act. The district will also foot $1.5 million.

The Tumalo Irrigation District serves 667 patrons and 7,417 acres of irrigated land. Its two primary diversion sources are Tumalo Creek below Shevlin Park and the Deschutes River near Pioneer Park, along with water in Crescent Lake.

Natural resource agencies have identified stream flows in the region as a primary concern. A lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and WaterWatch of Oregon against the Bureau of Reclamation and five irrigation districts — including Tumalo — over spotted frog habitat was settled in 2016.

According to the NRCS analysis, the district’s antiquated irrigation canals and laterals also make it difficult to deliver the correct amount of water to patrons on time, particularly early and late in the season. The modernization project would provide a more reliable source of irrigation water, while also reducing energy costs by removing the need for most patrons’ individual pumps.

TID patrons currently use individual pumps to pressurize water from their private ditch or pond. Together, these pumps use approximately 6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, costing $584,000.

The TID Irrigation Modernization Project is a collaboration between the district, NRCS, Deschutes Basin Board of Control and Farmers Conservation Alliance, based in Hood River, Ore. The NRCS is also developing draft plans for two other draft Watershed Plans for the Central Oregon and Swalley irrigation districts to take advantage of agency funding. The public scoping period is now closed for both of those proposals.

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A bipartisan group of lawmakers — including Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley — are pushing to legalize industrial hemp in a bill introduced April 12 in Congress.

The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 would define hemp as an agricultural commodity and remove it from the federal list of controlled substances. It would also allow states to become the primary regulators of hemp, while opening the door for hemp researchers to apply for USDA grants and hemp farmers to receive crop insurance.

Wyden and Merkley, both Democrats have joined Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in support of the bill, which they described as common sense legislation to promote jobs and assist American farmers.

“By legalizing hemp and empowering states to conduct their own oversight plans, we can give the hemp industry the tools necessary to create jobs and new opportunities for farmers and manufacturers across the country,” said McConnell, of Kentucky.

Oregon already has a program to regulate industrial hemp, established by House Bill 4060 in 2016. The state Department of Agriculture licenses hemp farmers and seed producers, and oversees the testing of hemp products for human consumption. Products may not exceed 0.3 percent average concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis.

Courtney Moran, a Portland-based attorney who serves as president and lobbyist for the Oregon Industrial Hemp Farmers Association, said ODA licensed 233 industrial hemp farmers in 2017.

“We have a very progressive yet robust program in our state,” Moran said.

Moran said she has spent the last year and a half working with Wyden’s office on developing the Hemp Farming Act of 2018. If the bill passes, she said it will help clarify things like interstate transportation and banking for Oregon hemp growers and processors.

“If and when the federal bill does take effect, we have established a very solid framework for our program,” she said.

Hemp is used in a variety of products. As a food, both the seeds and leaves can be eaten raw and are a rich source of protein and B vitamins. Hemp was one of the first plants to be spun into fiber 10,000 years ago, and can be made into clothing, textiles, paper, biodegradable plastics and insulation.

In an interview with the Capital Press, Wyden said he was first struck by hemp years ago while visiting a Costco store in Southeast Portland. There, He saw a package of hemp hearts for sale, and a thought crossed his mind.

“It seems to me that if you can buy (hemp) at a big supermarket in Oregon, you ought to be able to grow it here in Oregon,” Wyden said.

Wyden has introduced bills to legalize hemp in 2012, 2013 and most recently in 2015, and despite previous defeats, he is more optimistic about the fate of the 2018 hemp bill with support from influential GOP allies such as McConnell.

As Wyden repeatedly emphasized, people cannot get high on hemp with its low concentrations of THC.

“This is not a criminal justice issue. This is an agricultural issue,” he said. “Farmers tell me this is a big opportunity for them.”

Moran is similarly optimistic about including the legislation in this year’s farm bill.

“I think we definitely have our best chance that we’ve ever had,” Moran said. “(McConnell) has a lot of political power, and having his support definitely changes the conversation.”

In a statement, Merkley said it is past time to move beyond “outdated and frustrating” restrictions on hemp farming in the U.S.

Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, plans to introduce a companion version of the bill in the House of Representatives.