CBEMP stands for the Coos Bay Estuary Management Plan. Estuary Management Plans are foundational resources for coastal cities and counties. They identify specific areas within an estuary and the types of actions that are permissible. Oregon’s Statewide Land Use Planning Goal 16 (Estuarine Resources) directs all local governments with authority over an estuary to prepare and adopt an Estuary Management Plan and related land use regulations. Learn more about Oregon’s estuary management planning context here.

The original CBEMP was adopted in 1982 and has not been fully updated since. Since then, the estuary and the communities that surround it have evolved, including how the estuary is commonly used. Updating the CBEMP ensures that the underlying science and policies that inform project permitting are aligned with the current state of the estuary and community priorities. Learn more about the CBEMP and the update process here.

Multiple estuary management plans were developed in the 1970-80s, and have been in place ever since. Updating the CBEMP will help permitting and project reviews be evaluated against the most up-to-date data and information.

The CBEMP is where the rubber meets the road for projects taking place near and within the estuary. The policies and data within CBEMP help ensure that proposed projects align with the current ecology and uses within the estuary, in tern aligning with the communities priorities for the area.

The CBEMP update is anticipated to take approximately 5 years to update. The update process will be influenced by committee activities and schedules, accessibility of estuarine data, and local planning capacity. An exact completion date is not yet known, but information on the effort will be available on this site as efforts progress.

The update process using the 3-committee structure was developed through a public process in 2021. The seat structure of each committee was specifically developed to center community input and priorities throughout the update process. Specific information on the roles and expectations of each advisory committee is available here.

Yes. The CBEMP committees are official advisory bodies tasked with supporting the local jurisdictions with the plan update. As such, all official committee meetings must meet the standards set by Oregon’s public records law including:

• Noticing: Each meeting must be shared publicly at least 7 days before the meeting, including agendas, meeting location/link, and relevant discussion materials.

• Quorum: To conduct committee business, at least 51% of committee members must be in attendance. This is also reflected in the CBEMP process rules (link) and each Committee’s bylaws.

• Records: Meeting discussions and decisions must be recorded and publicly published.

Coos County and the Cities of North Bend and Coos Bay will be the final decision makers on adopting the updated CBEMP. Following committee update efforts, a recommendation will be made to the County and Cities, who will hold a vote to adopt the updated plan. Following adoption, city and county comprehensive plans will also be updates to align with the updated CBEMP.

You can provide written comments online using the forms here. Oral comments will be heard during every Committee meeting, which you can find here.