SB 31: "An Act relating to supplemental grant land entitlements for municipalities."
00SENATE BILL NO. 31 01 "An Act relating to supplemental grant land entitlements for municipalities." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 29.60 is amended by adding new sections to read: 04 Article 9. Supplemental Grant Land Entitlements. 05 Sec. 29.60.700. Supplemental grant land entitlements. (a) A municipality 06 may select and is entitled to receive land conveyed to the state under Sec. 6(b) of the 07 Alaska Statehood Act (P.L. 85-508, 72 Stat. 339) that, on the date of its selection by 08 the municipality, 09 (1) is located within the boundaries of the municipality; 10 (2) has not been conveyed by the state; 11 (3) has not been reserved by law from the public domain; 12 (4) is not land 13 (A) included in a five-year proposed oil and gas leasing 14 program under AS 38.05.180(b); or
01 (B) leased under, or for which a lease application is pending 02 under, AS 38.05.180(d); 03 (5) is not subject to a possessory interest or encumbrance other than a 04 (A) lease that is not an oil or gas lease; 05 (B) timber contract; 06 (C) mining claim; 07 (D) sale of materials under AS 38.05.110 - 38.05.120; 08 (E) land use permit or right-of-way issued by the Department 09 of Natural Resources under AS 38.05; 10 (6) is not necessary to carry out the purpose of an interagency land 11 management agreement; and 12 (7) is not subject to conveyance under a land exchange or land 13 settlement agreement. 14 (b) The amount of the supplemental grant land entitlement for each 15 municipality is equal to five percent of the acreage the municipality is entitled to 16 receive under AS 29.65.010 - 29.65.140. A municipality may not make a selection in 17 fulfillment of its supplemental grant land entitlement under AS 29.65.700 - 29.65.740 18 after December 31, 2010. 19 (c) Notwithstanding AS 38.05.125(a), the transfer of ownership and 20 management of supplemental grant land from the Department of Natural Resources to 21 a municipality includes the interest of the state in the 22 (1) coal, ores, minerals, fissionable materials, geothermal resources, and 23 fossils that may be in or on the land; and 24 (2) oil and gas that may be in or on the land, but only as to land that 25 is selected by the municipality on and after the date that is the fifth anniversary of the 26 effective date of AS 29.60.700 - 29.60.740. 27 (d) When a selection has been made by a municipality, the land selected is 28 closed to entry until the land selected has been conveyed or the selection has been 29 rejected by the commissioner of natural resources. 30 Sec. 29.60.710. Conveyance to a municipality. (a) When a municipality 31 selects the supplemental grant land to which it is entitled, unless it is determined under
01 (b) and (c) of this section that title to the land should not be conveyed, the 02 commissioner of natural resources shall convey, subject to divestiture under (j) of this 03 section, a document of interim conveyance under (h) of this section or a patent to land. 04 (b) The commissioner of natural resources may not convey title to any land 05 selection made by a municipality if the commissioner determines that the proposed 06 selection 07 (1) includes land that, at the time of its selection under this section, 08 (A) a municipality has selected under AS 29.65, unless the land 09 selection under AS 29.65 is, at a later date, rejected by the commissioner of 10 natural resources or relinquished by the municipality; or 11 (B) the commissioner reasonably believes may be selected by 12 a municipality under AS 29.65.030, but the commissioner may not withhold 13 under this subparagraph the conveyance of title to land selected longer than 14 three years after the date of incorporation of the municipality the commissioner 15 believes may select the land under AS 29.65.030; 16 (2) includes land that, at the time of its selection under this section, 17 (A) is subject to an oil and gas exploration license; or 18 (B) the commissioner reasonably believes will be made part of 19 an oil and gas exploration license issued under AS 38.05.131 - 38.05.134; the 20 commissioner may not refuse to convey title to land under this subparagraph 21 for more than three years after its first selection by a municipality; 22 (3) is not in the best interests of the state; in making a determination 23 under this paragraph as to whether a selection is in the best interests of the state, the 24 commissioner shall consider 25 (A) the interest of the general public in retention of the land in 26 state ownership; 27 (B) ensuring an appropriate diversity in the character of land 28 owned by the state and by the municipality; 29 (C) the public benefits achieved by conveyance of the land to 30 the municipality; 31 (D) the probable potential for the development of the land and
01 its resources and the probable income to the municipality from the conveyance 02 of the land; 03 (E) benefits to the municipality from the conveyance of the land 04 to it; and 05 (F) the efficiency of the management of the land resulting from 06 the conveyance of the land. 07 (c) If the governing body of a municipality disagrees with a decision of the 08 commissioner of natural resources under (b) of this section not to convey land selected 09 by the municipality, the governing body and the commissioner of natural resources 10 shall submit the matter to the governor, who shall make the decision. The decision 11 of the governor is final. 12 (d) When land is conveyed in fulfillment of a supplemental grant land 13 entitlement, the municipality takes the land subject to any possessory interest held by 14 another person on the effective date of the conveyance. Except as provided in 15 AS 29.60.730(1), the municipality is entitled to receive the consideration due under 16 that interest for the duration of the interest. 17 (e) In conveying supplemental grant land, the commissioner of natural 18 resources shall give public notice under AS 38.05.945(b) and (c) and provide for 19 access under AS 38.05.127, but other provisions of AS 38.04 and AS 38.05 do not 20 apply. 21 (f) Supplemental grant land transferred or conveyed under AS 29.60.700 - 22 29.60.740 23 (1) is subject to 24 (A) Sec. 6(i) of the Alaska Statehood Act (P.L. 85-508, 72 Stat. 25 339); 26 (B) art. IX of the state constitution; 27 (C) AS 19.10.010; and 28 (D) the rights of the state under former 43 U.S.C. 932 (sec. 8, 29 Act of July 26, 1866, 14 Stat. 253); 30 (2) excludes any interest transferred to the state by quitclaim deed dated 31 June 30, 1959, under authority of the Alaska Omnibus Act, P.L. 86-70, 73 Stat. 141;
01 (3) based on a land selection filed by a municipality on or after the 02 effective date of AS 29.60.700 - 29.60.740 and until the day before the day that is the 03 fifth anniversary of the effective date of AS 29.60.700 - 29.60.740 is subject to 04 reservation by the state in perpetuity of all oil and gas that may be in or on the land, 05 together with the right to explore the land for oil and gas and to remove from the land 06 all oil and gas located in and on it. 07 (g) A municipality shall bear all costs of selection, platting, surveying, and 08 conveyance of the land that it selects to fulfill a supplemental land grant entitlement 09 and shall reimburse the Department of Natural Resources for the reasonable costs 10 incurred by that department relating to that selection, platting, surveying, and 11 conveyance. As to land due a municipality under (a) of this section because it has not 12 been disapproved under (b) and (c) of this section, if the land 13 (1) has been surveyed, the boundaries of the land conveyed must 14 conform to the public land subdivisions established by the approved survey; 15 (2) is unsurveyed, the commissioner shall survey the exterior 16 boundaries of the land to be conveyed without interior subdivision, and shall issue 17 patent in terms of the exterior boundary survey. 18 (h) For land due a municipality under (a) of this section that is unsurveyed, 19 pending the survey of exterior boundaries and issuance of patent, the commissioner of 20 natural resources shall prepare and provide to the municipality a document of interim 21 conveyance for the land to be conveyed. 22 (i) Except as provided in AS 29.60.730(2), management of land conveyed to 23 a municipality by patent or by a document of interim conveyance vests with the 24 municipality from the date of execution of the patent or document of interim 25 conveyance. 26 (j) When the commissioner of natural resources issues a document of interim 27 conveyance under (h) of this section or a patent for land selected and held by a 28 municipality, the commissioner of natural resources shall retain the right to reenter the 29 land conveyed and recover title to it. The commissioner of natural resources shall 30 reenter and recover title if, on the 10th anniversary of the execution of the conveyance, 31 the commissioner finds that the municipality has not disposed of or is not actively
01 managing the land to provide income for the support of its programs. However, if at 02 any time during the 10-year period, litigation, including any appeal, has prevented the 03 municipality from actively managing the land to provide income, the date on which 04 the commissioner of natural resources shall make the finding required by this 05 subsection is extended by a period equal to the period attributable to the litigation 06 during which the municipality was prevented from actively managing the land to 07 provide income. For purposes of this subsection, "actively managing the land to 08 provide income" means that the municipality is deriving revenue from the land 09 selection. 10 Sec. 29.60.720. Management and disposition of supplemental grant land. 11 (a) The governing body of each municipality that receives supplemental grant land 12 shall establish procedures for mineral entry or location and mineral leasing on 13 supplemental grant land selections that are substantially similar to mineral entry, 14 location, and leasing procedures for state land under AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.275. 15 (b) Notwithstanding other provisions of law, a municipality shall seek public 16 comment on proposals for development or sale of supplemental grant land selections. 17 The governing body of each municipality that receives supplemental grant land shall 18 adopt ordinances that provide that the municipality shall prepare an annual plan for 19 management and disposition of the land and shall, not less that 30 days before 20 scheduled approval by the governing body of the plan, 21 (1) make copies of the plan available to the public; 22 (2) publish a notice in newspapers of general circulation in the 23 municipality that provides the public with information on the locations where the plan 24 is available for public inspection; 25 (3) give notice to all other municipalities with jurisdiction over the land 26 affected by the proposal; and 27 (4) seek public comment on the annual plan before action by the 28 governing body approving the plan. 29 Sec. 29.60.730. Management and disposition of income from existing 30 encumbrances. For the land selected by and conveyed to a municipality that is 31 subject to a lease, contract, claim, sale, permit, or right-of-way identified in
01 AS 29.60.700(a)(5), the 02 (1) state is entitled to receive the income obtained from the lease, 03 contract, claim, sale, permit, or right-of-way for the duration of the term of the lease, 04 contract, claim, sale, permit, or right-of-way, and during any renewal of it that is 05 authorized by the lease, contract, claim, sale, permit, or right-of-way, or by law; 06 (2) responsibility for the management of the land vests with the 07 municipality only upon conclusion of the term of the lease, contract, claim, sale, 08 permit, or right-of-way, and any renewal authorized by the lease, contract, claim, sale, 09 permit, or right-of-way, by law. 10 Sec. 29.60.740. Customary and traditional uses to be continued. The 11 municipality shall manage or dispose of land it receives in fulfillment of its 12 supplemental grant land entitlement in a manner that permits customary and traditional 13 uses of the resources of that land to the maximum extent practicable. 14 * Sec. 2. APPLICABILITY OF MUNICIPAL SELECTION RIGHTS UNDER 15 AS 29.60.700 - 29.60.740 TO CERTAIN LAND. In addition to the land that, under 16 AS 29.60.710(b), the commissioner of natural resources may not convey, the commissioner 17 of natural resources may not convey land that, at the time of its selection by a municipality, 18 is subject to designation for conveyance or conveyance to the Alaska Mental Health Trust 19 Authority under sec. 40, ch. 5, FSSLA 1994, as amended by secs. 4 and 5, ch. 1, SSSLA 20 1994.