Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/25/2002 09:46 AM Senate FIN
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 421(RES)
"An Act relating to requiring the Department of Natural
Resources to develop and maintain a standardized procedure for
processing applications and issuing permits, authorizations,
and certifications under the Alaska Water Use Act and to make
a record of those items and amendments and orders affecting
them available on the Internet."
This was the first hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance
Committee.
JENNIFER YUHAS, Committee Aide to Representative Beverly Masek, Co-
Chair of the House Resources Committee the sponsors of this bill,
informed the Committee the current committee substitute for this
bill has a more specific title than the version passed out of the
House of Representatives.
Ms. Yuhas shared with the Committee that statutes enacted in FY 02
resulted in new Department of Natural Resources regulations, and,
during that legislation process, it was revealed that Alaska's
citizens were unhappy with the difficulty in accessing public
records and the "haphazard nature" of water rights, water uses, and
water appropriation issuances. She stated this bill directs the
Department to develop a standardized water right and use procedure
and to make records available to the public.
Senator Wilken characterized the problems associated with the
recent Fairbanks' Ester Dome water project as a "rat's nest," and
voiced strong support for the bill.
Ms. Yuhas relayed that the sponsor requested the Senate Finance
Committee to address concerns pertaining to the Department of
Natural Resources fiscal note. She shared that the Department had
been allocated $300,000 in FY 02 with the expectation of receiving
an additional $300,000 in FY 03 to specifically address the backlog
in the water rights adjudication program. She stated the sponsor's
opinion that the Department of Natural Resources fiscal note dated
3/22/02 in the amount of $75,000 would not be necessary as this
amount could be funded from the existing $300,000 allotment.
BOB LOEFFLER, Director, Division of Mining, Land and Water,
Department of Natural Resources, testified offnet to voice the
Department's general support of this bill. He stated the Department
oversees the water rights program. He explained that the
Department's antiquated computer system makes it difficult for the
Department to easily supply summary information to the public.
Mr. Loeffler specified that the Department's fiscal note for
$75,000 would fund a contract with the Information Resource
Management programmers to make public information available on the
Internet as required in the bill. He also noted the Division would
be fully staffed in FY 03 to address the backlog; however, if the
$75,000 were subtracted from the allotment, some staff would need
to be laid off.
Senator Leman inquired as to what the Division did with the
$300,000 FY 02 allotment.
Mr. Loeffler responded that the $300,000 increment was used to
address the water right permit backlog, and the expectation is that
at the end of FY 02, a new typical water use permit application
would be processed within 60 days of receipt and a typical
temporary water use permit would be processed within 20 days. He
informed the Committee that between 40 and 50 permits were
processed in April and that between the months of January and
March, a total of approximately 100 water right permits had been
processed, matching the total number processed the prior fiscal
year.
Senator Wilken inquired how the Ester Dome project would have
benefited if this legislation had been in effect three years ago.
Mr. Loeffler stated this legislation would have allowed the
Division to more quickly retrieve the summary information from the
computer system.
KEITH BAYHA, Chairman, Alaska Public Waters Coalition, testified
via teleconference from Anchorage. He informed the Committee that
the Coalition consists of sport fishing groups, conservation
groups, some Alaska Water Board members, and other people concerned
about how this legislation might impact the public "while
furthering special interests at the expense of the public
interest." He stated support for the House of Representative's
version of the bill, and voiced disapproval of the Senate's
amendments to it, which require individuals seeking water use
permits to additionally acquire "meaningless" permits from the
Department of Fish and Game.
Mr. Bayha voiced that this bill needs "further improvement" and
noted that the coalition's principle concern is that the term
"standardized procedure" lacks definition." He feared that without
this term being further defined, the bill "might result with a
procedure and a date retrieval system that still may not be user
friendly and capable of being used by citizens who desire to
utilize the data base to perform investigative searches and
analysis."
Mr. Bayha offered various suggestions for amendments to the bill
including in-stream flow and temperature evaluations in determining
permits.
SFC 02 # 77, Side B 10:38 AM
Mr. Bayha stressed that procedures should be addressed to provide
easy and efficient access to water rights information and the
Department's internet site should include such things as adequate
notice of actions relating to changes in water rights. He
summarized that the coalition supports the House of
Representative's version of the bill, and asked for consideration
of the Coalition's concerns and suggestions.
Senator Hoffman asked when the information specified in this bill
would be available on the Internet if the bill were passed.
Co-Chair Kelly noted that information would be forthcoming.
Ms. Yuhas clarified that amendments to the bill do not require an
applicant to apply for a permit from the Department of Fish and
Game, but rather to receive "concurrence on the use of the water."
Ms. Yuhas additionally expressed that citizen complaints at a
public hearing both she and Mr. Loeffler attended, focused on not
being able to access paper files for water rights in the same
city in which they had been applied for, and did not focus on
issues resulting from an archaic computer system.
Co-Chair Kelly ordered the bill HELD in Committee in order to
further address the fiscal notes.
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