02/26/1996 03:45 PM Senate RES

 SRES 2/26/96                                                                  
                                                                               
               SR   6 FEDERAL MINING LAW CHANGES                              
                                                                              
 SENATOR LEMAN announced  SR 6  to be up for consideration.  He said           
 this is also a Minerals Commission recommendation.                            
                                                                               
 MR. CLOUGH explained that the Commission has been involved in                 
 federal mining law rewrite for some time and supports the basic               
 tenants in the two bills before Congress.  These bills institute              
 responsible changes to the mining law of 1872 which include a net             
 royalty fair market value for purchase of surface estate and a                
 variety of other things.                                                      
                                                                               
 These kinds of change will make the mining what it initially was -            
 a mining law, not a no mining law.                                            
                                                                               
 SENATOR LEMAN asked if line 5, "where as much of this federal land            
 is currently open to mineral entry" was correct.  MR. CLOUGH                  
 replied that more than 50 percent of available federal land is                
 closed to mineral entry.  SENATOR LEMAN noted that language should            
 be corrected.                                                                 
                                                                               
 Number 150                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR HOFFMAN asked what was the current status of these two                
 pieces of legislation. MR. CLOUGH said they were moving through               
 Congress prior to the budget issue going on now.  He hadn't checked           
 for a couple of weeks.                                                        
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR moved to amend line 5 by deleting "much" and                   
 inserting "most" and inserting "not" between "currently" and                  
 "open."  There were no objections and it was so ordered.                      
                                                                               
 Number 171                                                                    
                                                                               
 SARA HANNAN, Alaska Environmental Lobby, opposed SR 5 and SR 6.               
 She stated that they both seem to be fast tracked as they did not             
 have enough lead time to get answers to questions about how the two           
 resolutions are currently affecting Alaska.                                   
 Specifically regarding SR 6, MS. HANNA said that reforms for the              
 Mining Act 1872 have been before Congress for a number of years and           
 it is an issue that does not follow traditional political lines.              
 It is more of a western issue.  In many congressional districts in            
 the west the reforms are complex, burdensome, and of significant              
 interest to local communities.  This resolution does a disservice             
 to Alaska's credibility in Congress on other development issues               
 when we chose to ignore some of these very divisive reform issues             
 instead of encouraging reform debate.                                         
                                                                               
 The congressional bills this resolution refers to are only two that           
 were introduced by our delegation.  There are a number of others              
 introduced by other western states who have a much more historic              
 perspective on the problems in the Mining Act of 1872.                        
                                                                               
 She said the bill encourages irresponsible development and doesn't            
 meet any concerns of the states in the West.  The Mining Act of               
 1872 doesn't require any reclamation, for instance.  The State of             
 Alaska requires reclamation and that is probably good public policy           
 for all states.  Encouraging the status quo when there are a lot of           
 burdens states have to live up to in federal actions is a                     
 disservice.                                                                   
                                                                               
 Number 212                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR asked Mr. Clough if the Minerals Commission took up            
 this issue in their meetings.  MR. CLOUGH answered that they had              
 discussed this issue in a host of meetings over the last several              
 years.  They were all public meetings.                                        
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR asked if anyone from the Alaska Environmental Lobby            
 showed up at any of the meetings.  MR. CLOUGH said he didn't                  
 recollect seeing any.                                                         
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR asked if the Minerals Commission was before this               
 Committee discussing this issue.  MR. CLOUGH replied that they were           
 before this Committee in January and discussed their report as well           
 as this issue.                                                                
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR noted that this meeting was a public hearing that              
 was noticed pursuant the legislative rules.  It was an overview and           
 recommendations to the legislature.  MR. CLOUGH said that was                 
 correct.                                                                      
                                                                               
 SENATOR LEMAN noted that the Minerals Commission comes before this            
 Committee on an annual basis and have had the same discussions each           
 year.                                                                         
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR moved to pass SR 6 from Committee with individual              
 recommendations.  There were no objections and it was so ordered.