Legislature(2003 - 2004)
03/26/2004 08:06 AM Senate JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 345-LIABILITY FOR AIRPORTS AND AIRSTRIPS MR. JOE MICHEL, legislative aide to Senator Ralph Seekins, sponsor of the measure, explained that SB 345 is a short bill that makes one major change to one section of statute. It removes the word "natural" from the phrase "a natural person." The intent of [the original legislation] was to provide protection from civil liability to a natural person, meaning a human being, who clears or cleans an airfield in a rural area to prepare it for landing. According to Black's Law Dictionary, the definition of a natural person is a human being as distinguished from an artificial person created by law. In contrast, a person, as defined in Alaska statute, includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, organization, business trust or society, as well as a natural person. SB 345 would provide liability protection to all types of businesses, corporations and organizations that want to maintain an airstrip for no compensation. This would not apply to airports or corporations that charge for aircraft landings on their runways. He noted the Alaska Miners Association endorses SB 345 because a number of miners maintain airstrips to access their mines. CHAIR SEEKINS announced that a proposed committee substitute, version D, was before the committee. SENATOR THERRIAULT moved to adopt version D as the working document before the committee. CHAIR SEEKINS announced that without objection, version D was before the committee. SENATOR OGAN asked if this applies only to the group that maintains the airstrip, no matter who owns the land and how SB 345 would affect a runway on state land. MR. MICHEL replied: Yes, Senator Ogan, that was one of the changes that provided for the new work draft. In Section B, the words that were taken out, that said, 'that is located on private land' - and the reason that was taken out was the Alaska Miners Association and other people expressed concerns about the mines up there on state lands that are on 40-year land leases and such things like that. SENATOR OGAN questioned whether an airstrip on state-owned land could be closed by putting an X on it, even though it is public domain. MR. MICHEL referred to Section B, and noted the addition of "in accordance with FAA guidelines" because an X can mean different things depending on the color, etcetera, so this bill will use the FAA definitions of a closed airfield. SENATOR OGAN asked whether that will mean if an airstrip has an X on it that follows the FAA guidelines, no one else can use it. MR. MICHEL replied, "...Not so much that they can't use it, but as a person who owns and operates that landing area, that's protecting them from civil liability. It's a notification to the pilot in the air that, you know, this runway is closed for some reason." SENATOR OGAN commented: ...with an X and I was running out of fuel and I was lost and I'm really lost but I just didn't have a lot of fuel to - I needed to know the quickest route back and I land on these guys' strip - these miners' strip that had an X and they all came out with their AR-15s - [indisc.] not be happy about me being there. They invited me in for coffee and I never drank a cup of coffee in my life but when a guy with an AR-15 offered me coffee, by golly, I drank coffee. [Indisc.]. But that was on a mining claim and that was, you know, they own the rights to mine there but it was state land and there was an X on the strip and I've always understood that the Xs on the strips mean it's a private runway and I guess I don't see anything in the pack that talks about what the FAA guidelines are. CHAIR SEEKINS said SB 345 will make it less necessary for someone to put an X on a runway to preclude liability. MR. MICHEL furthered that a person with a 40-year lease does not own the airstrip and is not required to place an X on the runway. CHAIR SEEKINS explained that someone might put an X on the airstrip because he or she knows there is a good reason to not land on it, such as a ditch running across it. TAPE 04-27, SIDE B CHAIR SEEKINS summarized that SB 345 extends protection from liability from a natural person to a LLC, a sub-S corporation, a C corporation, or any other entity. SENATOR FRENCH asked if SB 345 would not apply to a group that charges the public or charges itself. CHAIR SEEKINS clarified that it would not apply to a group that charges a landing fee. SENATOR FRENCH expressed curiosity about Section B and questioned how large of an expansion of the doctrine this is since it used to be restricted to private land but it will no longer be, under SB 345. He asked if the Alyeska airstrips are on private land. CHAIR SEEKINS answered some are on state-leased lands and some are on federal-leased lands. He added: I mean what we're doing here, Senator French, is basically saying that you may not be the runway owner but you may have authority to have that runway in place and, as such, if you construct it and maintain it, etcetera, you have no civil liability if someone else lands there unless, through your gross negligence, you knew that there was a hazard and didn't mark it. SENATOR FRENCH asked how many runways will be affected by this bill. CHAIR SEEKINS estimated hundreds, and said they are very valuable to pilots. He noted he has used unmarked, owner unknown runways when he needed to put his plane down in bad weather. He does not believe the owner of that runway should be held liable for any damage done to his airplane because, "a bear dug a hole that he didn't know about in the middle of the runway." That is the case now if the runway is on private land and under private ownership. SENATOR FRENCH asked whether any outrageous lawsuits have ever been filed against runway owners, as envisioned by the bill. MR. MICHEL said to his knowledge, there have only been three issues in the state regarding some sort of lawsuit in regard to runways. He pointed out that Representative Harris introduced nd the same legislation, HB 127, during the 22 legislature. CHAIR SEEKINS said SB 345 is not intended to reduce the number of lawsuits but was introduced to provide for a safer Alaska for pilots who may need to land and who would otherwise be restricted from doing so because of potential liability. SENATOR FRENCH asked how an airstrip owner would keep a pilot from using that airstrip in an emergency situation. CHAIR SEEKINS replied: You can still do it but what it does is, there are times when private owners of airstrips, for an example, in order to keep from having any liability, will put barrels in the middle of their runways, put logs across the runways, mark them to keep people from being able to use them except when they want to use it and remove those obstacles because of potential liability. There's no reason for them to do that now. SENATOR FRENCH asked if those owners can still close their runways. CHAIR SEEKINS said they could. SENATOR OGAN questioned language in Section 3 that reads, "if it is marked closed by placing a large X on the runway and, if listed or charted as designated as closed...." CHAIR SEEKINS said the owner would notify the FAA that the runway is closed and then mark the runway. SENATOR OGAN indicated that a pilot that lands on a closed runway is doing so at his or her own risk. CHAIR SEEKINS said the pilot is also using a runway at his or her own risk if the runway is left open and maintained. He noted that is a redundancy but it will protect the owner after closing the runway. He then took public testimony. MR. TOM GEORGE, representing the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), said AOPA's interest is in preserving a healthy aviation industry in Alaska, which includes backcountry airstrips. AOPA supports SB 345, which broadens the current statute. The primary focus of the statute is to protect the backcountry airstrips, which pilots rely on for access to remote locations in Alaska. The bill will protect companies, corporations, and organizations that devote their time and resources to maintain airstrips without compensation. The current statute only applies to an individual person. AOPA believes it is necessary to use the broader definition of person to include other entities. The other changes made in the work draft clarify what activities and cases this protection applies to. AOPA believes this is a good step toward protecting the airstrips that provide access primarily to public lands. In response to questions from members, MR. GEORGE said the first portion of the bill will provide protection from liability for people or businesses that construct and maintain airstrips. The second portion of the statute says that protection will continue if an owner needs to close the airstrip and does so with specific markings and notification for the purpose of updating charts and records. That second section provides protection from limited liability only to private land. AOPA believes that to provide an incentive to keep airstrips open, that protection should extend to airstrips on public land. The landowner, often the state, and the operator should discuss the issue as to whether those airstrips on public land are open or closed. SB 345 does not take a stand on that, it only says if an owner properly notices the closure, protection would continue. He offered to answer questions and thanked Senator Seekins for sponsoring the bill. MR. FELIX MCGUIRE, representing the Alaska Airmen's Association (AAA), told members the AAA supports SB 345, particularly because the AAA has been unable to improve backcountry airstrips because of the liability problem. With no further participants, CHAIR SEEKINS closed public testimony. SENATOR OGAN moved CSSB 345(JUD) from committee with individual recommendations and its zero fiscal note. Without objection, the motion carried. He then announced a three-minute recess.
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