State lands agency seeks authority to charge fees for undersea cable easements in Oregon territorial sea

The Department of State Lands asked the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire on Jan. 30 to give it authority to set fees and compensation rates by administrative rule for easements to construct, maintain and decommission undersea cables in Oregon’s territorial sea.

The change in Senate Bill 793’s Dash-1 amendment would let the agency establish application and renewal fees and compensation rates for telecommunication service lines on state-owned seabed within three nautical miles of shore, and declares the measure an emergency effective on passage. Department officials said current law prevents the state from requiring payment for use of the territorial sea.

Why it matters: Department leaders said the state now collects little or nothing from companies that install fiber-optic and other undersea cables despite bearing the costs of review, permitting and long-term oversight. Without fee authority, staff warned, general fund or common school fund…