Oregon protects its wetlands and waterways because they provide essential benefits to humans and the environment – they reduce flooding, keep water clean, provide important habitat, and support recreation. The state's removal-fill and conservation laws guide protection of Oregon's 1.4 million acres of wetlands, over 100,000 miles of rivers and streams, and vast coastal and estuarine network.
The
Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) permits activities that remove or place material in state waters, ensuring that projects avoid, minimize, and compensate for environmental impacts while balancing conservation with responsible development. DSL also works to maintain a stable resource base of wetlands in the state by guiding mitigation efforts through clear policies and regulatory oversight.
Oregon's Administrative Rules guide this work, and updates are needed to improve regulatory clarity, efficiency, and transparency. Compensation requirements for impacts to wetlands are well established in existing rules, but comprehensive guidance for compensating for impacts to streams and rivers is needed for consistent application in mitigation. After extensive collaboration with federal partners and technical experts, DSL has developed a predictable and effective compensation framework for streams and rivers that is ready for implementation. Additionally, Oregon's mitigation banking rules primarily focus on individual sites, leaving gaps in guidance for umbrella mitigation banks—where a single sponsor manages multiple projects under one agreement—and in-lieu fee programs, which allow government or nonprofit entities to sell credits in advance of completing a restoration project. Addressing these gaps will help ensure that mitigation efforts effectively replace lost ecological functions.
Other updates aim to address the loss of wetland acreage from compensation methods that do not fully replace impacted areas, reduce barriers to voluntary habitat restoration under current permitting rules, and improve estuary and wetland mapping along Oregon's coast, which has become more difficult due to a decline in high tide measurement stations. Finally, minor updates will clarify confusing or inconsistent language and align rules with broader regulatory frameworks.
Current Status
Rulemaking Advisory Committee (RAC) meetings are scheduled to begin March 2025. All RAC meetings will be noticed, recorded, and open to the community to attend online. Prior to adoption, the proposed rule language will open for a comment period and at least one public hearing will be held prior to bringing this before the DSL Department Director for a decision.
Contact dsl.rules@dsl.oregon.gov with any questions.
Rulemaking Advisory Committee
See the RAC Roster here.
The anticipated meeting schedule is tentative subject to change, subscribe to rulemaking updates here. Meeting materials are posted and noticed one week in advance of each meeting.
- Meeting 1: March 12, 2025
- Meeting 2: April 2, 2025
- Meeting 3: May 21, 2025
- Meeting 4: June 11, 2025
- Meeting 5: July 9, 2025
- Meeting 6: August 6, 2025
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Additional RAC meetings may be scheduled.
RAC Meeting #2
A RAC meeting is scheduled to be held via Zoom on April 2, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. See below for how to join. Meeting materials to come.
Join online:
Click here for meeting link
Meeting ID: 250 886 8653
Passcode: w#EnJ067
Join by phone:
Phone #: 1-669-444-9171
Meeting ID: 250 886 8653
Passcode: 87671005
RAC Meeting #1
A RAC meeting was held on March 12, 2025, at 9:00 a.m.