It's Thursday, October 1st, and the small conference room in the Capitol Building in Salem is quickly running out of room. Staff for State Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene) look for extra chairs. The subject: hydrography in Oregon.
But let's back up for just a moment: During the Legislative Session, OSBEELS initiated Senate Bill 297 which would revise qualifications for registration to practice professional engineering, land surveying or photogrammetric mapping. An amendment was then proposed by partner organizations that would have further clarified Oregon statute ensuring that all hydrographic surveys were conducted by professional land surveyors or engineers. Land Surveyors and Professional Engineers have long believed that Oregon law already has such a requirement, but the language of the statute is not written with indisputable clarity.
Rep. Paul Holvey, the Chair of the House Business & Labor Committee, did not support the amendment to SB297, but he did commit to gathering interested parties during the interim to discuss the issue thoroughly.
Good to his word, Rep. Holvey gathered stakeholders for the first of what will likely be several meetings to discuss the role of hydrographers in Oregon -- and by extension -- across the country. A possible outcome of the meetings could be legislation for the 2017 session to settle the issue.
It should be noted that the meeting was informative and cordial. Everyone learned something. And the meeting concluded with a lot of hand-shaking and a commitment to work cooperatively. A couple of issues were also clarified. First, hydrographers acknowledged that they are still in the early stages of formulating their goals. Second, a survey of how other states regulate hydrographers -- collected with the assistance of Curtis Sumner and NSPS -- strongly suggests that Oregon may well be the tip of the spear in developing model legislation. This legislation would likely incorporate a proper role for hydrographers -- including appropriate limitations on their scope of work -- within Oregon law and regulated by OSBEELS.
PLSO was represented at the meeting by State Chair John Thatcher, former State Chair Lee Spurgeon and Legislative Chair David Williams, along with lobbyist Darrell Fuller. They will continue to actively participate in workgroup meetings while seeking input from PLSO members across the state once hydrographers have actually created a written proposal for consideration. So, stay tuned...
