Local brief
Oregon DEQ takes comments through Oct. 29 on Snake River temperature cleanup plan, with hearing Oct. 19
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is taking public comments until 4 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2026, on a proposed temperature Total Maximum Daily Load and Water Quality Management Plan for the Snake River. A virtual public hearing is set for 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) sent a reminder that it is seeking public comment on proposed rule amendments for a Snake River temperature Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Water Quality Management Plan.
Why. According to DEQ, monitoring shows the Snake River is too warm for sensitive fish and does not meet Oregon’s EPA-approved temperature standards, so the river and the Hells Canyon Complex reservoirs are on the national list of impaired waters. The plan covers the stretch of the Snake River from where it meets the Oregon-Idaho border to the Washington-Oregon-Idaho border, including the Brownlee, Oxbow and Hells Canyon dams. Once approved, it would replace the temperature parts of the 2004 Snake River–Hells Canyon TMDL.
What happens next. After public comment, the TMDL and plan would go to Oregon’s Environmental Quality Commission for adoption by reference into OAR 340-042-0090. DEQ says EPA will review the TMDL by Dec. 4, 2028, after the commission adopts the rule.
How to comment. Comments are due by 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. Email them to SnakeHells.TemperatureTMDL@DEQ.oregon.gov, mail them to Oregon DEQ, Attn: Amanda Ondrick, at DEQ’s Bend office, or speak at the virtual public hearing at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. The hearing is on Zoom; by phone, call 1-669-444-9171 and enter meeting ID 851 3055 3138.
More information. The draft rules and documents are on the DEQ rulemaking page (https://www.oregon.gov/deq/rulemaking/Pages/snakeTMDL.aspx). The project manager is Mandy Ondrick (Amanda.Ondrick@deq.oregon.gov).
Original source: Oregon DEQ rulemaking reminder, Snake River Temperature TMDL – DEQ Requests Comments on the Proposed Rule Amendments, Oct. 14, 2026 email, and the DEQ rulemaking page. Notice Nearby wrote this brief in its own words.
What to read next: the Oregon hub (https://noticenearby.com/or) and all public papers (https://noticenearby.com/papers). Local businesses, parks and places nearby are on ZOST.app (https://zost.app).
Notice Nearby is a Public Register listing, not a newspaper, and this page is not Legal Publication. If Oregon DEQ and this note disagree, Oregon DEQ wins.
Source: the public notice on this register NN-GOVEMAIL-20261014-ORSNAKETMDL · Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
This is a Notice Nearby local brief — an in-house explainer written from a government-posted notice on this register. It is not official minutes, not a newspaper story, and not Legal Publication.