Legislature(2007 - 2008)
2008-07-22 House Journal
Full Journal pdf2008-07-22 House Journal Page 3241 HB 3001 The following, which was advanced to third reading from the July 21, 2008, calendar (page 3237), was read the third time: HOUSE BILL NO. 3001 "An Act approving issuance of a license by the commissioner of revenue and the commissioner of natural resources to TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC and Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd., jointly as licensee, under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act; and providing for an effective date." Representative Johnson moved and asked unanimous consent that HB 3001 be returned to second reading for the specific purpose of considering Amendment No. 1. There being no objection, it was so ordered. Amendment No. 1 was offered by Representative Johnson: Page 1, line 3, following "Act;" (title amendment): Insert "prohibiting the reimbursement of qualified expenditures before the commissioner of natural resources finds 2008-07-22 House Journal Page 3242 that certain gas will be available to the project on or before the commencement of commercial operations;" Page 1, following line 11: Insert new bill sections to read: "* Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: AVAILABILITY OF POINT THOMSON GAS BEFORE REIMBURSEMENT OF QUALIFIED EXPENDITURES. (a) The commissioner of revenue and the commissioner of natural resources may not reimburse the licensee for qualified expendituresunder AS 43.90.110(a)(1) before the commissioner of natural resources finds that natural gas produced from the Point Thomson Unit will be available for transportation by the project on or before the commencement of commercial operations. (b) A dispute between the commissioner of natural resources, the licensee, and the owners and operators of the Point Thomson Unit over the issue of whether natural gas from the Point Thomson Unit will be available for transportation by the project on or before the commencement of commercial operations shall be resolved under AS 44.62.330 - 44.62.630 (Administrative Procedure Act) or other form of alternative dispute resolution agreed to by the licensee, the owners and operators of the Point Thomson Unit, and the commissioner of natural resources, in consultation with the attorney general. (c) In this section, (1) "commencement of commercial operations," "licensee," and "project" have the meanings given in AS 43.90.900; (2) "Point Thomson Unit" means the Point Thomson Unit defined by the Department of Natural Resources on the effective date of this Act. * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: PROVISIONS NOT SEVERABLE. Notwithstanding AS 01.10.030, secs. 1 and 2 of this Act are not severable." Renumber the following bill section accordingly. 2008-07-22 House Journal Page 3243 Representative Johnson moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 1 be adopted. Representative Crawford objected. The question being: "Shall Amendment No. 1 be adopted?" The roll was taken with the following result: HB 3001 Second Reading Amendment No. 1 YEAS: 9 NAYS: 30 EXCUSED: 0 ABSENT: 1 Yeas: Chenault, Hawker, Johansen, Johnson, Neuman, Olson, Ramras, Roses, Samuels Nays: Buch, Cissna, Coghill, Crawford, Dahlstrom, Doll, Doogan, Edgmon, Fairclough, Foster, Gara, Gardner, Gatto, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Harris, Holmes, Joule, Kawasaki, Keller, Kerttula, LeDoux, Lynn, Meyer, Nelson, Salmon, Seaton, Stoltze, Thomas, Wilson Absent: Kelly And so, Amendment No. 1 was not adopted. The Speaker stated that, without objection, HB 3001 would be returned to second reading for all amendments. Amendment No. 2 was offered by Representatives Ramras and Johnson: Page 1, line 1, following "Act" (title amendment): Insert "relating to the extension of inducements to a natural gas pipeline project that would transport natural gas from the North Slope to a market in the state or for export from the state by marine transportation;" Page 1, following line 5: Insert a new bill section to read: "* Section 1. AS 43.90.440(a) is amended to read: 2008-07-22 House Journal Page 3244 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the state grants a licensee assurances that the licensee has exclusive enjoyment of the inducements provided under this chapter before the commencement of commercial operations. If, before the commencement of commercial operations, the state extends to another person preferential royalty or tax treatment or grant of state money for the purpose of facilitating the construction of a competing natural gas pipeline project in this state other than a natural gas pipeline project that is wholly within the state and transports natural gas to a market in the state or for export from the state by marine transportation, and if the licensee is in compliance with the requirements of the license and with the requirements of state and federal statutes and regulations relevant to the project, the licensee is entitled to payment from the state of an amount equal to three times the total amount of the expenditures incurred and paid by the licensee that are qualified expenditures for the purposes of AS 43.90.110 that the licensee incurred in developing the licensee's project before the date that the state first extended preferential treatment to another person. The payment under this subsection is subject to appropriation. Upon payment by the state of the amount owed under this section, the licensee shall, at no additional cost to the state, assign to the state or the state's designee all engineering designs, contracts, permits, and other data related to the project that were acquired by the licensee during the term of the license. The payment under this subsection is in full satisfaction of all claims the licensee may bring in contract, tort, or other law related to the events that gave rise to the payment." Page 1, line 6: Delete "Section 1" Insert "Sec. 2" Renumber the following bill section accordingly. Representative Ramras moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 2 be adopted. Representative Coghill objected. 2008-07-22 House Journal Page 3245 **The presence of Representative Kelly was noted. The question being: "Shall Amendment No. 2 be adopted?" The roll was taken with the following result: HB 3001 Second Reading Amendment No. 2 YEAS: 15 NAYS: 25 EXCUSED: 0 ABSENT: 0 Yeas: Chenault, Dahlstrom, Fairclough, Harris, Hawker, Johansen, Johnson, Kawasaki, LeDoux, Meyer, Neuman, Olson, Ramras, Roses, Samuels Nays: Buch, Cissna, Coghill, Crawford, Doll, Doogan, Edgmon, Foster, Gara, Gardner, Gatto, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Holmes, Joule, Keller, Kelly, Kerttula, Lynn, Nelson, Salmon, Seaton, Stoltze, Thomas, Wilson And so, Amendment No. 2 was not adopted. Amendment No. 3 was offered by Representative Ramras: Page 1, line 3, following "Act;" (title amendment): Insert "requiring the licensee to make a commitment that the primary residences of the principals, individual partners, and corporate officers of the licensee will be in the state before reimbursement is made for qualified expenditures;" Page 1, following line 11: Insert a new bill section to read: "* Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: COMMITMENT TO ESTABLISH PRIMARY RESIDENCES. (a) A licensee may not submit a request for reimbursement for qualified expenditures and the commissioners may not reimburse qualified expenditures under AS 43.90.110(a)(1) before the licensee makes the commitment that the primary residence of its principals, individual partners, and corporate officers will be in the state. (b) The requirement of a commitment that the primary residences of the licensee's principals, individual partners, and corporate officers 2008-07-22 House Journal Page 3246 will be in the state is material to the license for the purposes of AS 43.90.230(a)(3). (c) For the purposes of this section, the commissioners shall (1) identify the principals, individual partners, and corporate officers of the licensee who are subject to the commitment in (a) of this section; and (2) determine the meaning of "primary residence." (d) In this section, "commissioners," "license," and "licensee" have the meanings given in AS 43.90.900. * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: PROVISIONS NOT SEVERABLE. Notwithstanding AS 01.10.030, secs. 1 and 2 of this Act are not severable." Renumber the following bill section accordingly. Representative Ramras moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 3 be adopted. There was objection. The question being: "Shall Amendment No. 3 be adopted?" The roll was taken with the following result: HB 3001 Second Reading Amendment No. 3 YEAS: 11 NAYS: 27 EXCUSED: 0 ABSENT: 2 Yeas: Chenault, Hawker, Johansen, Johnson, Meyer, Neuman, Olson, Ramras, Roses, Samuels, Wilson Nays: Buch, Cissna, Coghill, Crawford, Dahlstrom, Doll, Doogan, Edgmon, Foster, Gara, Gardner, Gatto, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Harris, Holmes, Joule, Kawasaki, Keller, Kelly, Kerttula, LeDoux, Lynn, Nelson, Seaton, Stoltze, Thomas Absent: Fairclough, Salmon And so, Amendment No. 3 was not adopted. 2008-07-22 House Journal Page 3247 Amendment No. 4 was offered by Representative Samuels: Page 1, line 3, following "Act;" (title amendment): Insert "requiring TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC and Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd., jointly as licensee, to fully disclose and tender to the commissioner of natural resources all documents and other information provided to, exchanged with, or received from the state relating to contract negotiations with the state during 2004 regarding the construction of a natural gas pipeline to transport natural gas from the North Slope before the state reimburses qualified expenditures;" Page 1, following line 11: Insert new bill sections to read: "* Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO 2004 CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE STATE. (a) The commissioner of revenue and the commissioner of natural resources may not reimburse TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC, and Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd., jointly as licensee, for qualified expendituresunder AS 43.90.110(a)(1) before the licensee fully discloses and tenders all documents and other information provided to, exchanged with, or received from the state during 2004 relating to contract negotiations with the state regarding the construction of a natural gas pipeline to transport natural gas from the North Slope. In this subsection, "licensee" includes the licensee and a successor in interest to the licensee subject to AS 43.90. (b) The chief executive officers of TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC, and Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd., or other person authorized to act on behalf of each, shall certify by sworn affidavit that all documents and other information provided to, exchanged with, or received from the state during 2004 relating to contract negotiations with the state regarding the construction of a natural gas pipeline to transport natural gas from the North Slope have been fully disclosed and tendered to the commissioner of natural resources. (c) The commissioner of natural resources shall receive and review the documents and other information described in (a) of this section and the affidavit required by (b) of this section. Following review, the commissioner of natural resources shall notify the chair or 2008-07-22 House Journal Page 3248 the vice-chair of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee after making a finding (1) that all documents and other information have been received and that TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC, and Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd., are entitled to receive the reimbursement for qualified expenditures under AS 43.90.110(a)(1); or (2) that TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC, and Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd., after having been given a reasonable period in which to disclose and tender the documents and other information required by this section, have failed to make the required disclosures and tender of documents and other information required under this section. (d) After notifying the chair or the vice-chair of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee of a finding under (c)(1) of this section, the commissioner of natural resources shall provide a copy of all documents and other information received to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee. The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee shall make all documents and other information received from the commissioner of natural resources under this subsection available to the public except documents and other information that are identified and demonstrated to the committee by the licensee to be proprietary, privileged, or a trade secret that are confidential and not subject to public disclosure under AS 40.25. (e) A dispute between the commissioner of natural resources and the licensee over the disclosure and submission of information required by this section shall be resolved under AS 44.62.330 - 44.62.630 (Administrative Procedure Act) or other form of alternative dispute resolution agreed to by the licensee and the commissioner of natural resources, in consultation with the attorney general. (f) In this section, "licensee" has the meaning given in AS 43.90.900. * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to read: PROVISIONS NOT SEVERABLE. Notwithstanding AS 01.10.030, secs. 1 and 2 of this Act are not severable." Renumber the following bill section accordingly. Representative Samuels moved and asked unanimous consent that Amendment No. 4 be adopted. 2008-07-22 House Journal Page 3249 Representative Kelly objected. The question being: "Shall Amendment No. 4 be adopted?" The roll was taken with the following result: HB 3001 Second Reading Amendment No. 4 YEAS: 17 NAYS: 23 EXCUSED: 0 ABSENT: 0 Yeas: Chenault, Dahlstrom, Fairclough, Harris, Hawker, Johansen, Johnson, LeDoux, Meyer, Neuman, Olson, Ramras, Roses, Samuels, Stoltze, Thomas, Wilson Nays: Buch, Cissna, Coghill, Crawford, Doll, Doogan, Edgmon, Foster, Gara, Gardner, Gatto, Gruenberg, Guttenberg, Holmes, Joule, Kawasaki, Keller, Kelly, Kerttula, Lynn, Nelson, Salmon, Seaton And so, Amendment No. 4 was not adopted. HB 3001 was automatically in third reading. Representative Gatto placed a call of the House and lifted the call.