71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
LC 2312
 
                         Senate Bill 762
 
Sponsored by Senator L BEYER
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Directs Division of State Lands to adapt process for
administering permits and revise standards in accordance with
goal of net gain in wetlands acreage statewide through use of
wetlands mitigation banks. Makes off-site mitigation priority
over on-site mitigation unless on-site wetland is of high
resource value.
  Requires Department of Transportation to develop plan to create
wetlands mitigation bank.
 
                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to wetlands; creating new provisions; and amending ORS
  196.620 and 196.795.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 196.795 is amended to read:
  196.795. (1) The Division 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 Division 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 Division 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) Pursuant to its duty under subsection (1) of this
section to streamline the process for administering permits, the
Division of State Lands shall adapt its process for administering
permits and revise its standards to achieve the goal of a net
gain in wetlands acreage statewide through promotion of the use
of wetlands mitigation banks. To reach this goal, the division
shall:
  (a) Use maximum flexibility available under federal regulations
to promote mitigation of low-value wetlands within state-owned or
state-certified wetlands mitigation banks;
  (b) Establish rules to determine the relative resource value of
regulated wetlands; and
  (c) Exercise maximum discretion in evaluating avoidance and
minimization criteria and in setting mitigation requirements. + }
    { - (2) - }  { +  (3) + } The division shall report
periodically to the Joint Legislative Committee on Land Use on
the progress in implementing subsection (1) of this section.
  SECTION 2. ORS 196.620 is amended to read:
  196.620. (1) For each mitigation bank, the Division of State
Lands shall establish a system of resource values and credits.
  (2) A credit from a mitigation bank   { - may - }   { + for
off-site mitigation shall + } be withdrawn   { - only for a
permit action after all on-site mitigation methods have been
examined and found to be impracticable or off-site mitigation is
found to be environmentally preferable. - }   { + unless the
division determines that the on-site wetland is of such high
resource value as to require on-site mitigation. In determining
the resource value of the on-site wetland, the division shall
work toward the goal of a net gain in wetlands acreage
statewide. + }
  (3) Credits from a freshwater mitigation bank shall be used
only for mitigation of permit actions that occur within the same
basin or subbasin as the mitigation bank unless the Director of
the Division of State Lands determines, in exceptional
circumstances, that it is environmentally preferable to exceed
this limitation.
  (4) Credits from an estuarine mitigation bank shall be used
only for mitigation of permit actions that occur within the same
estuarine ecological system.
  (5) The director shall not withdraw any credits from any
mitigation bank until the director:
  (a) Has taken actions sufficient to establish hydrological
function of the mitigation bank site;
  (b) Has conducted other creation, restoration and enhancement
actions to establish other wetland functions and values at the
mitigation bank site; and
  (c) Evaluated the results of the actions and determined that a
high probability exists that the wetland functions and values of
the mitigation bank site are equal to or greater than the
functions and the values of the wetland area to be damaged or
destroyed.
  (6) The price for any mitigation credit shall be set at an
amount that will compensate the state for all of the costs and
expenses the state has incurred, and is expected to incur in
establishing and maintaining that portion of the mitigation bank.
  (7) The director shall not consider the availability or
nonavailability of mitigation bank credits in deciding whether to
grant or deny any removal or fill permit under ORS 196.600 to
196.905.
  (8) The director annually shall:
  (a) Evaluate the wetlands functions and values created within
each wetland mitigation bank site; and
  (b) Compare the current functions and values with the functions
and values that the director anticipated the site would provide.
If the director finds any significant disparity between the
actual and anticipated functions and values, the director shall:
  (A) Suspend the withdrawal of credits to that mitigation site;
or
  (B) Take prompt action to assure that the anticipated functions
and values are established.
  (9) The director shall not withdraw credits from the mitigation
bank for specific permit actions if the director determines that:
  (a) The credits for that specific permit action would not
adequately maintain habitat or species diversity; or
  (b) The mitigation bank site for which credits are proposed to
be withdrawn is not sufficiently similar in wetland functions and
values to the wetland area to be damaged or destroyed.
 
  SECTION 3.  { + The Department of Transportation shall develop
a plan to create a wetlands mitigation bank that incorporates
wetlands, farmland or riparian areas. The wetlands mitigation
bank shall serve either as a scenic corridor along Interstate 5
or highways in the state, or as a watershed enhancement program
under ORS 196.623 to aid in restoring a river basin. The plan
shall rely on a partnership between public entities and private
persons. + }
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