Rule changes coming for Oregon outfitters, guides
From rock climbing and rafting to hunting and fishing, Central Oregon is full of guiding services. But there could be some rule changes for these outfitters in the coming months.
That’s because a bill passed in 2013 has to be implemented by 2018.
House Bill 2039 required the Oregon State Marine Board to come up with a set of rules governing guides and outfitters across Oregon.
One of the rules would require a motorized boat guide to undergo an initial drug test and subsequent tests every month for a year.
Brian Sykes is the owner of Ouzel Outfitters, a guided rafting company in Bend.
He was also on the state’s guide advisory committee and helped to come up with the new rules.
That includes the one that would require guide boat operators to take regular drug, health and knowledge tests.
The goal is to have the state’s safety regulations match those of the Coast Guard.
“So it’s kind of rule-making that just sort of makes sense and bring it in line with industry standards,” Sykes said Monday. “And in the case of motorized guides, it get it closer to what the Coast Guard requires on federally navigated rivers like the Columbia and the ocean.”
Some outfitters in Bend say they worry about the cost of these tests, but Sykes said the financial impact would be negligible.
Despite some concern that the new rules will lump all outfitters into one category, Ashley Massey, the public information officer for the Marine Board, says that won’t happen.
“So safety for a hunting guide is going to be very different from a motorized boat going across the ocean. Each is being taken as a separate entity,” she said.
“Meeting specifically the safety-equipment requirements, that’s where they’ll try to find some consistency, yet honoring the needs of each specific guide and outfitter,” Massey added.
Other new rules include redefining charter boats as motorboats carrying seven or more passengers and requiring that any accidents are reported to the state within 48 hours.
Two public meetings are scheduled: Aug. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Marine Board office, located at 435 Commercial St. NE., in Salem, and; Aug. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office SAR Station 7, 620 Antelope Road., in White City. Oral testimony will be accepted during the public meetings.
Written comments will also be accepted until Aug. 31, 2017 by 5 p.m. and can be submitted via email to osmb.rulemaking@oregon.gov or by U.S. mail to: June LeTarte, Administrative Rules Coordinator, 435 Commercial St. NE, Suite 400, P.O. Box 14145, Salem, OR 97309-5056. Comments via telephone will not be accepted.
