HB 388: "An Act revising laws relating to oil and gas leasing to authorize a program of areawide leasing."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 388 01 "An Act revising laws relating to oil and gas leasing to authorize a program of 02 areawide leasing." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 38.05.035(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) The director shall 06 (1) have general charge and supervision of the division and may 07 exercise the powers specifically delegated to the director; may employ and fix the 08 compensation of assistants and employees necessary for the operations of the division; 09 and is the certifying officer of the division, with the consent of the commissioner, and 10 may approve vouchers for disbursements of money appropriated to the division; 11 (2) manage, inspect, and control state land and improvements on it 12 belonging to the state and under the jurisdiction of the division; 13 (3) execute laws, rules, regulations, and orders adopted by the 14 commissioner;
01 (4) prescribe application procedures and practices for the sale, lease, 02 or other disposition of available land, resources, property, or interests [INTEREST] 03 in them, including disposal of interests in land under areawide oil and gas leasing 04 authorized under AS 38.05.180(dd) for an area in which areawide leasing has been 05 specifically authorized by the legislature; 06 (5) prescribe fees or service charges, with the consent of the 07 commissioner, for any public service rendered; 08 (6) under the conditions and limitations imposed by law and the 09 commissioner, issue deeds, leases, or other conveyances disposing of available land, 10 resources, property, or [ANY] interests in them; 11 (7) have jurisdiction over state land, except that land acquired by the 12 Alaska World War II Veterans Board and the Agricultural Loan Board or the 13 departments or agencies succeeding to their respective functions through foreclosure 14 or default; to this end, the director possesses the powers and, with the approval of the 15 commissioner, shall perform the duties necessary to protect the state's rights and 16 interest in state land, including the taking of all necessary action to protect and enforce 17 the state's contractual or other property rights; 18 (8) [REPEALED 19 (9)] maintain such records as the commissioner considers necessary, 20 administer oaths, and do all things incidental to the authority imposed; the following 21 records and files shall be kept confidential upon request of the person supplying the 22 information: 23 (A) the name of the person nominating or applying for the sale, 24 lease, or other disposal of land by competitive bidding; 25 (B) before the announced time of opening, the names of the 26 bidders, and the amounts of the bids; 27 (C) all geological, geophysical, and engineering data supplied, 28 whether or not concerned with the extraction or development of natural 29 resources; 30 (D) except as provided in AS 38.05.036, cost data and financial 31 information submitted in support of applications, bonds, leases, and similar
01 items; 02 (E) applications for rights-of-way or easements; 03 (F) requests for information or applications by public agencies 04 for land that [WHICH] is being considered for use for a public purpose; 05 (9) [(10)] account for the fees, licenses, taxes, or other money received 06 in the administration of this chapter, including the sale or leasing of land, identify their 07 source, and promptly transmit them to the proper fiscal department after crediting them 08 to the proper fund; receipts from land application filing fees and charges for copies of 09 maps and records shall be deposited immediately in the general fund of the state by 10 the director; 11 (10) [(11)] select and employ or obtain at reasonable compensation 12 cadastral, appraisal, or other professional personnel the director considers necessary for 13 the proper operation of the division; 14 (11) [(12)] be the certifying agent of the state to select, accept, and 15 secure by whatever action is necessary in the name of the state, by deed, sale, gift, 16 devise, judgment, operation of law, or other means any land, of whatever nature or 17 interest, available to the state; and be the certifying agent of the state, to select, accept, 18 or secure by whatever action is necessary in the name of the state any land, or title or 19 interest to land available, granted, or subject to being transferred to the state for any 20 purpose [; 21 (13) REPEALED 22 (14) REPEALED]. 23 * Sec. 2. AS 38.05.035(e) is amended to read: 24 (e) Upon a written finding that the interests of the state will be best served, 25 the director may, with the consent of the commissioner, approve contracts for the sale, 26 lease, or other disposal of available land, resources, property, or interests in them. In 27 [, AND, IN] addition to the conditions and limitations imposed by law, the director 28 may impose additional conditions or limitations in the contracts as the director 29 determines, with the consent of the commissioner, will best serve the interests of the 30 state. The preparation and issuance of the written finding by the director is subject to 31 the following:
01 (1) with the consent of the commissioner and subject to the director's 02 discretion, either for a specific proposed disposal of available land, resources, or 03 property, or of an interest in them, or for a disposal under AS 38.05.180(dd) of land, 04 resources, or property, or an interest in them, the director, in the written finding, 05 (A) shall establish the scope of the administrative review on 06 which the director's determination is based, and the scope of the written finding 07 supporting that determination; the scope of the review and finding may address 08 only reasonably foreseeable, significant effects of the uses proposed to be 09 authorized by the disposal; 10 (B) may limit the scope of an administrative review and finding 11 for a proposed disposal to 12 (i) applicable statutes and regulations; 13 (ii) the facts pertaining to the land, resources, or 14 property, or interest in them, that the director finds are material to the 15 determination and that are known to the director or knowledge of which 16 is made available to the director during the administrative review; and 17 (iii) issues that, based on the statutes and regulations 18 referred to in (i) of this subparagraph, on the facts as described in (ii) 19 of this subparagraph, and on the nature of the uses sought to be 20 authorized, the director finds are material to the determination of 21 whether the proposed disposal will best serve the interests of the state; 22 [AND] 23 (C) may, if the project for which the proposed disposal is 24 sought is a multiphased development, limit the scope of an administrative 25 review and finding for the specific proposed disposal to the applicable statutes 26 and regulations, facts, and issues identified in (B)(i) - (iii) of this paragraph that 27 pertain solely to a discrete phase of the project when 28 (i) the only uses to be authorized by the specific 29 proposed disposal are part of that discrete phase; 30 (ii) the department's approval is required before the next 31 phase of the project may proceed; and
01 (iii) the department describes its reasons for a decision 02 to phase and conditions its approval to ensure that any additional uses 03 or activities proposed for that or any later phase of the project will 04 serve the best interests of the state; and 05 (D) shall, if the proposed disposal of interests in land occurs 06 under an areawide oil and gas lease authorized under AS 38.05.180(dd) for 07 an area in which areawide leasing has been specifically authorized by the 08 legislature, include within the scope of the administrative review and 09 finding the entirety of the area in which areawide leasing has been 10 specifically authorized by the legislature; 11 (2) the director shall discuss in the written finding prepared and issued 12 under this subsection the reasons that each of the following was not material to the 13 director's determination that the interests of the state will be best served: 14 (A) facts pertaining to the land, resources, or property, or an 15 interest in them other than those that the director finds material under (1)(B)(ii) 16 of this subsection; and 17 (B) issues based on the statutes and regulations referred to in 18 (1)(B)(i) of this subsection and on the facts described in (1)(B)(ii) of this 19 subsection; 20 (3) a written finding for an oil and gas lease sale under AS 38.05.180 21 is subject to (g) of this section; 22 (4) a contract for the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or 23 an interest in land is not legally binding on the state until the commissioner approves 24 the contract but, if the appraised value is not greater than $50,000 in the case of the 25 sale of land or an interest in land, or $5,000 in the case of the annual rental of land 26 or interest in land, the director may execute the contract without the approval of the 27 commissioner; 28 (5) public notice requirements relating to the sale, lease, or other 29 disposal of available land or an interest in land for oil and gas proposed to be 30 scheduled in the five-year oil and gas leasing program under AS 38.05.180(b) or in 31 an areawide oil and gas leasing program under AS 38.05.180(dd), are as follows:
01 (A) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 02 180 days before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an interest 03 in land, the director shall make available to the public a preliminary written 04 finding that states the scope of the review established under (1)(A) of this 05 subsection and includes the applicable statutes and regulations, the material 06 facts and issues in accordance with (1)(B) of this subsection, and information 07 required by (g) of this section, upon which the determination that the sale, 08 lease, or other disposal will serve the best interests of the state will be based; 09 the director shall provide opportunity for public comment on the preliminary 10 written finding for a period of not less than 60 days; 11 (B) after the public comment period for the preliminary written 12 finding and not less than 90 days before the sale, lease, or other disposal of 13 available land or an interest in land for oil and gas, the director shall make 14 available to the public a final written finding that states the scope of the review 15 established under (1)(A) of this subsection and includes the applicable statutes 16 and regulations, the material facts and issues in accordance with (1) of this 17 subsection, and information required by (g) of this section, upon which the 18 determination that the sale, lease, or other disposal will serve the best interests 19 of the state is based; 20 (6) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 21 days 21 before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land, property, resources, or 22 interests in them other than a sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an 23 interest in land for oil and gas under (5) of this subsection, the director shall make 24 available to the public a written finding that, in accordance with (1) of this subsection, 25 sets out the material facts and applicable statutes and regulations and any other 26 information required by statute or regulation to be considered upon which the 27 determination that the sale, lease, or other disposal will best serve the interests of the 28 state was based; however, a written finding is not required before the approval of 29 (A) a contract for a negotiated sale authorized under 30 AS 38.05.115; 31 (B) a lease of land for a shore fishery site under AS 38.05.082;
01 (C) a permit or other authorization revocable by the 02 commissioner; 03 (D) a mineral claim located under AS 38.05.195; 04 (E) a mineral lease issued under AS 38.05.205; 05 (F) a production license issued under AS 38.05.207; 06 (G) an exempt oil and gas sale under AS 38.05.180(d) of 07 acreage offered in a sale that was held within the previous five years if the sale 08 was subject to a written best interest finding, unless the commissioner 09 determines that new information has become available that justifies a revision 10 of the best interest finding; [OR] 11 (H) a lease sale under AS 38.05.180(w) of acreage offered in 12 a sale that was held within the previous five years if the sale was subject to a 13 best interest finding, unless the commissioner determines that new information 14 has become available that justifies a revision of the best interest finding; or 15 (I) an oil or gas lease sale in an area that is part of an 16 areawide lease under AS 38.05.180(dd) within an area in which areawide 17 leasing has been authorized by the legislature if the lease sale was subject 18 to a best interest finding for the area, unless the commissioner determines 19 that new information has become available that justifies a revision of the 20 best interest finding; 21 (7) the director shall include in 22 (A) a preliminary written finding, if required, a summary of 23 agency and public comments, if any, obtained as a result of contacts with other 24 agencies concerning a proposed disposal or as a result of informal efforts 25 undertaken by the department to solicit public response to a proposed disposal, 26 and the department's preliminary responses to those comments; and 27 (B) the final written finding a summary of agency and public 28 comments received and the department's responses to those comments. 29 * Sec. 3. AS 38.05.180(b) is amended to read: 30 (b) The commissioner shall biennially prepare and, between the first and the 31 15th day of the first regular session of each legislature, notify the legislature of the
01 availability of, 02 (1) a five-year proposed oil and gas leasing program consisting of a 03 schedule of proposed lease sales and specifying as precisely as practicable the location 04 of tracts proposed to be offered for oil and gas leasing during the calendar year in 05 which the proposed program is made available to the legislature and the following four 06 calendar years; and 07 (2) a proposed areawide oil and gas leasing program. 08 * Sec. 4. AS 38.05.180 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 09 (dd) The director, with the approval of the commissioner, shall establish a 10 program of areawide oil and gas leasing to operate within each area as to which the 11 legislature has, by law, authorized areawide oil and gas leasing. Under the authority 12 granted in this subsection, 13 (1) when the commissioner identifies tracts for inclusion in the 14 proposed lease sale, the commissioner shall include at a minimum all of the tracts 15 reasonably believed by the commissioner to cover the entirety of an oil or gas reservoir 16 sought to be developed; 17 (2) the issuance and continuance in effect of a lease, or of any 18 assignment or other transfer of a lease, under this subjection must be conditioned upon 19 compliance with regulations adopted to implement this subsection. 20 * Sec. 5. REVISOR OF STATUTES TO REVISE REFERENCES. Due to the deletion 21 of repealed paragraphs in AS 38.05.035(a) by sec. 1 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall 22 amend cross-references to the affected paragraphs in AS 38.05.035(a) that appear in the 23 following statutes: AS 38.05.133(e), 38.05.180(j)(6)(B), 38.05.275(c), and AS 41.09.010(d).