Oregon gray whale license plates to go on sale Friday

(Update: Adding OSU background)

The Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute Gray Whale vehicle license plate will be available for Oregon passenger vehicles only starting Friday, Feb. 1.

The plate is only for passenger vehicles titled and registered in Oregon. DMV cannot accept or process applications received before Feb. 1.

In addition to regular title, registration and plate manufacturing fees, the Gray Whale plate has a $40 surcharge due when you first order the plate and at each registration renewal. The surcharge is the same amount for four-year or two-year registration periods.

Customers who purchased a prepaid voucher may submit that with their application in lieu of the surcharge. The voucher may only be used once.

The OSU Marine Mammal Institute was required to sell at least 3,000 vouchers before DMV could start implementation of the Gray Whale license plate. Surcharge funds will go to the OSU Marine Mammal Institute to help fund marine mammal research and education. For more information on the foundation, visit https://mmi.oregonstate.edu.

Custom (vanity) and Amateur Radio Operator (HAM radio) versions will be available on the Gray Whale plate. DMV cannot reserve specific number-letter configurations for license plates. Also, DMV does not sell “sample” versions of license plates.

People can apply for the plates by mail, at DMV field offices, online or through licensed vehicle dealers when they purchase a car. Customers cannot apply for a Gray Whale plate online if they are submitting a pre-paid voucher. Customers cannot replace vehicle plates through DEQ emissions testing stations (emissions tests are required only in parts of the Portland and Medford metropolitan areas).

The cost of a set of plates depends upon when and how a vehicle owner applies for a new set. Here are two common scenarios:

1. Plates ordered within 120 days before a vehicle’s stickers expire:

Gray Whale surcharge: $40 (also paid at every renewal) or a pre-paid voucher Plate fee: $24 for the pair Plate replacement fee: $5 Registration renewal: $112 (Multnomah County residents add $38; Washington County residents add $60) Total without a voucher: $181 ($219 in Multnomah County; $241 in Washington County) Total with a pre-paid voucher: $141 ($179 in Multnomah County; $201 in Washington County) 2. Plates ordered more than 120 days before a vehicle’s stickers expire:

Gray Whale surcharge: $40 (also paid at every two-year renewal) or a pre-paid voucher Plate fee: $24 for the pair Plate replacement fee: $10 Total without a voucher: $74 Total with a pre-paid voucher: $34 People who purchase a new or used vehicle from a licensed dealer may order Gray Whale plates as part of the car-buying process and provide a pre-paid voucher to the dealer if they have one. Dealers file title and registration applications with DMV on behalf of car buyers. When buying a car, there are charges in addition to those listed above, such as title fees and dealer processing charges.

To order new plates from DMV more than 120 days before a vehicle’s stickers expire, customers need to fill out an Application for Registration, Renewal, Replacement or Transfer of Plates and/or Stickers, Form 268. Customers can get this form at their local DMV office to apply for the plate in person, or they can save a trip to DMV by downloading it at OregonDMV.com and apply online or by mailing in the application and fees.

Before going to any DMV office, the agency suggests that you first check OregonDMV.com to make sure you have everything you need and view current wait times for the large DMV offices. Common transactions such as renewing vehicle registration, changing your address, and reporting the sale of a vehicle can be done online.

—

News release from OSU:

NEWPORT, Ore. – A new Oregon license plate, with the image of a gray whale mother and her calf, will be available at Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles offices throughout the state beginning on Feb. 1.

“This is a wonderful way to support marine mammal conservation on a local and even a global basis,” said Bruce Mate, director of the Marine Mammal Institute based at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. “The plates should be popular because they are really striking and the proceeds go to a good cause.”

The plate will cost $40 to order or renew – $35 of that total will go to the OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute for marine mammal research, graduate education, and public outreach. People who have previously purchased vouchers for the plates may submit those at DMV offices in lieu of this fee. Those transferring new whale plates to an existing Oregon-registered vehicle will have some small additional fees to transfer new month and year stickers to the new plates. More details about the license plate can be found here: http://bit.ly/2B2LeSz.

DMV has ordered 10,000 of the specialized plates. The first 20 numbered plates will go to the people who support the coast, including Oregon’s coastal caucus of state senators, representatives, the governor and OSU President Ed Ray, who each paid for their own vehicles’ plate changes. The whale license plate legislative effort was led by Rep. David Gomberg of District 10 on the central coast, who championed the idea for several legislative sessions.

“Some of the proceeds from the plate sales will target marine mammal research and education,” Mate said. “The plates are a way that citizens can support marine mammal research at a very modest biannual basis and let other folks know about their interests, support and concerns for the coast as they drive down the road.”

The program will support public outreach efforts, including the notable “Whale Watch Spoken Here,” where OSU researchers annually train more than 100 new volunteers to staff coastal viewpoints on 22 headlands along the Oregon coast every Christmas vacation and spring break. These volunteers provide information on migrating whales and conservation issues to Oregon Coast visitors and residents. Oregon State Parks manages the program that annually reaches up to 45,000 visitors from 50 different countries.

Mate is an internationally recognized expert in marine mammal research. He pioneered some of the earliest research into tracking whale behaviors by satellite. The Marine Mammal Institute continues to figure out the migration patterns and seasonal habitats of endangered whales throughout the world. The Marine Mammal Institute was established in 2006 at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon, as an expansion of research programs founded by Mate in the 1970s at OSU.

Internationally renowned wildlife illustrator Pieter Folkens drew the whale mother and calf gray whales that appear on the new license plates. Emmy-award winning graphic artist Pete McKeeman added a two-toned background representing emulating the sea and sky and highlighted by a coastal lighthouse in the upper left corner. The bottom inscription reads “Coastal Playground,” reflecting the importance of the coast to marine animals and to coastal tourism.