Chapter 5: Coastal Management Program

Welcome to chapter five, an overview of the Oregon Coastal Management Program or OCMP. The OCMP is comprised of the statewide planning goals and requirements, local government comprehensive plans and land use regulations.

Comprehensive plans and land use regulations for coastal communities address Goal 16, Estuaries; Goal 17 Coastal Shorelands; and Goal 18 Beaches and Dunes. Ocean Resources, Goal 19, is the responsibility of the state and federal governments rather than local communities. Following this overview of the OCMP, we will discuss each goal separately.

Coastal Goals: Balancing Protection and Development

Estuaries, coastal shorelands, beaches and dunes and ocean resources are defining features of the Oregon coast. They attract people from across the country and around the world to recreate, live and work. Local economies depend on the ecological health and aesthetic integrity of these unique and fragile resources. The comprehensive plans of coastal cities and counties must meet coastal Goals 16, 17 and 18 to ensure that Oregon’s coastal resources are protected, restored, and where appropriate, developed.

Oregon Coastal Management Program

The mission of the Oregon Coastal Management Program or OCMP is to "conserve and protect Oregon’s outstanding coastal resources by assisting local governments to develop livable, resilient coastal communities and knit together the programs and activities of local, state, and federal agencies on the Oregon coast."

The OCMP has authority over all areas within the state’s Coastal Zone. The zone extends from the crest of the Coastal Mountain Range to three nautical miles out to sea, the extent of the state’s jurisdiction. There are three exceptions: for the Columbia River, the Coastal Zone terminates downstream of Puget Island; for the Umpqua River, it stops at Scottsburg; and for the Rogue River, it ends at Agness.

The purpose of this state program, housed in the Department of Land Conservation and Development or DLCD, is to assist the work of the 32 cities, seven counties, and many state and federal agencies involved in planning on the coast. The OCMP helps ensure the coastal goals are integrated into city and county plans and regulations.

The OCMP provides coastal cities and counties with financial, planning, and technology assistance. Financial assistance includes state and federal planning and technical assistance grants. Direct planning assistance is provided by regional field staff, a Coastal Shores Specialist and others at DLCD offices in Salem, Portland and Newport. These staff members assist and advise local governments and state agencies on a variety of land use issues, including estuary management, hazards planning, and land use. Technology assistance includes natural hazards assessments in collaboration with the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, on-line information about coastal resources and features in the Oregon Coastal Atlas.

Upon request, the OCMP collaborates with coastal tribes to manage their resource lands and protect their natural, cultural and historic heritage.

More information about the OCMP is available at: www.oregon.gov/LCD/OCMP*.

Natural resource and land use information for the coast is available at: www.coastalatlas.net*.

State Agency Responsibilities

Many state agencies are involved in coastal management, including the following:

• The State Land Board holds the submerged and submersible lands of the coast in trust for the public. It has oversight over tidelands, the seafloor within three nautical miles of shore, the beds and banks of rivers, and wetlands.
• The Oregon Department of State Lands is the administrative arm of the State Land Board. It manages all the coastal assets mentioned above as well as others such as range and forest lands, and the state’s removal fill law. The Common School Fund is the beneficiary of any revenue it receives.
• The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department owns and manages more than 35,000 acres of land in more than 100 state parks in the coastal zone. It also has jurisdiction over public use of the ocean beach, which extends from the statutory Line of Vegetation, or farther inland to the actual line of vegetation, to extreme low tide.
• The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, is the state’s lead agency for protecting air, water and land quality. DEQ regulates subsurface sewage disposal and municipal sewage treatment facilities. It is in charge of cleaning up hazardous waste sites, leads state response to oil spills and works to prevent non-point pollution from land uses entering coastal streams, lakes and ocean waters. In addition, the department administers federal clean water and clean air programs.
• Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, or ODFW, manages fish and wildlife resources to protect their habitats to optimize recreational, aesthetic, commercial and social benefits.
• The Oregon Water Resources Department administers state law regulating the use of surface and groundwater. It also issues water rights.
• The Oregon Economic Development Department, known as Business Oregon, assists local governments and the Port Districts to plan for and promote economic development, including funds for dredging and other infrastructure in ports and harbors.
• The Oregon Marine Board, or OMB, uses revenues from boat license fees to help coastal cities, counties and ports build docks, boat ramps, and associated facilities that increase and enhance public boating opportunities. OMB also regulates recreational boating safety on state waters.
• The Oregon Forestry Department manages more than 600,000 acres of three state-owned forests in the coastal zone and regulates timber harvest activities on private timberlands.
• The Oregon Health Division monitors the water quality of public water systems to protect public health. It also monitors beach water quality.
• The Oregon Department of Agriculture regulates oyster cultivation as a commercial agricultural activity within estuaries. The department also leases state tidelands suitable for commercial shellfish production.

Federal Agencies and Programs on the Coast

In 1977, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, approved the OCMP as meeting federal requirements under the national Coastal Zone Management Act. Two benefits of this approval are funding assistance from NOAA and the authority to review federal actions, including licenses and permits, for consistency with Oregon’s coastal rules and regulations. Federal agencies play a major role shaping the economy and environment of the coast. More than a third of the coastal zone is owned and managed by the federal government, principally the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

• The Corps of Engineers is responsible for building and maintaining jetties, channels and other navigation structures and is the lead federal agency for waterway management, including regulation of removals or fills in public waters and wetlands.
• The Bureau of Land Management manages nearly 500,000 acres of primarily timber land in Oregon’s coastal zone. The bureau also manages ocean-front lands in Coos and Curry counties and the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area near Newport.
• The US Forest Service is a major landowner and manager of timberlands in the coastal zone, including the Siuslaw and Siskiyou National Forests. The Forest Service also manages the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area that extends south from the Siuslaw River to Coos Bay.
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service is the lead federal agency for protection of fish and wildlife habitat and species through the Endangered Species Act. The agency owns and manages four national wildlife refuges on the Oregon coast that encompass upland, estuarine, and ocean habitats.
• The National Marine Fisheries Service, a division of NOAA, regulates ocean fisheries, including anadromous fish such as salmon and steelhead, groundfish and halibut. NOAA Fisheries also implements the federal Endangered Species Act.
• The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is the lead agency for air and water pollution control. EPA designates dredged material disposal sites in the ocean and, under the Clean Water Act, delegates to the state DEQ jurisdiction over activities that affect coastal air and water quality.
• The US Coast Guard is responsible for maintaining safe navigation and vessel operation and is the federal lead agency for oil spill prevention, response, and cleanup.