Legislature(2003 - 2004)
05/05/2004 01:15 PM 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
SB 190 - KENAI RIVER SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA Number 0066 CO-CHAIR DAHLSTROM announced that the first order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 190(STA), "An Act adding certain state-owned land and water to the Kenai River Special Management Area; relating to the mineral estate of the state-owned land and water in the Kenai River Special Management Area; relating to the Kenai River Special Management Area advisory board; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was HCS CSSB 190(CRA).] Number 0093 AMY SEITZ, Staff to Senator Tom Wagoner, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, noted on behalf of Senator Wagoner that the current version of SB 190 adds, to the Kenai River Special Management Area (KRSMA), 536 acres of land that the state acquired via the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) settlement fund. Number 0164 CO-CHAIR MASEK moved to adopt HCS CSSB 190(CRA) as the work draft. There being no objection, it was so ordered. MS. SEITZ went on to say: So the 536 acres - and then there's just under 30 acres of lands that were inadvertently left out of the original 1984 bill - those are all wetlands that have been labeled as critical habitat area. ... It's been a long process getting to these particular properties. [Starting] back in 1995, Governor Knowles wanted the Kenai comprehensive management plan updated, and so the Kenai River Special Management Area (KRSMA) advisory board started having meetings in [1997]. They came up with the new plan, which requested just under 8,000 acres of land be added. The majority of those lands were up in the upper Kenai River area - Cooper Landing area, around there. Through the process, most of those lands were taken out - 3,500 acres were taken out - due to complications they would cause with the Chugach electric powerhouse in Cooper Landing. The other lands were taken out because there ... [was] a bible camp on one that would be kicked off, and other issues like that. So the Senator, when he introduced SB 190, decided [that] these are the acres that are the most critical - and the [Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G)] has mentioned that. These are the lands that have the least problems; ... they're already under the [Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation] through the [EVOS]. So that's why we reduced it so drastically from what they had requested. MS. SEITZ offered that Section 3, on page 5, clarifies language currently in statute, and that Section 4, which was altered in the House Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee, now no longer makes any changes to the advisory board. Number 0446 REPRESENTATIVE WOLF surmised that because the land was purchased with EVOS funds, the state already owns it. MS. SEITZ turned attention to [Amendment 1], which read [original punctuation provided]: Page 5, line 9, following " municipalities", insert "adjacent to the Kenai River" Page 5, line 10, Following "groups.", delete "An" insert "Unless appointed as a representative of a user group, resident property owners, a municipality adjacent to the Kenai river, or other interest group, an" Page 5, line 12, Following "board", insert "only as an ex officio member serving without a vote. Page 5, line 12, Following "of the", insert "voting" Number 0603 REPRESENTATIVE HEINTZ made a motion to adopt Amendment 1. Number 0605 REPRESENTATIVE WOLF objected, and suggested that Amendment 1 would cause too many members of the KRSMA advisory board to become ex officio members, and would remove municipal, state, and federal resource-agency representation from the KRSMA advisory board, which he characterized as currently being a good working group with a professional makeup. He mentioned that with regard to the original version of SB 190, the KRSMA advisory board supported the addition of the land but refused to comment on Section 4, which said in part, "An employee, elected official, or other representative of a federal or state government may not be appointed to the advisory board.". REPRESENTATIVE WOLF relayed that agency members and KRSMA advisory board members have approached him with concerns regarding making those listed in Section 4 of the original bill ex officio members and thus removing their ability to participate fully as voting members. MS. SEITZ explained: [Amendment 1] would make the agency representatives ex officio, all except for the municipality agencies. They will hold a voting seat: Soldotna, Kenai, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough, which would represent the Cooper Landing area - Homer, Seward, all the other "peninsula" cities. The [ADF&G], Department of Natural Resources [DNR], [Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)] - those ones would be ex officio - and the Senator wanted ... them ... to have a seat on the board to discuss the topics because he knows that they are knowledgeable, ... [that] they are a valuable part of the ... board. But ... the advisory board is advisory - it advises the ... [DNR], so the state will still have a say in what happens with how the lands are managed - and it was set up as a citizens' advisory board. By having the agencies [have] such a big part [with regard to] voting, the Senator didn't feel like it was a true citizens' board, so he - along with the [ADF&G] - thought it would be best to have those agency members as ex officio. There was another concern brought up to the Senator, that the wording would make it so the commissioner of DNR [would be] unable to appoint a public member who happens to work for the state. So by opening that up, the commissioner did have the ability to interpret the language, but that also opened it up to the ability for someone to challenge it in court. So the language in ... [Amendment 1] ... reads, "Unless appointed as a representative of a user group, resident property owners, a municipality adjacent to the Kenai river, or other interest [group]", and then it goes on to say that the agency members would be ex officio. So that clarifies it - and this language was given to us by [Legislative Legal and Research Services] - clarifies it so it's not opened up to being challenged by court. And the [DNR] ... requested us to make that clarification. Number 1048 CO-CHAIR DAHLSTROM sought confirmation that representatives of the municipal agencies of Soldotna, Kenai, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough would still have voting rights. MS. SEITZ confirmed that point. REPRESENTATIVE WOLF concurred but expressed concern that adoption of Amendment 1 will result in eliminating various agencies' voices and their incentive to participate. He mentioned a few issues that have come before the KRSMA advisory board. In response to a question, he concurred with Ms. Seitz's comment that the KRSMA advisory board was set up as a citizens' advisory board, but mentioned that there is only one ADF&G representative currently sitting on the board who is not a resident of the Kenai Peninsula. MS. SEITZ pointed out that at the most recent KRSMA advisory board meeting, members voted 10-3 in favor of the language in Section 4 of CSSB 190(STA), which read in part, "An employee, elected official, or other representative of a federal or state government may be appointed to the advisory board as an ex officio member serving without a vote.". REPRESENTATIVE GATTO asked whether Amendment 1 would allow someone from Palmer to serve as a voting member, and whether someone who is not "adjacent" to the river would not be able to serve as a voting member. MS. SEITZ reiterated that the language in Amendment 1 was crafted by Legislative Legal and Research Services, and explained that it is intended to describe those communities that the Kenai River runs through and directly affects. REPRESENTATIVE GATTO expressed concern with limiting membership to only those that live adjacent to the Kenai River. MS. SEITZ offered her belief that the bill only requires municipality representatives to be from municipalities adjacent to the Kenai River. Number 1587 A roll call vote was taken. Representatives Heinze and Gatto voted in favor of Amendment 1. Representatives Wolf, Lynn, Dahlstrom, and Masek voted against it. Therefore, Amendment 1 failed by a vote of 2-4. Number 1616 CO-CHAIR MASEK moved to report HCS CSSB 190(CRA) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HCS CSSB 190(CRA) was reported from the House Resources Standing Committee.
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