As used in ORS § 468.020, 468.095, 468.140 (3) and 468B.300 to 468B.500:

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(1) ‘Bulk’ means material stored or transported in loose, unpackaged liquid, powder or granular form capable of being conveyed by a pipe, bucket, chute or belt system.

(2) ‘Cargo vessel’ means a self-propelled ship in commerce, other than a tank vessel, of 300 gross tons or more. ‘Cargo vessel’ does not include a vessel used solely for commercial fish harvesting.

(3) ‘Commercial fish harvesting’ means taking food fish with any gear unlawful for angling under ORS § 506.006, or taking food fish in excess of the limits permitted for personal use, or taking food fish with the intent of disposing of such food fish or parts thereof for profit, or by sale, barter or trade, in commercial channels.

(4) ‘Contingency plan’ means an oil spill prevention and emergency response plan required under ORS § 468B.345 or 468B.427.

(5) ‘Covered vessel’ means a tank vessel, cargo vessel, passenger vessel or dredge vessel.

(6) ‘Damages’ includes damages, costs, losses, penalties or attorney fees of any kind for which liability may exist under the laws of this state resulting from, arising out of or related to the discharge or threatened discharge of oil.

(7) ‘Discharge’ means any emission other than natural seepage of oil, whether intentional or unintentional. ‘Discharge’ includes but is not limited to spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying or dumping oil.

(8) ‘Dredge vessel’ means a self-propelled vessel of 300 or more gross tons that is equipped for regularly engaging in dredging of submerged and submersible lands.

(9) ‘Exploration facility’ means a platform, vessel or other offshore facility used to explore for oil in the navigable waters of the state. ‘Exploration facility’ does not include platforms or vessels used for stratigraphic drilling or other operations that are not authorized or intended to drill to a producing formation.

(10) ‘Facility’ means a pipeline or any structure, group of structures, equipment or device, other than a vessel that transfers oil over navigable waters of the state, that is used for producing, storing, handling, transferring, processing or transporting oil in bulk and that is capable of storing or transporting 10,000 or more gallons of oil. ‘Facility’ does not include:

(a) A railroad car, motor vehicle or other rolling stock while transporting oil over the highways or rail lines of this state;

(b) An underground storage tank regulated by the Department of Environmental Quality or a local government under ORS § 466.706 to 466.882 and 466.994; or

(c) A marina, or a public fueling station, that is engaged exclusively in the direct sale of fuel, or any other product used for propulsion, to a final user of the fuel or other product.

(11) ‘Federal on-scene coordinator’ means the federal official predesignated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the United States Coast Guard to coordinate and direct federal responses or the official designated by the lead agency to coordinate and direct removal under the National Contingency Plan.

(12) ‘Hazardous material’ has the meaning given that term in ORS § 466.605.

(13) ‘High hazard train route’ means a section of rail lines in this state:

(a) That abuts or travels over navigable waters, a drinking water source or an inland location that is one quarter mile or less from the waters of the state; and

(b) Over which trains operate that, in a single train, transport:

(A) 20 or more tank railroad cars in a continuous block that are loaded with oil; or

(B) 35 or more tank railroad cars loaded with oil that are spread throughout the entirety of the rolling stock, not including the locomotive, that make up the train.

(14) ‘Maritime association’ means an association or cooperative of marine terminals, facilities, vessel owners, vessel operators, vessel agents or other maritime industry groups, that provides oil spill response planning and spill related communications services within the state.

(15) ‘Maximum probable spill’ means the maximum probable spill for a vessel operating in the navigable waters of the state considering the history of spills of vessels of the same class operating on the west coast of the United States.

(16) ‘National Contingency Plan’ means the plan prepared and published under section 311(d) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1321(d), as amended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-380).

(17) ‘Navigable waters’ means the Columbia River, the Willamette River up to Willamette Falls, the Pacific Ocean and estuaries to the head of tidewater.

(18) ‘Offshore facility’ means any facility located in, on or under any of the navigable waters of the state.

(19) ‘Oils’ or ‘oil’ means:

(a) Oil, including gasoline, crude oil, bitumen, synthetic crude oil, natural gas well condensate, fuel oil, diesel oil, lubricating oil, sludge, oil refuse and any other petroleum related product; and

(b) Liquefied natural gas.

(20) ‘Onshore facility’ means any facility located in, on or under any land of the state, other than submerged land, that, because of its location, could reasonably be expected to cause substantial harm to the environment by discharging oil into or on the navigable waters of the state or adjoining shorelines.

(21) ‘Passenger vessel’ means a ship of 300 or more gross tons carrying passengers for compensation.

(22) ‘Person’ has the meaning given the term in ORS § 468.005.

(23) ‘Person having control over oil’ includes but is not limited to any person using, storing or transporting oil immediately prior to entry of such oil into the navigable waters of the state, and shall specifically include carriers and bailees of such oil.

(24) ‘Pipeline’ means a facility, including piping, compressors, pump stations and storage tanks, used to transport oil between facilities or between facilities and tank vessels.

(25) ‘Region of operation’ with respect to the holder of a contingency plan means the area where the operations of the holder that require a contingency plan are located.

(26) ‘Removal costs’ means the costs of removal that are incurred after a discharge of oil has occurred or, in any case in which there is a substantial threat of a discharge of oil, the costs to prevent, minimize or mitigate oil pollution from the incident.

(27) ‘Responsible party’ has the meaning given under section 1001 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-380).

(28) ‘Ship’ means any boat, ship, vessel, barge or other floating craft of any kind.

(29)(a) ‘State on-scene coordinator’ means the state official appointed by the Department of Environmental Quality to represent the department and the State of Oregon in response to an oil or hazardous material spill or release or threatened spill or release and to coordinate cleanup response with state and local agencies.

(b) For purposes of this subsection:

(A) ‘Spill or release’ means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, emitting, releasing, leaking or placing of any oil or hazardous material into the air or into or on any land or waters of this state except as authorized by a permit issued under ORS Chapter 454, 459, 459A, 468, 468A, 468B or 469 or ORS § 466.005 to 466.385, 466.990 (1) and (2) or 466.992 or federal law, or except when being stored or used for its intended purpose.

(B) ‘Threatened spill or release’ means oil or hazardous material is likely to escape or be carried into the air or into or on any land or waters of the state, including from a ship as defined in this section that is in imminent danger of sinking.

(30) ‘Tank vessel’ means a ship that is constructed or adapted to carry oil in bulk as cargo or cargo residue. ‘Tank vessel’ does not include:

(a) A vessel carrying oil in drums, barrels or other packages;

(b) A vessel carrying oil as fuel or stores for that vessel; or

(c) An oil spill response barge or vessel.

(31) ‘Worst case spill’ means:

(a) In the case of a vessel, a spill of the entire cargo and fuel of the tank vessel complicated by adverse weather conditions;

(b) In the case of an onshore or offshore facility, the largest foreseeable spill in adverse weather conditions; and

(c) In the case of a high hazard train route, the greater of:

(A) 300,000 gallons of oil from a single train; or

(B) 15 percent of the total lading of oil transported within the largest single train reasonably expected to transport oil over the high hazard train route. [Formerly 468.780; 2001 c.688 § 1; 2003 c.738 § 1; 2007 c.157 § 3; 2013 c.247 § 1; 2013 c.680 § 20; 2019 c.581 § 1]