Opinion ID: 1418227
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Board's authority to require leases

Text: The Court of Appeals correctly concluded that the Board has the authority to require users of these lands to enter into leases and to pay rental for their use. Plaintiffs do not contest the state's title to the lands in question. See Land Bd. v. Corvallis Sand & Gravel, 283 Or. 147, 582 P.2d 1352 (1978). The legislature has specifically authorized the Division of State Lands [7] to lease state-owned submerged and submersible land. ORS 274.915 provides: Except as otherwise provided in ORS 274.905 to 274.940, the division may sell, lease or trade submersible or submerged lands owned by the state   . See also ORS 274.040(1). Plaintiffs argue that this authority was not intended to extend to requiring rental for uses related to navigation, such as moorage facilities, log booms, and other permanent installations maintained by the plaintiffs. They rely on the legislative history of this provision. That history evidences an urgent concern with providing a mechanism for facilitating waterfront commercial and industrial development. [8] However, we do not find, either in the language of the statute or in the legislative history, any suggestion that the leasing authority was to be limited to lands used for purposes unrelated to navigation. The power of the legislature is plenary, except as it may be limited by the federal or state constitution. State ex rel. Overhulse et al. v. Appling, 226 Or. 575, 585, 361 P.2d 86 (1961). Plaintiffs' federal constitutional challenges to the leasing program are addressed later in this opinion. They have not suggested any state constitutional limitations on the legislature's power to authorize the collection of revenue for the use of state-owned lands. In fact, general authority for such legislation is found in article VIII, § 5(2) of the state constitution, which provides: The [State Land] board shall manage lands under its jurisdiction with the object of obtaining the greatest benefit for the people of this state, consistent with the conservation of this resource under sound techniques of land management. [9] Subsection (2) was part of an initiative measure adopted in 1968. Material concerning that measure in the voters' pamphlet shows that the amendment was presented to the voters primarily as a vehicle for enhancing the revenue produced by state lands. Although those materials do not indicate that the measure was intended to provide any new authority for the legislature to authorize the leasing of state-owned lands, there was no suggestion that any limitation on the legislature's plenary power was intended. We find no provision in the state constitution which denies to the legislature (or to the Board) the power to require occupiers of state-owned submerged and submersible lands to enter into leases and compensate the state for their use. The Court of Appeals' opinion discusses at some length the distinction between the state's proprietary interest in these lands  the jus privatum  and its interest or obligation as trustee for the benefit of the public  the jus publicum. 30 Or. App. at 516-21, 567 P.2d 1037. The accuracy of that summary of the traditional view of the nature of the state's ownership of lands under navigable waters has not been challenged here, and we see no need to reexamine it now. We did, at oral argument, raise questions about the constitutional or other predicate for any concept of the jus publicum as a special limitation on any attempt by the legislature to abdicate its power to protect the rights of the people of the state. Counsel were unable to enlighten us. There is, however, no need to consider that question in this case because the Board has not attempted to give up that power on the state's behalf. The leasing rules provide: 82-025 RESERVATION OF RIGHTS (1) The Division reserves the right to reject any application for lease which would not be in the best interests of the State of Oregon or contrary to State or Federal law. No lease may be issued if it would result in an unreasonable interference with the public rights of navigation, fishing, recreation, or environmental reasons. (2) The Division reserves the right to reject any and all bids received for lease of publicly-owned lands. (3) A lease granted under these rules does not authorize any injury to private property or invasion of private rights, or any infringement of Federal, State, or local laws or regulations, nor does it obviate the necessity of obtaining other Federal, State, or local government's assent required by law for the structure or work proposed. Thus it is clear from the rules themselves that the lease program does not purport to divest the legislature or the Board of the state's power to protect the rights of the public in the state's navigable waters or to pursue other governmental objectives.