OAR 350-011-0020. Policy

(1) The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act, 16 U.S.C. § 544c(b) and Columbia River Gorge Compact (ORS 196.150 and RCW 43.97.015) require the Gorge Commission to adopt open meetings regulations consistent with the more restrictive statutory provisions of Oregon and Washington. This division is the Gorge Commission’s open meetings regulations. The Oregon Public Meetings Laws (generally ORS 192.610 - 192.695) and the Washington Open Public Meetings Act (generally Chapter 42.30 RCW) do not directly apply to the Gorge Commission. (2) The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act and Columbia River Gorge Compact require an informed public aware of the deliberations and decisions of the Gorge Commission and the information upon which such decisions were made. It is the intent of this division that decisions of the Gorge Commission be arrived at openly. (3) Division 11 of the Gorge Commission’s rules do not apply to communications between or among members of the Gorge Commission that: (a) Are related purely to procedural matters and convey no deliberation or decision on the substance of the matter in question; (b) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, are not related to any matter that, at any time, could reasonably be foreseen to come before the governing body for deliberation and decision; or (c) Are nonsubstantive in nature, such as communication relating to scheduling, leaves of absence and other similar matters.