HB 389: "An Act relating to best-interest findings' for oil and gas leases."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 389 01 "An Act relating to best-interest findings' for oil and gas leases." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 38.05.035(g) is amended to read: 04 (g) Notwithstanding (e)(1)(A) and (B) of this section, when the director 05 prepares a written finding required under (e) of this section for an oil and gas lease 06 sale scheduled under AS 38.05.180, the director shall consider and discuss 07 (1) in a preliminary or final written finding facts that are known to the 08 director at the time of preparation of the finding and that are 09 (A) material to issues that were raised during the period allowed 10 for receipt of public comment, whether or not material to a matter set out in 11 (B) of this paragraph, and within the scope of the administrative review 12 established by the director under (e)(1) of this section; or 13 (B) material to the following matters: 14 (i) property descriptions and locations;
01 (ii) the petroleum potential of the sale area, in general 02 terms; 03 (iii) fish and wildlife species and their habitats in the 04 area; 05 (iv) the current and projected uses in the area, including 06 uses and value of fish and wildlife; 07 (v) the governmental powers to regulate oil and gas 08 exploration, development, production, and transportation; 09 (vi) the reasonably foreseeable cumulative effects of oil 10 and gas exploration, development, production, and transportation on the 11 sale area, including effects on subsistence uses, fish and wildlife habitat 12 and populations and their uses, and historic and cultural resources; 13 (vii) lease stipulations and mitigation measures, 14 including any measures to prevent and mitigate releases of oil and 15 hazardous substances, to be included in the leases, and a discussion of 16 the protections offered by these measures; 17 (viii) the method or methods most likely to be used to 18 transport oil or gas from the lease sale area, and the advantages, 19 disadvantages, and relative risks of each; 20 (ix) the reasonably foreseeable fiscal effects of the lease 21 sale and the subsequent activity on the state and affected municipalities 22 and communities, including the explicit and implicit subsidies 23 associated with the lease sale, if any; 24 (x) the reasonably foreseeable effects of oil and gas 25 exploration, development, production, and transportation on 26 municipalities and communities within or adjacent to the lease sale area; 27 and 28 (xi) the bidding method or methods adopted by the 29 commissioner under AS 38.05.180; [AND] 30 (2) in a preliminary or final written finding that is revised as 31 required by (e)(6)(G) or (H) of this section, facts that are known to the director
01 at the time of preparation of the revised finding and that require discussion under 02 (1) of this subsection; however, in making the revised finding, the director shall 03 consider and discuss facts described in (1) of this subsection as to which new 04 information has become available that justifies a revision and need not consider 05 and discuss facts described in (1) of this subsection for which no new information 06 has become available; and 07 (3) the basis for the director's preliminary or final finding, or the 08 director's revised preliminary or final finding, as applicable, that, on balance, 09 leasing the area would be in the state's best interest.