Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/23/1994 08:15 AM House RES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 398 - Tide and Submerged Lands CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS told committee members there is a draft committee substitute for HB 398 in their folders. REPRESENTATIVE HARLEY OLBERG, PRIME SPONSOR, said committee substitute for HB 398 is a bill which puts second class cities and boroughs on equal footing with first class cities and home rule cities as related to tidelands adjoining them. The definition of tidelands is a strip of land between mean low water and mean high water. He stated currently there is no provision for second class cities and boroughs to obtain tidelands for development purposes, but HB 398 accomplishes that. (CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS noted for the record that REPRESENTATIVE JAMES had joined the committee at 8:21 a.m.) GARY WILLIAMS, CITY MANAGER, CITY OF WHITTIER, testified via teleconference, and stated the committee substitute for HB 398 meets all the criteria for good legislation, as it solves problems and creates opportunities. He stressed HB 398 provides potential economic development opportunities for all 16 boroughs in the state, for at least one first class city and 49 second class cities. He said the conveyances of tide and submerged lands under HB 398 will not result in wholesale demand for conveyances, nor will it place unreasonable demands on the ability of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to process conveyances because as this bill provides, municipalities must have a locally (indiscernible) in order to apply for this conveyance. MR. WILLIAMS stressed HB 398 provides that all municipalities who have the ability, take measures to secure economic development in their communities given the natural resources at their hand, which in this case, is their waterfront. He urged a do pass recommendation on HB 398. Number 050 RON SWANSON, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF LANDS, DNR, testified via teleconference, and expressed support of HB 398. He said HB 398 provides equities to all cities, boroughs, and fiscal governments. The bill also provides good local control for development projects and will remove liability problems from the state. REPRESENTATIVE PAT CARNEY asked how HB 398 will affect a private land owner who has land on the waterfront, when the municipality gets title to the submerged lands in front of that land. MR. SWANSON replied under state law, the owner has a permanence right to the tidelands in front, so the municipality will have to work with the uplands private owner. Number 063 REPRESENTATIVE JOE GREEN wondered if there is a potential problem of the mean high to the mean low tide going to the municipality, but the rest of the submerged lands out to the three mile limit being state, and asked if the state will still have any input as to what goes on when this transfer takes place due to the possible adverse effect of what is left for the state. MR. SWANSON replied HB 398 still requires that (indiscernible) go through either a state land use plan, a local land use plan or a coastal management plan, so the state will have input on what is going to happen. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked if there are any legal ramifications when the state gets title to submerged lands and the lands are then donated to another entity. MR. SWANSON said HB 398 does require the public trust doctrine be enforced and if it is not enforced, the state can go back to court to ask that the land come back to the state. Number 087 REPRESENTATIVE BILL HUDSON asked if there is a large amount of general grant land which municipalities are entitled to, but have not been selected to date. MR. SWANSON responded there are about 600,000 acres of land yet to be conveyed to municipalities, plus DNR has to certify three or four municipalities for additional land entitlement. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON noted that submerged lands and tidelands will not increase or decrease the entitlement, but can be selected by municipalities in lieu of uplands. MR. SWANSON replied that is essentially correct. It does not (indiscernible) entitlement, but allows the municipalities to select and get conveyance without the acres being charged. (Indiscernible) other municipalities which were formed previous to 1964 received their (indiscernible) without charging the municipalities. REPRESENTATIVE OLBERG pointed out that the committee is working with the work draft for HB 398, LS1582/O. Number 107 REPRESENTATIVE CON BUNDE made a motion to ADOPT CSHB 398(RES). CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS asked if there were objections. Hearing none, CSHB 398(RES) was ADOPTED. REPRESENTATIVE ELDON MULDER said the sponsor summary indicates it cannot be determined why second class cities were left out of the conveyance authorization and asked if there is any institutional memory as to why that occurred back in 1963. MR. SWANSON responded it was way past his institutional memory. REPRESENTATIVE CARNEY made a motion to MOVE CSHB 398(RES) out of committee with INDIVIDUAL RECOMMENDATIONS. Number 127 BOB JUETTNER, ADMINISTRATOR, ALEUTIANS EAST BOROUGH (AEB), testified via teleconference, and said over the past six years he has been involved in applying for a lease for tidelands as well as administering a private existing lease. The AEB finds that tidelands are important and urges passage of CSHB 398(RES) for two reasons. First, the AEB has been actively involved in capital improvement projects (indiscernible) projects that are built on tidelands. Every time the AEB goes out to bond, they keep running into the Hicksen case. In the Hicksen case, the court found against Juneau, a geobonding fund could not be used on property which they do not own or have a substantial ownership interest. Number 140 MR. JUETTNER stated the AEB cannot go out and secure a decent strip of ownership in tidelands (indiscernible). He added that the process is complex and time-consuming. The process also lacks conformity. DNR has supplied different situations of lands at different times, and they have a hard time dealing with the concept of the 55 year lease as it applies to local government. He gave examples of the problems with the current process. MR. JUETTNER stressed that passage of HB 398 will accomplish several primary goals: It will substantially reduce the time demands on DNR and leasing of tidelands; it will make practices consistent with what DNR's staffing level is; it will facilitate AEB's needs for developing infrastructure; AND it will ensure the integrity of the public (indiscernible). Number 186 (CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS noted for the record that REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES had joined the committee at 8:30 a.m.) CHAIRMAN WILLIAMS asked if there were any objections to the motion. Hearing none, the MOTION PASSED.
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