00HOUSE BILL NO. 379                                                                                                      
01 "An Act relating to liability for damages to natural resources."                                                        
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1.  AS 46.03.780(b) is amended to read:                                                                    
04  (b)  Liability for damages under (a) of this section includes an amount equal                                         
05 to the sum of money required to restock injured land or waters, [TO] replenish a                                        
06 damaged or degraded resource, acquire the equivalent of a resource that was                                            
07 injured, or [TO] otherwise restore the environment of the state to its condition before                                
08 the injury and to assess whether and to what extent injury to fish, animal,                                            
09 vegetation, or other resources has occurred.                                                                           
10    * Sec. 2.  AS 46.03.822(k) is amended to read:                                                                       
11  (k)  In this section, "damages" has the meaning given in AS 46.03.824 and                                             
12 includes damage to persons or to public or private property, damage to the natural                                      
13 resources of the state or a municipality, including the cost of assessing whether and                                  
14 to what extent damage to the natural resources has occurred and the cost of                                             

01 acquiring the equivalent of the damaged resource, and damage caused by acts or                                         
02 omissions of a response action contractor for which the response action contractor is                                   
03 not liable under AS 46.03.823 or 46.03.825.                                                                             
04    * Sec. 3.  APPLICABILITY.  To the extent that AS 46.03.780(b) and 46.03.822(k), as                                   
05 amended by this Act, change existing law, they apply to causes of action accruing on or after                           
06 the effective date of this Act.