The Oregon State Marine Board considered and adopted rules, initiated the rulemaking process for several rules and denied a petition to initiate rulemaking on Applegate Lake in Jackson County during their quarterly Board meeting on Thursday, January 9 at the Portland Expo Center. The Board approved initiating rulemaking in Division 010 related to “Uniform Waterway Marking System” and uniform buoy placement standards. This draft rule will also consider the impact of Federal Aids to Navigation (ATON) requirements. The Board also approved initiating rulemaking in Division 010 and in more than two dozen different local and special area rules related to “slow-no wake.” Staff will conduct public meetings to solicit input from boaters to better define “slow – no wake” and create definition consistency. Staff anticipates returning to the Board for rule adoption consideration in April prior to the 2014 boating season. The Board adopted procedure rule language in Division 001, outlining Model Rules procedures, petition filing, notification procedures and policy/scope statements. Division 019 was repealed. The Board adopted Ocean Charter Program, Division 015, rules, which amended definitions, eliminated statutory language duplicity, removed state-specific carriage requirements and established consistency with U.S. Coast Guard license requirements in compliance with the 2013 Oregon legislative session, SB 25. The Board also adopted Outfitters and Guides Program, Division 016 rules, which established a new process for Guide Advisory Committee membership appointments and maintained reciprocal operations on the Columbia River with Washington State in compliance with the 2013 Oregon legislative session, HB 2039.
