Background:
The County Opportunity Grant Program (COGP), administered by the
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), provides financial
assistance to counties for the acquisition, development, rehabilitation,
and planning of county park and recreation areas that provide camping
facilities. The COGP is part of a larger program established in 1983 to
provide revenue from RV (recreational vehicle) registration fees to
counties for park and recreation sites and programs.
The
COGP is governed by Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) 736-007-0000
through 736-007-0050. These rules establish program definitions,
eligibility requirements, application and scoring criteria, project
administration standards, committee composition, and long-term
stewardship obligations associated with grant-funded projects.
Summary of Proposed Rule Updates
The proposed rulemaking
represents a comprehensive but targeted update intended to modernize the
COGP rules without altering the core purpose or structure of the
program. Key areas of focus include:
- Clarifying and expanding definitions to improve consistency and reduce ambiguity across program administration
- Updating application requirements to clearly identify required
materials such as maps, forms, schedules, and match documentation
- Providing additional guidance on planning grants, including eligibility and submittal expectations
- Clarifying scoring criteria to improve transparency for applicants and consistency in evaluation
- Increasing administrative flexibility by removing fixed dates for application deadlines and advisory committee meetings
- Formalizing project administration practices, including time extension amendments and grant acknowledgment signage
- Updating Advisory Committee provisions, including chair selection and
flexibility in identifying qualified committee candidates
- Adding a conversion rule (OAR 736-007-0045) to clearly establish
long-term stewardship requirements and align COGP with LWCF and LGGP
conversion standards
- Adding an emergency procedure rule (OAR
736-007-0050) to allow the department to respond efficiently to
unforeseen or urgent circumstances affecting program administration
Collectively,
these changes are intended to improve program clarity, reduce
administrative risk, strengthen long-term protection of public
recreation investments, and ensure the rules accurately reflect how the
program is administered today.
Rule Advisory Committee Meetings: Upcoming
Public Comment Period: Upcoming
Comments Received:
Documents: