in 1989]

196.905 in 1989]

REMOVAL OF MATERIAL; FILLING

(Streamlining)

����� Note: Section 2, chapter 45, Oregon Laws 1989, provides:

����� Sec. 2. Provision relating to fills depending on EPA approval. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of ORS 541.605 to 541.685 [renumbered 196.800 to 196.900 in 1989]:

����� (a) As used in ORS 541.605 to 541.685 [renumbered 196.800 to 196.900 in 1989], �fill� means the deposit by artificial means of material in any waters of this state.

����� (b) In the manner provided by ORS 541.640 [196.850], the director may provide a general exception from the application of ORS 541.605 to 541.685 [renumbered 196.800 to 196.900 in 1989] for fills that involve less than 50 cubic yards of material and will not result in substantial harm to the water resources of this state.

����� (2) This section does not become operative until the federal Environmental Protection Agency grants authority to the Department of State Lands to administer permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material under Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (P.L. 92-500, as amended). [1989 c.45 �2]

����� Note: See second note under 196.800.

����� 196.795 Streamlining process for administering state removal or fill permits; application for state program general permit; periodic reports to legislative committee. (1) The Department of State Lands shall continue to pursue methods to streamline the process for administering permits for the removal of material from the bed or banks of any waters of this state or for filling the waters of this state, reducing paperwork, eliminating duplication, increasing certainty and timeliness and enhancing resource protection. The efforts of the Department of State Lands shall include but need not be limited to applying to the United States Army Corps of Engineers for a state program general permit as authorized in federal regulations implementing section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, as amended. In conjunction with these activities, the Department of State Lands may continue to investigate the possibility of assuming the federal regulatory program under 33 U.S.C. 1344(g) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

����� (2) The department shall report periodically to the appropriate legislative committee on the progress in implementing subsection (1) of this section. [1995 c.474 �1; 1997 c.116 �1; 1999 c.59 �53; 2007 c.354 �2]

����� Note: 196.795 was enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but was not added to or made a part of ORS chapter 196 or any series therein by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.

(Generally)

����� 196.800 Definitions for ORS 196.600 to 196.921. As used in ORS 196.600 to 196.921, unless the context requires otherwise:

����� (1) �Channel relocation� means a change in location of a channel in which a new channel is dug and the flow is diverted from the old channel into the new channel if more than 50 cubic yards of material is removed in constructing the new channel or if it would require more than 50 cubic yards of material to completely fill the old channel.

����� (2) �Estuary� means:

����� (a) For waters other than the Columbia River, the body of water from the ocean to the head of tidewater that is partially enclosed by land and within which salt water is usually diluted by fresh water from the land, including all associated estuarine waters, tidelands, tidal marshes and submerged lands; and

����� (b) For the Columbia River, all waters from the mouth of the river up to the western edge of Puget Island, including all associated estuarine waters, tidelands, tidal marshes and submerged lands.

����� (3) �Fill� means the total of deposits by artificial means equal to or exceeding 50 cubic yards or more of material at one location in any waters of this state.

����� (4) �General authorization� means an authorization granted under ORS 196.850 for a category of activities involving removal or fill, or both, without a permit.

����� (5) �General permit� means a permit for removal activities or fill activities that are substantially similar in nature, are recurring or ongoing, and have predictable effects and outcomes.

����� (6) �Intermittent stream� means any stream which flows during a portion of every year and which provides spawning, rearing or food-producing areas for food and game fish.

����� (7) �Large woody debris� means any naturally downed wood that captures gravel, provides stream stability or provides fish habitat, or any wood placed into waters of this state as part of a habitat improvement or conservation project.

����� (8) �Material� means rock, gravel, sand, silt and other inorganic substances, and large woody debris, removed from waters of this state and any materials, organic or inorganic, used to fill waters of this state.

����� (9) �Mitigation� means the reduction of adverse effects of a proposed project by considering, in the following order:

����� (a) Avoiding the effect altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action;

����� (b) Minimizing the effect by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation;

����� (c) Rectifying the effect by repairing, rehabilitating or restoring the affected environment;

����� (d) Reducing or eliminating the effect over time by preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the action by monitoring and taking appropriate corrective measures; and

����� (e) Compensating for the effect by creating, restoring, enhancing or preserving substitute functions and values for the waters of this state.

����� (10) �Person� means a person, a public body as defined in ORS 174.109, the federal government, when operating in any capacity other than navigational servitude, or any other legal entity.

����� (11) �Practicable� means capable of being accomplished after taking into consideration the cost, existing technology and logistics with respect to the overall project purpose.

����� (12) �Public use� means a publicly owned project or a privately owned project that is available for use by the public.

����� (13) �Removal� means:

����� (a) The taking of more than 50 cubic yards or the equivalent weight in tons of material in any waters of this state in any calendar year; or

����� (b) The movement by artificial means of an equivalent amount of material on or within the bed of such waters, including channel relocation.

����� (14) �Riprap� means the facing of a streambank with rock or similar substance to control erosion in accordance with rules adopted by the Department of State Lands.

����� (15) �Water resources� includes not only water itself but also aquatic life and habitats therein and all other natural resources in and under the waters of this state.

����� (16) �Waters of this state� means all natural waterways, tidal and nontidal bays, intermittent streams, constantly flowing streams, lakes, wetlands, that portion of the Pacific Ocean that is in the boundaries of this state, all other navigable and nonnavigable bodies of water in this state and those portions of the ocean shore, as defined in ORS 390.605, where removal or fill activities are regulated under a state-assumed permit program as provided in 33 U.S.C. 1344(g) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended.

����� (17) �Wetland conservation plan� means a written plan providing for wetland management containing a detailed and comprehensive statement of policies, standards and criteria to guide public and private uses and protection of wetlands, waters and related adjacent uplands and which has specific implementing measures and which apply to designated geographic areas of the State of Oregon.

����� (18) �Wetlands� means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. [Formerly 541.605 and then 196.670; 1999 c.373 �1; 2003 c.253 �7; 2003 c.738 �14; 2007 c.849 �2; 2009 c.343 �18; 2013 c.198 �1; 2023 c.403 �13]

����� Note: Operation of the amendments to