Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1) The purpose of the Forest Road Inventory
and Assessment (FRIA) is to reduce chronic and catastrophic sediment entry to
waters of the state and to ensure passage for covered species during all mobile
life-history stages by identifying existing roads not meeting the Forest
Practices Rules and bring those roads into compliance with the Forest Practice
Administrative Rules.
(2) OAR
629-625-0900 does not apply to small forestland owners, as defined in OAR
629-600-0100. Small forestland owners shall submit a road condition assessment
when they submit a notification of operation for a timber harvest that will use
a road to haul timber, as described in OAR 629-625-0920.
(3) The department shall publish Forest
Practices Technical Guidance for compliance with the Forest Road Inventory and
Assessment process to avoid and prevent potential impacts to fish, wildlife,
habitat resources, and waters of the state.
(4) The Forest Road Inventory and Assessment
rules apply to segments of roads located on a large forest landowners'
property, excluding roads that are owned or controlled by a government entity,
including, but not limited to, the United States, and federally recognized
Indian Tribes. For the purposes of this section, both ownership and control
mean any right, interest, or agreement that precludes the large forest
landowner from being able to conduct road work without prior
authorization.
(5) Pre-inventory.
Landowners shall submit a pre-inventory of high conservation value sites on
each road management block to the State Forester no later than January 1, 2025.
(a) Landowners shall include high
conservation value sites in the pre-inventory that address the following sites:
(A) Areas of known chronic sedimentation.
Consideration will be given to areas where log hauling will occur during the
5-year inventory phase.
(B) Fish
passage barriers known to be of significant concern. Priorities will be based
on locations where fish passage would provide the greatest benefit to native
migratory fish consistent with OAR 635-412-0015 and other criteria as
determined by the Department of Fish and Wildlife in consultation with the
department and consistent with the Oregon Fish Passage Barrier Data Standard
developed by the ODFW Fish Screening and Passage Program.
(C) Ongoing stream diversions at stream
crossings and areas with stream diversion potential.
(D) Areas of known hydrologic
connectivity.
(b) From
the list of high conservation value sites identified, landowners shall
prioritize projects on high conservation value sites within the pre-inventory
submission that:
(A) Remove fish passage
barriers consistent with Department of Fish and Wildlife
requirements;
(B) Minimize the
potential for sediment delivery to waters of the state;
(C) Minimize stream diversions at water
crossings;
(D) Minimize hydrologic
connectivity between roads and waters of the state; and
(E) Meet other relevant criteria as
determined by the department in consultation with other state and federal
agencies.
(c) Landowners
shall meet with the department and Department of Fish and Wildlife to review
the pre-inventory list no later than January 1, 2026.
(A) The department shall meet with the
Department of Fish and Wildlife to review the list and coordinate to ensure
that high conservation value sites are prioritized based on habitat values,
road conditions, sediment delivery to waters of the state, hydrologic
connectivity, and fish passage in alignment with the barrier assessment and
inventory prioritization under the ODFW Fish Passage Program.
(B) The department and the Department of Fish
and Wildlife may propose additional projects to the pre-inventory list if they
believe that high conservation value sites have not been addressed.
(C) The department shall coordinate with the
Department of Fish and Wildlife to ensure that information collected in the
pre-inventory process is standardized and is in a format consistent with the
Oregon Fish Passage Barrier Data Standard.
(d) Landowners shall address prioritized
pre-inventory projects after review from the department and Department of Fish
and Wildlife beginning no sooner than January 1, 2026, and no later than
January 1, 2029.
(e) Landowners
shall report annually to the department and Department of Fish and Wildlife on
the status and completion of pre-inventory projects through January 1,
2029.
(6) Landowners
shall submit an initial inventory of all active, inactive, and known vacated or
abandoned roads no later than January 1, 2029.
(a) The initial inventory shall include three
documents:
(A) Paper or electronic maps
showing the roads within each road management block;
(B) A work matrix documenting actions
necessary to bring all roads into compliance with the Forest Practice Rules.
The document shall include prioritization of work; and
(C) A Forest Road Inventory and Assessment
initial inventory plan describing how the landowner intends to bring the road
network into compliance no later than January 1, 2044. The plan shall include:
(i) Actions likely to be addressed in the
upcoming year;
(ii) A general
description of how work will occur during the Forest Roads Inventory and
Assessment period; and
(iii) A
description of how the landowner is prioritizing work with the goal of
optimizing environmental benefits.
(D) At minimum, the FRIA initial inventory
submission shall include:
(i) The location and
length of active roads, inactive roads, and vacated roads within each road
management block.
(ii) The location
of streams within the road management block, classified as:
(I) Fish;
(II) Non-fish;
(III) SSBT;
(IV) Fish presence unknown; or
(V) Streams that are 303(d) listed shall be
depicted as such in addition to fish use designation.
(iii) Known or potential road-related fish
passage barriers. Data collected shall be consistent with the Oregon Fish
Passage Barrier Data Standard in consultation with Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
(iv) Prioritization of
known or potential road related fish passage barriers. Prioritization of fish
passage barriers shall be done in a manner consistent with the ODFW Fish
Passage Program.
(v) The location
and status of all water crossing culverts including:
(I) Date of installation, if known;
and
(II) Assessment of culvert
material used.
(vi) Each
water crossing culvert shall be classified as one of the following:
(I) A fully functioning culvert in a Type F
or Type SSBT stream;
(II) A fully
functioning culvert in a Type N or Type D stream;
(III) A culvert with imminent risk of
failure;
(IV) A culvert with
minimum risks to public resources; or
(V) Undetermined status. Culverts with
undetermined status must be prioritized for improvement. The status may be
changed as more detailed information is gathered.
(b) The FRIA
initial inventory submission shall identify each road segment as:
(A) Meeting the Forest Practices
Rules;
(B) Not meeting the Forest
Practices Rules;
(C) Vacated in
compliance with OAR 629-625-0650; or
(D) Abandoned.
(7) In the year following submitting the
initial inventory but no later than January 1, 2029, landowners shall submit
annual inventory reports and plans until January 1, 2044, which shall include:
(a) Updates to the maps required by OAR
629-625-0900(6)(a)(A) reflecting:
(A) Work
accomplished during the prior year;
(B) Additional information discovered;
and
(C) Potential changes in
prioritizations.
(b)
Update to the work matrix required by OAR 629-625-0900(6)(a)(B) showing:
(A) Improvements completed;
(B) Work to be completed;
(C) Additional information discovered;
and
(D) Changes in
prioritization.
(c)
Update to the annual plan required by OAR 629-625-0900(6)(a)(C) reflecting:
(A) Work conducted in the prior
year;
(B) Work likely to be
completed in the upcoming year; and
(C) General plan to complete all necessary
work no later than the January 1, 2044.
(8) The documents required by OAR
629-625-0900(7) must contain all the following:
(a) Total length of forest roads improved,
including as a subset, length improved by compliance with OAR 629-625-0330(1)
Drainage.
(b) Total length of
forest roads still requiring improvement.
(c) Total length of forest roads planned for
improvement in the upcoming year.
(d) Total length of forest roads
vacated.
(e) Total length of forest
roads planned to be vacated in the upcoming year.
(f) Number of fish barriers brought into
compliance with OAR 629-625-0320 Water Crossing Structures.
(g) Number of fish barriers to be improved in
the upcoming year.
(h)
Certification by the landowner that they remain on track for completing
required improvements no later than January 1, 2044.
(9) Landowners shall improve all road
segments identified in the initial inventory as not meeting the Forest Practice
Administrative Rules so that those segments either meet the Forest Practice
Administrative Rules or are vacated no later than January 1, 2044.
(10) For culverts that meet the definition of
pre-existing culverts, landowners shall:
(a)
Inspect them every five years when the installation date is not known;
and
(b) Maintain them to end of
service life or until they no longer meet the definition of pre-existing
culverts.
(11) For
culverts that do not meet the definition of pre-existing culverts, landowners
shall:
(a) Prioritize them for improvement
during the initial inventory;
(b)
Bring them into compliance with Forest Practice Rules no later than January 1,
2044; or
(c) For culverts not
meeting the definition of pre-existing, consult with the Department of Fish and
Wildlife to assign them a status of low priority and maintain them to the end
of their service life when they meet the following criteria:
(A) The culvert is partially functioning to
provide fish passage and the cost of repair or replacement is disproportionate
to the benefits of the repair or replacement; or
(B) The culvert provides valuable wetland or
pond habitat.
(12) For culverts meeting the definition of
having imminent risk of failure, landowners shall repair or replace the culvert
as soon as practicable but no later than two years after having been
identified.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
527.710 & Section 2(1),
Chapter 33, Oregon Laws 2022
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
527.715,
527.765 & Section 2(2),
Chapter 33, Oregon Laws 2022
