Public hearing on SB 357 spotlights coastal ports’ dredging costs and who should pay

State Senator David Brock Smith introduced Senate Bill 357 at a March 25 public hearing before the Joint Committee on Transportation, saying the bill would let port districts bill public bodies for sediment removal when runoff from public infrastructure deposits material in port waters. "Senate bill 357 authorizes ports to charge public bodies for the cost of removing sediment from the port waters that's a result of, facilities, owned or controlled by the public body," Smith said.

The bill’s proponents and several port managers described mounting dredging costs and local impacts. Mark Landauer of the Oregon Public Ports Association said ports face steep price increases in dredging driven by labor, fuel and equipment, and cited a case that cost $350,000 in 2017 and about $1.2 million in 2023. Jeff Griffin, port manager at the Port of Bandon, said his port removed roughly 35,000–38,000 cubic yards last winter at about $1.2 million and that specialized equipment and environmental sampling increase costs. "It's very difficult to find any kind of grant funding to help," Griffin said.

Port of Brookings Harbor Manager Travis Webster and Port of Brookings testimony noted culverts and stormwater systems deliver sediment into marinas; Webster estimated about 10–15% of material the port dredges arrives via culverts draining roughly 1,000 acres. The Port of Brookings said it receives about 4,000 cubic yards per year and reported roughly 90,000 cubic yards currently awaiting removal; the port estimated revenue losses of about $18,000 per year over the past five years tied to sediment-buried floating docks.

County and city representatives urged caution. Michael Lisonbee (Association of Oregon Counties / OASIS) said county road departments already manage stormwater and opposed a measure that would broadly assign dredging costs to counties without a clear mechanism for apportionment. "There is also nothing in the bill that sets out how cost would be assigned between the state, counties, and municipalities," he said. Michael Martin, lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities, called the proposed even split arbitrary and said it could shift regional costs to local budgets.

Committee members and some local officials discussed estimates of the proportion of sediment coming from roads versus watershed sources. Jeff Griffin estimated road- or city-derived material at the Port of Bandon at about 5% of the total volume but stressed localized deposits near drains can be disproportionately damaging. Representative Gamba asked for a sense of proportions; Griffin said most sediment came from riverbank erosion and watershed sources but that runoff location matters.

Public comment closed on SB 357 at the end of the hearing; no committee vote was recorded. The hearing record includes testimony from ports and local governments and photographs submitted by the Port of Brookings Harbor depicting outfalls and accumulation of material in marinas.

The hearing did not adopt the bill; speakers requested follow-up on cost-allocation mechanisms and urged the committee to work toward intergovernmental agreements that could share dredging costs while clarifying how assessments would be calculated and billed.