HB 420: "An Act relating to riparian protection standards for forest resources and practices; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 420 01 "An Act relating to riparian protection standards for forest resources and practices; 02 and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) The legislature finds that 07 (1) the Forest Resources and Practices Act (AS 41.17) 08 (A) establishes a policy of protecting riparian areas from significant 09 adverse effects on fish habitat and water quality from timber harvest activities; and 10 (B) divides the state into three forested regions for riparian area 11 protection purposes, in recognition of the fact that standards necessary to adequately 12 protect fish habitat and water quality may vary according to the different 13 characteristics of each of these three regions; 14 (2) the Forest Resources and Practices Act has already established detailed
01 riparian protection standards for the southern coast (Region I) and interior (Region III) of the 02 state, which all available evidence continues to indicate adequately protect riparian areas in 03 these regions; however, the legislature has not previously established similarly detailed 04 standards for inland southcentral Alaska (Region II), because of the need for additional 05 research and scientific collaboration specific to that region; 06 (3) an intensive analysis of riparian habitat characteristics in Region II has 07 been completed, and proposed detailed standards for riparian protection in Region II that are 08 based upon the unique nature of Region II's riparian ecosystems have been developed; these 09 proposed standards have been endorsed by the Board of Forestry and the Department of 10 Natural Resources; 11 (4) the proposed standards for Region II recognize that certain distinctive 12 features of riparian areas in Region II exist that warrant special protection standards that differ 13 significantly from the standards applicable to either Region I or Region III; these distinctive 14 features include 15 (A) a relative abundance of wide, unconfined, and dynamic river 16 channels in forested areas; the falling of trees into these rivers as a result of the 17 frequent shifting of river banks is a major contributor of beneficial large woody debris 18 to these channels; trees along these rivers can therefore become an important source of 19 large woody debris even though they are currently located relatively far from the river; 20 (B) a greater diversity and wider distribution of fish species, including 21 high value resident fish species, than in other regions of the state; 22 (C) more intensive use of Region II's fresh waters for sport fishing 23 than in other regions of the state; and 24 (D) a relatively low volume per acre of riparian timber, and a relatively 25 high proportion of hardwoods that have a shorter residence time as large woody 26 debris; as a result, a wider no-harvest area is necessary along dynamic river channels 27 in Region II in order to provide a volume of large woody debris equivalent to that 28 yielded by a smaller buffer in other regions; 29 (5) the proposed standards for Region II are responsive to the distinctive 30 features listed in (4) of this subsection. 31 (b) The purpose of this Act is to further the Forest Resources and Practices Act's goal
01 of region-specific riparian protection standards in this state by adopting standards that have 02 been tailored to the unique conditions of the inland southcentral area of the state. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 41.17.116 is repealed and reenacted to read: 04 Sec. 41.17.116. Riparian standards for private land. (a) Private forest land 05 adjacent to the following types of waters and located in Region I is subject to the 06 riparian protection standards established in this subsection: 07 (1) along a Type I-A water body, 08 (A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break 09 of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with 10 slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; 11 and 12 (B) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of 13 the water body; 14 (2) along a Type I-B water body, 15 (A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break 16 of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with 17 slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; 18 and 19 (B) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of 20 the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller; 21 (3) along a Type I-C water body, 22 (A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break 23 of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with 24 slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; 25 and 26 (B) where prudent, the operator shall retain low value timber 27 within 25 feet of the water body or to the limit of the area described in (A) of 28 this paragraph, whichever area is greater, where the width of the water body is 29 (i) greater than 13 feet at the ordinary high water mark; 30 or 31 (ii) greater than eight feet at the ordinary high water
01 mark if the channel is incised; 02 (4) along a Type I-D water body, 03 (A) operations within 50 feet of the water body or to the break 04 of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with 05 slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; 06 and 07 (B) where prudent, the operator shall retain low value timber 08 within 25 feet of the water body or to the limit of the area described in (A) of 09 this paragraph, whichever area is greater, where the width of the water body is 10 (i) greater than 13 feet at the ordinary high water mark; 11 or 12 (ii) greater than eight feet at the ordinary high water 13 mark if the channel is incised. 14 (b) Private forest land adjacent to the following types of waters and located in 15 Region II is subject to the riparian protection standards established in this subsection: 16 (1) along a Type II-A water body, harvest of timber may not be 17 undertaken within 150 feet of the water body; additionally, harvest of timber may not 18 be undertaken along outer bends subject to erosion within 225 feet of the water body 19 or to the terrace top break, whichever is smaller; 20 (2) along a Type II-B water body, harvest of timber may not be 21 undertaken within 150 feet of the water body; additionally, harvest of timber may not 22 be undertaken along outer bends subject to erosion within 325 feet of the water body 23 or to the terrace top break, whichever is smaller; 24 (3) along a Type II-C water body, harvest of timber may not be 25 undertaken within 100 feet of the water body; 26 (4) along a Type II-D water body, there is a 100-foot riparian area; 27 harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 50 feet of the water body; 28 (5) the length of the augmented buffer along an outer bend subject to 29 erosion in (1) or (2) of this subsection must be equal to a distance eight times the 30 stream width measured on a reach between bends at a point not widened by a point bar 31 or channel movement; the augmented buffer must be located so that three stream
01 widths are upstream and five stream widths are downstream of the point opposite the 02 apex of the point bar; 03 (6) where an estuarine area is adjacent to an anadromous or high value 04 resident fish water body, the riparian retention area for the adjacent water body applies 05 to the estuarine area. 06 (c) Private forest land adjacent to the following types of waters and located in 07 Region III is subject to the riparian protection standards established in this subsection: 08 (1) along a Type III-A water body, harvest of timber may not be 09 undertaken within 66 feet of the water body; 10 (2) along a Type III-B water body, harvest of timber may not be 11 undertaken within 33 feet of the water body; between 33 feet and 66 feet from the 12 water body, up to 50 percent of standing white spruce trees having at least a nine-inch 13 diameter at breast height may be harvested without requiring a variation; 14 (3) along a Type III-C water body, harvest of timber within 100 feet of 15 the water body must be located and designed primarily to protect fish habitat and 16 surface water quality as determined by the state forester with due deference to the 17 deputy commissioner. 18 (d) In this section, 19 (1) "low value timber" means timber that the owner or operator 20 determines, at the time of harvest, to be uneconomic to harvest and market; 21 (2) "prudent" means that the requirement can be met using reasonably 22 available means or technology, that complying with the requirement is not likely to 23 create significant impairment of the productivity of the land and water, and that the 24 cost of achieving the requirement is not out of proportion to the benefits that can 25 reasonably be expected to be achieved in the particular situation. 26 * Sec. 3. AS 41.17.118 is repealed and reenacted to read: 27 Sec. 41.17.118. Riparian standards for state land. The riparian standards for 28 state land are as follows: 29 (1) on state forest land managed by the department that is in Region I, 30 (A) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 100 feet 31 immediately adjacent to an anadromous or high value resident fish water body;
01 (B) between 100 and 300 feet from the water body, harvest of 02 timber may occur but must be consistent with the maintenance of important 03 fish and wildlife habitat as determined by the state forester with due deference 04 to the deputy commissioner; 05 (2) on state forest land managed by the department that is in Region II, 06 (A) along a Type II-A water body, harvest of timber may not 07 be undertaken within 150 feet of the water body; additionally, harvest of 08 timber may not be undertaken along outer bends subject to erosion within 225 09 feet of the water body or to the terrace top break, whichever is smaller; 10 (B) along a Type II-B water body, harvest of timber may not be 11 undertaken within 150 feet of the water body; additionally, harvest of timber 12 may not be undertaken along outer bends subject to erosion within 325 feet of 13 the water body or to the terrace top break, whichever is smaller; 14 (C) along a Type II-C water body, harvest of timber may not be 15 undertaken within 100 feet of the water body; 16 (D) along a Type II-D water body, there is a 100-foot riparian 17 area; harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 50 feet of the water body; 18 (E) the length of the augmented buffer along an outer bend 19 subject to erosion in (A) or (B) of this paragraph must be equal to a distance 20 eight times the stream width measured on a reach between bends at a point not 21 widened by a point bar or channel movement; the augmented buffer must be 22 located so that three stream widths are upstream and five stream widths are 23 downstream of the point opposite the apex of the point bar; 24 (F) where an estuarine area is adjacent to an anadromous or 25 high value resident fish water body, the riparian retention area for the adjacent 26 water body applies to the estuarine area; 27 (G) along Type II-A, II-B, II-C, and II-D water bodies, harvest 28 of timber may occur between the landward extent of the riparian retention area 29 and 300 feet from the water body consistent with the maintenance or 30 enhancement of important wildlife habitat as determined by the state forester 31 with due deference to the deputy commissioner;
01 (3) on state forest land managed by the department that is in Region 02 III, 03 (A) along a Type III-A water body, harvest of timber may not 04 be undertaken within 100 feet of the water body; however, between 66 feet and 05 100 feet from the water body, harvest of timber may be undertaken where 06 consistent with the maintenance of important fish and wildlife habitat as 07 determined by the state forester with the concurrence of the deputy 08 commissioner; 09 (B) along a Type III-B water body, harvest of timber may not 10 be undertaken within 50 feet of the water body; between 50 feet and 100 feet 11 from the water body, up to 50 percent of standing white spruce trees having at 12 least a nine-inch diameter at breast height may be harvested; 13 (C) along a Type III-C water body, harvest of timber within 14 100 feet of the water body must be consistent with the maintenance of 15 important fish and wildlife habitat as determined by the state forester with due 16 deference to the deputy commissioner. 17 * Sec. 4. AS 41.17.119 is repealed and reenacted to read: 18 Sec. 41.17.119. Minimum riparian standards for other public land. The 19 riparian standards for other public land are as follows: 20 (1) in Region I, harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 100 21 feet of an anadromous or high value resident fish water body; 22 (2) in Region II, the standards are the same as for state land under 23 AS 41.17.118(2)(A) - (F) and regulations adopted under this chapter; 24 (3) in Region III, the standards are the same as for state land under 25 AS 41.17.118(3) and regulations adopted under this chapter. 26 * Sec. 5. AS 41.17.950(21) is amended to read: 27 (21) "riparian area" means 28 (A) the areas subject to riparian protection standards in 29 AS 41.17.116(a) and (c) [AS 41.17.116(a) AND (b)] on private land in 30 Regions I and III; 31 (B) the area 150 feet from the shore or bank of a Type II-A
01 or II-B water body, and 100 feet from the shore or bank of a Type II-C or 02 II-D water body [AREAS SUBJECT TO RIPARIAN PROTECTION 03 STANDARDS IN REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE STATE 04 FORESTER UNDER AS 41.17.116(c) ON PRIVATE LAND] in Region II; 05 (C) the area 100 feet from the shore or bank of an anadromous 06 or high value resident fish water body on state land managed by the department 07 and on other public land in Regions I and III; 08 * Sec. 6. AS 41.17.950 is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 09 (34) "outer bend subject to erosion" means, in Region II, a stream bend 10 that has a cut-bank and is opposite a point bar on the inner bend; 11 (35) "point bar" means, in Region II, a ridge or low mound of 12 sediment, often sand or gravel, that has been deposited on the inside of a curve in a 13 stream, where the water velocity is lower; 14 (36) "terrace" means, in Region II, a change in elevation greater than 15 10 feet for Type II-A waters or greater than 20 feet for Type II-B waters, and that has 16 a slope greater than 30 percent; 17 (37) "terrace top break" means, in Region II, the point at which the 18 terrace slope changes to the lower angle slope of the adjacent upland; for purposes of 19 measurement, the terrace top break is where the degree of slope is reduced by 20 20 percent or more when measured away from the stream; 21 (38) "Type II-A water body" means, in Region II, 22 (A) a nonglacial stream greater than 50 feet wide that has 23 anadromous or high value resident fish and that has an unconfined and 24 dynamic channel; and 25 (B) typically has point bars, islands, scour planes, active or 26 recent side channels, and areas of obvious bank erosion; 27 (39) "Type II-B water body" means, in Region II, a glacial stream that 28 has anadromous or high value resident fish and that is not a glacial Type II-C water 29 body; 30 (40) "Type II-C water body" means, in Region II, a water body that 31 has anadromous or high value resident fish that
01 (A) is a nonglacial water body greater than three feet wide and 02 less than or equal to 50 feet wide at ordinary high water mark that has an 03 unconfined and dynamic channel; 04 (B) is a nonglacial water body greater than three feet wide at 05 ordinary high water mark that has a confined channel; 06 (C) is a reach of the Kenai River, Kasilof River, or Lake Fork 07 Crescent River greater than three feet wide at ordinary high water mark, or 08 (D) is a lake or pond; 09 (41) "Type II-D water body" means, in Region II, a nonglacial stream 10 or a reach of the Kenai River, Kasilof River, or Lake Fork Crescent River that is less 11 than or equal to three feet wide at ordinary high water mark that has anadromous or 12 high value resident fish. 13 * Sec. 7. This Act takes effect July 1, 2006.