HB 500: "An Act relating to the advance acquisition of real property for public purposes."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 500 01 "An Act relating to the advance acquisition of real property for public purposes." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 04 to read: 05 POLICY AND FINDINGS. (a) It is the policy of the State to provide for the 06 acquisition of real property and interests in real property necessary for the construction, 07 improvement, reconstruction, and maintenance of facilities for public purposes in advance of 08 actual construction, for the purpose of reducing the cost of real property for construction of 09 public facilities, reducing hardship to owners of real property, and eliminating economic 10 waste occasioned by the improvement of property immediately before its acquisition for a 11 public purpose. 12 (b) The legislature finds that the purchase and condemnation of real property 13 necessary for the construction, improvement, reconstruction, and maintenance of facilities for 14 public purposes reasonably in advance of programmed construction, is for a public use and 15 purpose.
01 * Sec. 2. AS 09.55.240(a) is amended to read: 02 (a) The right of eminent domain may be exercised for the following public 03 uses: 04 (1) all public uses authorized by the government of the United States; 05 (2) public buildings and grounds for the use of the state and all other 06 public uses authorized by the legislature of the state; 07 (3) public buildings and grounds for the use of an organized or 08 unorganized borough, city, town, village, school district, or other municipal division, 09 whether incorporated or unincorporated; canals, aqueducts, flumes, ditches, or pipes 10 conducting water, heat, or gas for the use of the inhabitants of an organized or 11 unorganized borough, city, town, or other municipal division, whether incorporated or 12 unincorporated; raising the banks of streams, removing obstructions from them and 13 widening, deepening, or straightening their channels; roads, streets, and alleys, and all 14 other public uses for the benefit of an organized or unorganized borough, city, town, 15 or other municipal division whether incorporated or unincorporated, or its inhabitants, 16 which may be authorized by the legislature; 17 (4) wharves, docks, piers, chutes, booms, ferries, bridges of all kinds, 18 private roads, plant and turnpike roads, railroads, canals, ditches, flumes, aqueducts, 19 and pipes for public transportation, supplying mines and farming neighborhoods with 20 water, and draining and reclaiming land, and for floating logs and lumber on streams 21 not navigable, and sites for reservoirs necessary for collecting and storing water; 22 (5) roads, tunnels, ditches, flumes, pipes, and dumping places for 23 working mines; also outlets, natural or otherwise, for the flow, deposit, or conduct of 24 tailings or refuse matter from mines; also an occupancy in common by the owners or 25 possessors of different mines of any place for the flow, deposit, or conduct of tailings 26 or refuse matter from their several mines, and sites for reservoirs necessary for 27 collecting and storing water; 28 (6) private roads leading from highways to residences, mines, or farms; 29 (7) telephone lines; 30 (8) telegraph lines; 31 (9) sewerage of an organized or unorganized borough, city, town,
01 village, or other municipal division, whether incorporated or unincorporated, or a 02 subdivision of it, or of a settlement consisting of not less than 10 families, or of public 03 buildings belonging to the state or to a college or university; 04 (10) tramway lines; 05 (11) electric power lines; 06 (12) for the location of pipelines for gathering, transmitting, 07 transporting, storing, or delivering natural or artificial gas or oil or any liquid or 08 gaseous hydrocarbons, including, but not limited to, pumping stations, terminals, 09 storage tanks, or reservoirs, and related installations; 10 (13) advance acquisition of real property or an interest in real 11 property for a public use described in this subsection that will occur more than 12 five years in the future. 13 * Sec. 3. AS 09.55.270 is amended to read: 14 Sec. 09.55.270. Prerequisites. Before property can be taken, it shall appear 15 that 16 (1) the use to which it is to be applied is a use authorized by law; 17 (2) the taking is necessary to the use; 18 (3) if already appropriated to a public use, the public use to which it is 19 to be applied is a more necessary public use; 20 (4) if the use is for an advance acquisition of real property or an 21 interest in real property for a future public use, the future public use is a 22 reasonably foreseeable use that has been identified in a development plan 23 prepared, published, and made available to the public by the agency or entity 24 that exercises the power of eminent domain. 25 * Sec. 4. AS 18.55.550(a) is amended to read: 26 (a) The corporation may 27 (1) acquire by eminent domain real property that the corporation [IT] 28 considers necessary within the boundaries of the redevelopment project or for the 29 corporation's present or reasonably foreseeable future [ITS] purposes under 30 AS 18.55.480 - 18.55.960 after the adoption by the corporation [IT] of a resolution 31 declaring that the acquisition of the real property described in the resolution is
01 necessary for those purposes; and 02 (2) exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner provided in 03 AS 09.55.240 - 09.55.460 or in the manner provided by other statutory provisions for 04 the exercise of the power of eminent domain. 05 * Sec. 5. AS 19.05.080 is amended to read: 06 Sec. 19.05.080. Acquisition of land, easements, and materials by purchase 07 or eminent domain. The department, on behalf of the state and as part of the cost of 08 constructing or maintaining a highway, may purchase in the open market, acquire, take 09 over, or condemn under the right and power of eminent domain land in fee simple or 10 easements that it considers necessary for present public use or for advance 11 acquisition for future public use, either temporary or permanent, or that it considers 12 necessary and reasonable for the public use. By the same means, the department may 13 obtain material, including clay, gravel, sand, or rock, or the land necessary to obtain 14 material, including access to it. The department may acquire the land or materials 15 notwithstanding the fact that title to it is vested in the state or a department, agency, 16 commission, or institution of the state. Acquisition of materials by purchase in the 17 open market under this section is governed by AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code). 18 * Sec. 6. AS 35.20.010 is amended to read: 19 Sec. 35.20.010. Acquisition of land, rights-of-way, and materials by 20 purchase or eminent domain. The department, on behalf of the state and as part of 21 the cost of constructing or maintaining a public work, may purchase in the open 22 market, acquire, take over, or condemn under the right and power of eminent domain 23 land in fee simple or easements that it considers necessary for present public use or 24 for advance acquisition for a future public use, either temporary or permanent, or 25 that it considers necessary and reasonable for the public use. By the same means, the 26 department may obtain material, including clay, gravel, sand, or rock, or the land 27 necessary to obtain the material, and the necessary land or easements to provide access 28 to it. The department may acquire the land or material notwithstanding the fact that 29 the title to it is in the state or a department, agency, commission, or institution of the 30 state. Acquisition of material in the open market under this section is governed by 31 AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code).
01 * Sec. 7. AS 42.05.631 is amended to read: 02 Sec. 42.05.631. Eminent domain. A public utility may exercise the power of 03 eminent domain for public utility uses including present public utility uses or for 04 advance acquisition for future public utility uses. This section does not authorize 05 the use of a declaration of taking. 06 * Sec. 8. AS 42.40.385(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) The corporation may exercise the power of eminent domain under 08 AS 09.55.240 - 09.55.460 to acquire land for railroad transportation purposes 09 including present railroad transportation purposes or for advance acquisition for 10 future railroad transportation purposes, consistent with this chapter. 11 Notwithstanding AS 09.55.250, the corporation may acquire a fee simple title 12 whenever, in the judgment of the board, ownership of a fee simple title is necessary to 13 carry out the purposes of this chapter.