| Oregon Freight Advisory Committee (OFAC) |
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| Summary |
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OFAC was established in August 1998 by former Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Director Grace Crunican. This was in part due to selected stakeholders’ desire to give freight more visibility in ODOT policy, planning, and programming.
In 2001, the Oregon Legislature formalized the Committee through the passage of House Bill 3364 (now ORS 366.212 ). This legislation calls for the ODOT Director to “appoint members of a Freight Advisory Committee to advise the Director and Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) on issues, policies and programs that impact multimodal freight mobility in Oregon.” This includes identifying high-priority freight mobility projects for consideration in ODOT’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs (STIP) as well as TIPs at regional and local levels.
In 2003, the Oregon Legislature further enhanced OFAC’s authority with House Bill 2041 (ORS 367.620). The Committee was to make recommendations for freight mobility projects to the OTC as well as ODOT, giving priority to multimodal projects. OFAC was also authorized to prioritize $100 million in OTIA III freight mobility projects, which were defined as projects that:
- Support the safe, reliable and efficient movement of goods between and among local, national and international markets; and/or
- Provide or improve access to industrial land sites and other sites where jobs can be created.
Finally, the legislation determined that, in developing each STIP, ODOT should give priority to freight mobility projects that:
- Are located on identified freight routes of statewide or regional significance;
- Remove identified barriers to the safe, reliable and efficient movement of goods; and
- Facilitate public and private investment that creates or sustains jobs.
OFAC’s activities to date have included quarterly (or more frequent) meetings, at which members agreed to provide support for initiatives at many levels statewide to promote freight mobility. Some of the more significant initiatives include:
- Report to the Legislature (2003): providing OFAC progress to date and recommending freight mobility projects statewide;
- OTIA III (2004): recommending $100M in freight mobility projects to the OTC and ongoing input regarding allocation of returned funds;
- ConnectOregon (2006): recommending $100M in air, rail, marine and public transit projects to ODOT staff for input to the ConnectOregon Consensus Committee;
- Oregon Transportation Plan update (2006): providing key stakeholder input;
- Report to the OTC (2006): updating OFAC progress since 2003 and making recommendations on improving the freight system, creating a greater understanding of freight in Oregon and looking ahead to future challenges;
- Draft 2008-2011 STIP: recommending statewide freight mobility projects; and
- ODOT Research (2003-2006): providing problem statements for potential research projects, of which four have been selected to date.
- 2006 Report to the OTC, January 2007.
OFAC receives educational presentations at its regular meetings. It has received presentations on, and provided organizational and/or individual member support to:
- I-5 Trade Corridor improvement project (Oregon-Washington);
- Statewide and Portland Metro Cost of Congestion studies;
- ODOT’s impending statewide freight planning initiative;
- SAFETEA-LU pilot program and ongoing freight funding opportunities;
- Shipper challenges in moving goods, e.g. Oregon Association of Nurseries;
- Army Corps of Engineers responsibilities, and Short Sea Shipping and other initiatives to facilitate maintenance and expansion of marine commerce;
- Oregon goods movement impacts from potential Snake River dam breachings;
- Protecting the Linnton Industrial Sanctuary, the statewide petroleum and liquid natural gas (LNG) pipeline hub in Portland, and examining the economic impacts of a proposed petroleum pipeline in Washington;
- Portland Metro’s Freight & Goods Movement Plan and freight provisions of their Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) update;
- Commodity flow, Regional Freight Data Collection and other freight data collection initiatives and challenges;
- Recommending the inclusion of freight mobility as a prioritization factor for the 2008-2011 and 2010-2013 STIPs; and
- ODOT industrial rail spur projects and rail crossing policy, procedures and issues.
The Committee consists of Regular members represented by shippers, carriers, intermodal companies and advocacy organizations. Associate members include primarily federal, state, regional and local agency representatives. About 30-40 people typically attend meetings, with record attendance during 2005-2006 ConnectOregon deliberations.
Committee chairs: Dennis Williams, Roseburg Forest Products—1998-99; Mike Burrill, Burrill Resources—1999-2000; Ken Armstrong, Oregon Public Ports Association—2000-2002; and Tom Zelenka, Schnitzer Steel—2003-present. The Policy Subcommittee makes policy recommendations on a variety of subjects for member approval; the Projects Subcommittee prioritizes and recommends projects for multiple initiatives; and the Membership and Nominations Subcommittee ensures a representative and engaged membership.
The Committee’s Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) sponsor is Randy Papé. Staffing the Committee are Executive Sponsor Jerri Bohard, ODOT Transportation Development Division (TDD) Administrator; Julie Rodwell, TDD/Freight Mobility Section Manager; and all Freight Mobility Section staff. For more information, contact Ms. Bohard at (503) 986-4163 (jerri.l.bohard@odot.state.or.us) or Mr. Lee at (503) 986-3525 (Jack.G.Lee@odot.state.or.us ).
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