[OSMB-News] News Release -Marine Board Denies Willamette Falls Boating Deadline Petition, Tables Other Items

[Massey, Ashley]

For Immediate Release                      Date: Friday, April 25, 2014

Marine Board Denies Willamette Falls Boating Deadline Petition, Tables Other Items

              The Oregon State Marine Board denied a petition to open the rulemaking process to change the boating deadline at Willamette Falls during their quarterly Board meeting, held on April 23, in Salem.  The Board also adopted the Abandoned/Derelict Vessel Program rules and tabled two other proposed rules: Slow-No Wake and the Uniform Waterway Marking System and Private Buoy Placement Applications.
            Public input was sought on a petition to reposition the boating deadline at Willamette Falls and comments from boaters were evenly split on supporting and opposing the petition.  Property owners, however; (West Linn Paper Company and Portland General Electric), and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Marine Fisheries and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon were unanimously opposed to the petition on the grounds of statutory minimum clearances around fish ladders, concerns about the impact to threatened fish species, safety for boaters, and culturally significant lamprey harvesting.   Marine Board members unanimously denied the petition to open the rulemaking process; therefore, the boating deadline will remain as it has since 1975 (see OAR 250-020-0032 Willamette River in Clackamas County).
The Board also unanimously approved proposed changes to the Abandoned/Derelict Vessel Program which will give the agency authority to distribute funds to public entities for the removal of derelict and abandoned vessels, as well as, allocate funds toward a vessel turn-in grant program.  The new program rules are more proactive and will help lower costs by giving removal authorities the ability to remove a derelict or abandoned vessel before it becomes a hazard to navigation or potentially impact water quality.  A vessel turn-in program will be developed to encourage boat owners who have boats beyond repair or are unseaworthy to turn in the vessel, penalty-free, for dismantling or recycling.
            The Board decided to take no action on two proposed rules: Slow-No Wake and the Uniform Waterway Marking System and Private Buoy Placement Applications.  The Board would like agency staff to work on revised draft language to address public concerns, work with stakeholders and schedule public meetings for more comments.  Once new language is drafted and public comments are collected, agency staff will bring forward new recommendations for Board consideration at their January, 2015 meeting.
            To view the agenda, agency staff report and other meeting documents, visit http://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/Pages/admin/members.aspx.

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Ashley A. Massey
Public Information Officer
Oregon State Marine Board
503-378-2623
Ashley.massey at state.or.us<mailto:Ashley.massey at state.or.us>

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