Chapter 709 Oregon Laws 2011

AN ACT

SB 442

Relating to vehicle registration plates; creating new provisions; amending ORS 805.202 and section 2, chapter 823, Oregon Laws 2009; and appropriating money.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. Sections 2 to 6 of this 2011 Act are added to and made a part of the Oregon Vehicle Code.

SECTION 2. (1) Except as provided in section 3 of this 2011 Act, the Department of Transportation shall establish a wine country registration plate program to issue special registration plates called “wine country registration plates” upon request to owners of motor vehicles registered under the provisions of ORS 803.420 (1).

(2) In addition to any other fee authorized by law, for each set of wine country registration plates issued under subsection (1) of this section, the department shall collect a surcharge of $30 payable when the plates are issued and upon each subsequent renewal of registration of a vehicle bearing the plates. The department shall transfer the moneys from the surcharge as provided in section 4 of this 2011 Act.

SECTION 3. The Department of Transportation may not begin creating or issuing wine country registration plates under section 2 of this 2011 Act until the department receives an amount sufficient to cover all of the department’s anticipated costs of creating and issuing the wine country registration plate, including, but not limited to, computer programming costs and vendor setup fees.

SECTION 4. (1) After the deduction of the cost of administration of the wine country registration plate program, the Department of Transportation shall deposit the net proceeds of the surcharge collected by the department under section 2 of this 2011 Act into the account of the Oregon Tourism Commission established under ORS 284.131. The department shall make deposits under this subsection at least quarterly.

(2) Moneys deposited under subsection (1) of this section are continuously appropriated to the Oregon Tourism Commission for the purposes set forth in ORS 284.131.

(3) As used in this section, “the cost of administration of the wine country registration plate program” means the sum of all department expenses for the issuance or transfer of wine country registration plates under section 2 of this 2011 Act that are above the normal costs of issuing, renewing and transferring registration plates in the normal course of the business of the department. These expenses include, but are not limited to, the costs of collecting the wine country registration plate surcharge and transferring wine country registration plates.

SECTION 5. (1) The Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Oregon Tourism Commission and Travel Salem, shall design the wine country registration plates issued under section 2 of this 2011 Act.

(2) Except as otherwise required by subsection (1) of this section, wine country registration plates shall comply with the requirements of ORS 803.535.

SECTION 6. (1) After payment of the cost of production of the wine country registration plates including administrative expenses relating to marketing the wine country registration plates issued under section 2 of this 2011 Act, the Oregon Tourism Commission shall distribute the moneys received from the Department of Transportation pursuant to section 4 of this 2011 Act as follows:

(a) One half of the moneys shall be distributed as matching grants. The commission shall develop a matching grant program and shall award grants to tourism promotion agencies for tourism promotion of wine and culinary tourism. The commission shall establish the maximum grant amount in the applicant guidelines prepared for the matching grant program in each biennium. No more than 50 percent of the total cost of a project may be paid for with moneys from the program. An applicant must show a minimum one-to-one match from private or public sources other than Oregon Business Development Department or commission programs. The applicant must also show a cash match of at least 50 percent of the amount requested under the matching grant program.

(b) One half of the moneys shall be distributed to tourism promotion agencies for the purpose of tourism promotion. The commission shall distribute the moneys in proportion to the amount of acreage in each region used for wine grape production. The commission shall designate a tourism promotion agency for each region. The regions shall include the mid-Willamette Valley region and each other major wine producing region of the state as determined by the commission.

(2) The commission annually shall submit a report to the Legislative Assembly in the manner provided in ORS 192.245 on or before October 1.

(3) The commission shall adopt rules to carry out this section.

(4) As used in this section:

(a) “Mid-Willamette Valley region” means Marion, Polk and Yamhill Counties.

(b) “Tourism promotion” has the meaning given that term in ORS 320.300.

(c) “Tourism promotion agency” has the meaning given that term in ORS 320.300.

SECTION 7. ORS 805.202 is amended to read:

805.202. (1) As used in this section, “special registration plate” means a registration plate issued by the Department of Transportation:

(a) For which a surcharge is imposed in order to raise money for an entity other than the department;

(b) That is not a plate issued under ORS 805.105 or 805.205;

(c) That is not an elected official plate issued under ORS 805.220; and

(d) That is not a customized plate issued under ORS 805.240.

(2) The Legislative Assembly may not require the Department of Transportation to offer more than [three] four kinds of special registration plates at any one time. At any time the department is offering [three] four kinds of special registration plates, any bill enacted by the Legislative Assembly that requires the department to issue a new kind of special registration plate shall include a provision requiring the department to eliminate at least one kind of special registration plate.

(3) When the department eliminates a kind of special registration plate in accordance with the provisions of a law described in subsection (2) of this section, the department shall continue to issue the plate until the new plate is available. When the new plate is available, the department shall destroy the remaining stock of the eliminated plate.

SECTION 8. Section 2, chapter 823, Oregon Laws 2009, is amended to read:

Sec. 2. (1) The Department of Transportation shall establish a Pacific Wonderland registration plate program to issue special registration plates called “Pacific Wonderland registration plates” upon request to owners of motor vehicles registered under the provisions of ORS 803.420 (1). In addition, the department may adopt rules for issuance of Pacific Wonderland registration plates for vehicles not registered under the provisions of ORS 803.420 (1).

(2) In addition to any other fee authorized by law, for each set of Pacific Wonderland registration plates issued under subsection (1) of this section, the department shall collect a surcharge of $100 payable when the plates are issued. The department shall transfer the moneys from the surcharge as provided in section 3 [of this 2009 Act], chapter 823, Oregon Laws 2009.

(3) Notwithstanding ORS 803.530, Pacific Wonderland registration plates may be transferred from vehicle to vehicle if the department stops issuing the plates, as long as the plates are not so old, damaged, mutilated or otherwise rendered illegible as to be not useful for purposes of identification.

(4) The department shall limit the total number of Pacific Wonderland registration plates to 40,000 sets of plates.

(5) Notwithstanding ORS 805.202, until the department has issued 40,000 sets of plates under this section, the department may issue [four] five kinds of special registration plates at any one time.

Approved by the Governor August 2, 2011

Filed in the office of Secretary of State August 2, 2011

Effective date January 1, 2012

__________