SB 296: "An Act relating to the Alaska Railroad; authorizing the Alaska Railroad Corporation to provide financing for the acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, equipping, or operation of facilities for the transportation of natural gas resources within and outside the state by others; authorizing the Alaska Railroad Corporation to issue bonds to finance such facilities; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 296 01 "An Act relating to the Alaska Railroad; authorizing the Alaska Railroad Corporation 02 to provide financing for the acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, 03 equipping, or operation of facilities for the transportation of natural gas resources 04 within and outside the state by others; authorizing the Alaska Railroad Corporation to 05 issue bonds to finance such facilities; and providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 08 to read: 09 FINDINGS, INTENT, AND PURPOSE. (a) The Alaska State Legislature finds that 10 (1) the Alaska Railroad is uniquely suited to serve essential functions of the 11 state by providing financing for a facility for the transportation of certain natural gas 12 resources located within the state; 13 (2) providing financing for that facility furthers the purposes of both the state
01 and the Alaska Railroad by assuring that the state's natural gas resources will be transported to 02 their appropriate markets, thus creating revenue for the Alaska Railroad and for the state and 03 providing employment opportunities for residents of the state; 04 (3) such a facility also will enhance and improve the state's ability to develop 05 and transport other natural resources of the state, including oil and gas resources located off 06 the North Slope of this state; and 07 (4) these results are essential purposes of the state and the achievement of 08 these purposes is critical to the health and welfare of the state. 09 (b) A purpose of this Act is to clarify the statutory functions and powers of the Alaska 10 Railroad by expressly including the power to provide financing for transportation facilities as 11 described in this Act. 12 (c) It is the intent of the legislature that 13 (1) this Act be construed broadly to permit the Alaska Railroad Corporation 14 the greatest flexibility to accomplish the purpose described in (b) of this section within the 15 limitations set out in this Act; and 16 (2) other provisions of AS 42.40 in existence before the enactment of this Act 17 be similarly construed to complement the provisions of this Act. 18 * Sec. 2. AS 42.40.250 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 19 (31) provide financing for the acquisition, construction, improvement, 20 maintenance, equipping, and operation of facilities for the transportation of natural gas 21 resources within and outside the state without regard to whether the facilities are or 22 will be owned in whole or in part by the corporation or located on land owned by the 23 corporation. 24 * Sec. 3. AS 42.40.630 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 25 (b) Before issuing bonds to provide the financing described in 26 AS 42.40.250(31) for a facility to be owned in whole or in part by an entity other than 27 the corporation, the corporation shall enter into a contract, lease, or other form of 28 agreement that will, in the judgment of the corporation, provide sufficient 29 consideration to 30 (1) pay the principal of and interest on the bonds as they become due; 31 (2) create and maintain the reserves for the payments that the
01 corporation considers necessary or desirable; and 02 (3) pay all costs necessary to service or additionally secure the bonds, 03 including trustee's fees and bond insurance premiums, unless these costs are to be paid 04 by a party other than the corporation. 05 * Sec. 4. AS 42.40 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 42.40.695. Public purpose of bonds. Bonds of the corporation issued to 07 finance facilities described in AS 42.40.250(31) are issued by a public corporation and 08 an instrumentality of the state for an essential public and governmental purpose. 09 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 10 read: 11 LEGISLATIVE AUTHORIZATION AND APPROVAL. (a) Subject to the 12 requirements of AS 42.40.630(b), the Alaska Railroad Corporation is authorized to issue 13 bonds under the power granted to it in AS 42.40 to finance the construction of a natural gas 14 pipeline and related facilities for the transportation of natural gas recovered from the North 15 Slope of this state. The maximum principal amount of bonds that the Alaska Railroad 16 Corporation may issue under this section is $17,000,000,000. The Alaska Railroad 17 Corporation may issue the bonds in a single issuance or in several issuances, without 18 limitation as to number of issuances or timing, and as the Alaska Railroad Corporation 19 determines best furthers the purpose of financing the gas pipeline and related facilities 20 described in this section. The Alaska Railroad Corporation shall negotiate with the producers 21 of the gas or with one or more other entities as the Alaska Railroad Corporation considers 22 appropriate, and shall enter into agreements with those producers or one or more other entities 23 to provide revenue sufficient to accomplish the purposes described in AS 42.40.630. The 24 proceeds of the bonds described in this section shall be used only for facilities that are owned 25 by one or more entities other than the Alaska Railroad Corporation and that include a pipeline 26 that approximately follows the right of way of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System from Pump 27 Station 1 on the North Slope to Delta Junction, and the Alaska Highway from Delta Junction 28 to the Alaska/Yukon Territory border. 29 (b) This section constitutes the approval required by AS 42.40.285 for the issuance of 30 the bonds described in this section. 31 * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).