Oct. 1, 2025
Public comment on proposed beach locations welcome through Oct. 31
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Beach Monitoring Program (OBMP) at Oregon Health Authority invites public comment on a list of proposed beaches to monitor for health risks in 2026 and 2027.
The list was created based on established criteria, such as high recreational use, history of nearby pollution hazards, previously measured high bacteria levels and public input.
OBMP is a multi-agency effort between OHA and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to monitor the marine waters along Oregon's coastline for the presence of fecal bacteria, and to report elevated levels to the public. Through this program, DEQ regularly samples marine water and freshwater at 24 beaches along Oregon’s 360 miles of coastline between May and September. To protect public health, OHA issues advisories at beaches where bacteria levels in marine waters are high.
In the last round of site selection, DEQ used the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) environmental justice screening tool (a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining environmental and demographic indicators) to assess the potential for the OBMP efforts to benefit vulnerable and underserved populations. However, EPA’s screening tool is no longer available. Therefore, OBMP is also asking for the public to comment on the extent to which information generated from the proposed beach monitoring would serve vulnerable and underserved communities.
OHA and DEQ routinely reevaluate beach use and sampling locations to expend available resources most effectively toward public health protection. The proposed list includes some of the most frequently visited beaches in Oregon, beaches where the program has previously found bacteria, or beaches for which local partners and the public have requested monitoring due to potential pollution concerns. Based on OBMP’s evaluation criteria, OHA and DEQ propose sampling the following beaches for the 2026/2027 monitoring season:
Clatsop County
Coos County
Curry County
Lane County
Lincoln County
Tillamook County
Note: Beaches marked with an asterisk refer to those within potential environmental justice communities that may be likely to recreate at the beach and therefore have more exposure to high bacterial levels.
To add beaches to the list and continue to operate within available OBMP resources, DEQ would need to reduce sampling locations at other beaches. If locations are removed from the list, it would be only locations where historical data show low risk.
OBMP will accept public comments and suggestions on the proposed 2026/2027 selection of beaches and sampling locations through Oct. 31. Contact OBMP by submitting comments at https://forms.office.com/g/GLxXuvsgVu.
For more information about OBMP, visit the program website at http://www.healthoregon.org/beach or call 971-673-0440, or call OHA toll-free information line at 877-290-6767.