APPENDIX A: RESEARCH REPORTS INCLUDING REGULATORY, GOVERNANCE, AND MARKET/ECONOMIC OUTLOOK The administrative function for the ports, known as the Ports Program, is primarily within the state’s Infrastructure Finance Division of the Oregon Business Development Department (known as “Business Oregon”). However, the ports must conform to a number of federal and state regulations. As part of the Strategic Port Plan development process, current state and federal regulations and agreements that apply to Oregon’s port system were reviewed. Since each port falls under the planning and land use jurisdiction of a municipality (city, county or regional government), local land use regulations apply to ports; however, the review of land use and planning regulations were only conducted at the state level. This Appendix, which focuses on Oregon’s ports in general and not each specific port, will: 1. Summarize the State’s interest in the system including transportation, economic development, maintaining navigation access and core missions; 2. Identify the statutory role, responsibilities and powers of Oregon ports; 3. Give an overview of federal and State statutes and regulations and how they relate to the ports’ statutory role and responsibilities (including how state rules regarding comprehensive planning may affect ports); 4. Identify examples of intergovernmental agreements that involved ports; 5. Discuss examples of regulatory conflict that may be able to be addressed by this Strategic Plan; and 6. Summarize the governance relationship between the ports and Oregon state government, and compare it to how ports are regulated in other states. 7. Include a background report prepared by BST on the market and economic outlook for Oregon’s ports. Ports 2010: A New Strategic Business Plan for Oregon’s Ports Appendix 1 1. State’s Interest in the Ports Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) Ports are mentioned a number of instances in the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS). The following summarizes where ports are referenced in ORS as well as administrative code. Title 58 of the ORS, Shipping and Navigation, applies to all maritime navigation and shipping related facilities and operations in Oregon. This title includes the port enabling statutes (777 and 778), which are described in more detail later in this appendix; Chapter 776, which establishes Oregon’s bar and river pilotage grounds as: The Columbia River bar pilotage from the “uppermost dock or wharf at the Port of Astoria or Knappton to the open sea in at least 30 fathoms of water, the Columbia and Willamette River pilotage ground … from the lowermost dock or wharf at the Port of Astoria to the head of navigation on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers and their tributaries, the Coos Bay bar pilotage ground … from the head of navigation on Coos Bay and its tributaries to the open sea in at least 30 fathoms of water, and the Yaquina Bay bar pilotage ground … from the head of navigation on Yaquina Bay and its tributaries to the open sea in at least 30 fathoms of water. Chapter 776 also establishes maritime pilots and pilotage rules, including establishing the Oregon Board of Maritime Pilots, which is responsible for a number of shipping and navigation and pilotage rules and fees, including: x Pilotage service qualifications and standards, as well as licensing rules, terms, testing, training requirements, and fees x Establishing and fixing the boundaries of pilotage grounds which are not specifically called out in this chapter (see above) During the development of this Strategic Plan, a few of the ports noted concerns about how the fees were being set, the level of fees which they believed jeopardized their ability to cost-effectively compete with ports in other states for goods movement, as well as pilotage requirements and where pilots are located. Ports 2010: A New Strategic Business Plan for Oregon’s Ports Appendix 2 Other sections of ORS related to ports include: x Chapter 285A — Economic Development I: Assigns state managerial assistance to ports to the Economic and Community Development Department (revised to Oregon Business Development Department in 2009) and establishes commission and departmental functions, along with requirements to coordinate with other state departments including the Department of State Lands; the State Marine Board; and the Sea Grant College and marine extension services at Oregon State University; defines approval process required for creation of new ports needs to include the Oregon Business Development Commission; authorizes the Port Program to coordinate, plan and conduct research on international trade; authorizes the Port Planning and Marketing Fund and how it is used; requires ports to develop strategic business plans before they can use state funding; establishes the Oregon Port Revolving Fund (PRF) and its requirements; and allows net proceeds from the PRF to be transferred to the Port Planning and Marketing Fund x Chapter 285B — Economic Development II (state economic and business development functions and regional entities): includes ports as eligible members of regional economic development associations and authorizes their eligibility for seeking state economic development funds; and includes among Economic Infrastructure Project Fund priorities the Columbia River Channel Deepening Project, defined as “necessary to allow newer, larger steamships access to Oregon and Washington deep draft ports. A deeper shipping channel will allow the Columbia River to continue as a world leader in agricultural exports and as a key trade corridor for farms and businesses throughout Oregon and the region”; x Chapter 184: Sets duties of the Oregon Transportation Commission in preparing and implementing state transportation policy and requires the development and maintenance of a statewide transportation plan which “shall include, but not be limited to, aviation, highways, mass transit, pipelines, ports, rails and waterways”. Also included is a Legislative finding on ports and establishment of state transportation policy which includes: o “Ports in Oregon provide effective local assistance to state transportation development efforts; o “The ports in this state develop and market facilities and services to support important existing industries in this state, such as aviation, maritime commerce, international trade, tourism, recreation and transportation; Ports 2010: A New Strategic Business Plan for Oregon’s Ports Appendix 3 o “Port facilities, including roads, railroads, airports, harbors and navigation channels, are an integral element of the transportation infrastructure of this state. o “Therefore, the Legislative Assembly declares that it is the policy of this state to include Oregon’s ports in planning and implementing transportation programs. To that end, the Department of Transportation and the Oregon Department of Aviation may work to: coordinate with the Economic and Community Development Department to facilitate port planning and development; promote local cooperation in statewide planning and development of the ports; promote long-term economic self-sufficiency of the ports; encourage cost- effective investments with prudent financial consideration of port development projects; and facilitate the efforts of the ports to expand and respond to greater domestic and international market opportunities.” x Chapter 307, Property Subject to Taxation; Exemptions: exempts port-owned property from property taxes. x Chapter 308, Assessment of Property for Taxation: allows ports to assess taxes on ocean-going ships and other watercraft using port facilities. Oregon Transportation Plan (OTP) As noted above, ORS 184 requires the Oregon Transportation Commission, and thus ODOT as a state agency, to include ports in the development of, and components of, the Oregon Transportation Plan (OTP). In its preface, the OTP is “the state’s long-range multimodal transportation plan. The OTP is the overarching policy document among a series of plans that together form the state transportation system plan. The OTP considers all modes of Oregon’s transportation system as a single system and addresses the future needs of Oregon’s airports, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, highways and roadways, pipelines, ports and waterway facilities, public transportation, and railroads through 2030.” It was last updated in September 2006. A review of the modal plans within the OTP indicates that while there are statewide system plans for aviation (2000), bicycles and pedestrians (1995), highways (reaffirmed 2006), public transportation (1997), rail (2001) and transportation safety (action plan adopted 2004 and amended in 2006); however, there is no Marine modal system plan in the current OTP. Ports 2010: A New Strategic Business Plan for Oregon’s Ports Appendix 4 The OTP includes policies and “key initiatives” that mention ports, including a statement to “Preserve access to Oregon ports: work with the Northwest Congressional delegations, federal agencies and the Army Corps of Engineers to assure funding is available for needed dredging and for maintenance and repair of jetties that protect shipping lanes and harbors. The state, local governments and the railroads should work to maintain and improve access to marine facilities. Oregon should support improved funding for cargo-handling capacity.” Currently, ODOT is working toward a freight modal plan to be incorporated into the OTP. Ports have been included in this process through development of an updated commodity flow forecast as well as participating in studies