OAR 629-625-0920: Road Condition Assessment

(1) The purpose of this rule is to ensure that roads used for harvest and owned by small forestland owners, as defined by OAR 629-600-0100, comply with the standards of the Forest Practices Rules. (2) The requirements of the Forest Road Inventory and Assessment program described in OAR 629-625-0900 do not apply to small forestland owners. (3) When a small forestland owner submits a notification including the harvest of timber using the department’s reporting and notification system, they shall complete the department road condition assessment. Notifications for activities other than timber harvest shall not require completion of a road condition assessment. The small forestland owner is encouraged to complete the road condition assessment for all roads in their parcel without a planned timber harvest. (4) The road condition assessment shall include all roads in the parcel owned by the small forestland owner where the harvest will take place, including the following descriptions: (a) The road condition that contributes to active or potential delivery of sediment to waters of the state; (b) Water crossing’s locations and the status of compliance with the forest practice rules; (c) Potential fish passage barriers on Type F and Type SSBT streams; (d) Abandoned roads; and (e) Roads with a perched fill that present a significant hazard to fish-bearing streams. (5) The department, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, shall review eligibility for state grants to improve the road conditions described in section (4)(c), (d), and (e) of this rule. (6) The small forestland owners are not required to undertake the following road improvements projects, without funding by the State of Oregon: (a) Replacement of culverts for Type F and Type SSBT streams; (b) Repair of abandoned roads; or (c) Reconstructing, vacating, or relocating roads with a perched fill that present a significant hazard to fish-bearing streams. (7) If the State of Oregon, under the small forestland investment in stream habitat program described in OAR 629-607-0300, fails to fund an eligible and approved road improvement project for a small forestland owner, the non-implementation of those projects shall not prevent the small forestland owner from using the road for any purpose, except for the following conditions: (a) The road is actively delivering sediment to waters of the state; or (b) The road has one or more culverts with an imminent risk of failure, as defined in OAR 629-600-0100. (8) If the road condition assessment identifies necessary road repairs, other than the road conditions in section (7)(a) and (b) of this rule, there shall be no time limit in which the small forestland owner must complete those repairs, though the obligation to improve roads when used for harvest remains.