Legislature(2007 - 2008)CAPITOL 120
01/16/2008 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB139 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 139 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
January 16, 2008
1:04 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Jay Ramras, Chair
Representative Nancy Dahlstrom, Vice Chair
Representative John Coghill
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Ralph Samuels
Representative Lindsey Holmes
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Max Gruenberg
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 139
"An Act repealing a limitation on the liability of certain
airfield owners or operators."
- MOVED HCS SSSB 139(JUD) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 139
SHORT TITLE: LIABILITY FOR AIRPORTS AND AIRSTRIPS
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) OLSON
03/28/07 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/28/07 (S) TRA
04/12/07 (S) TRA AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
04/12/07 (S) -- MEETING CANCELED --
04/18/07 (S) SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE INTRODUCED-REFERRALS
04/18/07 (S) TRA
04/26/07 (S) TRA AT 1:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
04/26/07 (S) Moved SSSB 139 Out of Committee
04/26/07 (S) MINUTE(TRA)
04/27/07 (S) TRA RPT 5DP
04/27/07 (S) DP: WIELECHOWSKI, COWDERY, KOOKESH,
OLSON, WILKEN,
05/02/07 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
05/02/07 (S) VERSION: SSSB 139
05/03/07 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
05/03/07 (H) TRA
05/10/07 (H) TRA AT 1:30 PM CAPITOL 17
05/10/07 (H) Moved Out of Committee
05/10/07 (H) MINUTE(TRA)
05/11/07 (H) TRA RPT 5DP
05/11/07 (H) DP: JOHNSON, KOHRING, FAIRCLOUGH,
SALMON, JOHANSEN
05/14/07 (H) BEFORE THE HOUSE
05/14/07 (H) REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
01/16/08 (H) JUD AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 120
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR DONNY OLSON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SSSB 139.
DAVID GRAY, Staff
to Senator Donny Olson
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion of SSSB 139, provided
comments on behalf of the sponsor, Senator Olson.
TOM GEORGE, Alaska Regional Representative
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided comments during discussion of SSSB
139, Version E, and suggested a change.
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR JAY RAMRAS called the House Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:04:37 PM. Representatives Coghill,
Samuels, Lynn, Holmes, Dahlstrom, and Ramras were present at the
call to order.
SB 139 - LIABILITY FOR AIRPORTS AND AIRSTRIPS
1:06:33 PM
CHAIR RAMRAS announced that the only order of business would be
SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 139, "An Act repealing a
limitation on the liability of certain airfield owners or
operators." [Included in members' packets was a proposed House
committee substitute (HCS) for SSSB 139, Version 25-LS0792\E,
Bailey, 1/16/08.]
1:08:32 PM
SENATOR DONNY OLSON, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, relayed
that SSSB 139 addresses the issue of aviation, which is very
important to Alaska, and spoke of his experiences as a pilot
experiencing engine trouble. The thrust of the bill is to
encourage private landowners in rural parts of the state to
create aircraft landing areas. He noted that there is the
temptation by new, ofttimes young, pilots to test the limits of
themselves and their aircraft. This has resulted in many
landowners refraining from creating landing areas. Referring to
AS 09.65.093(b)(1)-(2)'s requirements that to be exempt from
civil liability one must mark - per Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) guidelines - the landing area as closed and
list it as closed in FAA publications, he offered his belief
that most people don't even know how to go about doing the
latter and can't be bothered to maintain the aforementioned
mark. The current statute is meant to apply to private, non
state-maintained airports.
SENATOR OLSON said that it came to his attention that because of
how the current statute reads, a man working in the insurance
industry has been unable to get liability insurance for his
landing area even though it is on his own land; SSSB 139 is
meant to address these issues.
1:13:12 PM
DAVID GRAY, Staff to Senator Donny Olson, Alaska State
Legislature, added on behalf of Senator Olson, sponsor, that
because of concerns regarding SB 139, the sponsor introduced
SSSB 139, which went so far as to simply delete subsection (b)
altogether from AS 09.65.093, but it later became obvious that
the bill still needed further work and so was referred to the
House Judiciary Standing Committee.
CHAIR RAMRAS acknowledged that a conflict of interest could be
perceived by some as applying to Senator Olson because he is a
pilot.
The committee took an at-ease from 1:15 p.m. to 1:16 p.m.
1:16:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM made a motion to adopt the proposed
House committee substitute (HCS) for SSSB 139, Version 25-
LS0792\E, Bailey, 1/16/08, as the work draft. There being no
objection, Version E was before the committee.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS - noting that Version E is in part
proposing to change the word, "closed", as currently used in AS
09.65.093(b)(2), to the word "private" - questioned whether a
liability would still exist under Version E if a private
landowner doesn't designate his landing area as private.
MR. GRAY noted that subsection (a) of existing AS 09.65.093
provides that a person who without compensation constructs,
maintains, or repairs an aircraft runway, airfield, or landing
area can enjoy limited liability, whereas subsection (b) speaks
about an owner or operator of an aircraft runway, airfield, or
landing area. He surmised that the owner or operator of such a
landing area would have to mark it and list it as directed via
existing subsection (b)(1)-(2).
1:20:39 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS, remarking on a possible conflict between
subsections (a) and (b) of AS 09.65.093, surmised that
subsection (a) would not apply to someone who did not construct
the landing area but simply bought the land it was situated on
at a later date. He asked what would happen with regard to
liability in such a situation. Referring to AS 09.65.093(c) -
which says, "The immunity from civil liability under (a) of this
section does not limit the liability of an owner or operator of
an aircraft runway, airfield, or landing area to a provider of
flight services or its passengers under contract with the owner
or operator" - he then asked what would happen with regard to
liability in situations wherein one entity owns the landing area
and another entity contracts to use it.
SENATOR OLSON, regarding the first question, offered his
understanding that such a situation would be addressed via
subsection (a). He said that the intent of the bill is to
ensure that one would not have to mark a runway as closed or
list it as closed in order to be eligible for limited liability.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS noted, however, that if he were
attempting to sue an owner of a landing area who did not list it
as private, he would argue that subsection (b) overrides
subsection (a). Currently subsection (a) simply grants limited
liability, but subsection (b) has certain stipulations that must
be complied with in order for one to enjoy limited liability.
Thus he is not sure, he relayed, which subsection would apply
and how that would be determined.
1:24:19 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES referring to Version E's proposed
subsection (b), posited that as it's currently written, it might
also apply to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
because currently subsection (a) grants limited liability only
if one does not charge for using a landing area. Furthermore,
unlike subsection (a), subsection (b) doesn't reference
subsection (c) as an exception; therefore, she questioned,
couldn't one have a very active runway and just mark it as
private in order to enjoy the limited liability provided for in
proposed subsection (b)? She said she wants to ensure that
those who should have some duty to take care of a landing area
because they are actually running a business and charging people
for using the landing area are not being let off the hook with
regard to liability.
MR. GRAY offered his recollection that subsection (c) was added
to specifically address those who charge for the use of their
private landing area, and acknowledged that the committee may
wish to address this point further.
SENATOR OLSON, in response to a question, offered that the
original intent of providing limited liability was to encourage
people to build airstrips on their private land, but since
current statute is making it hard for people to even obtain
liability insurance, the intent of the bill now is to enable
people to acquire such insurance for their private landing
areas.
CHAIR RAMRAS surmised that at issue is what specific language
would actually accomplish that goal.
REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES suggested that since subsection (b) is
being changed to refer to private landing areas as opposed to
closed landing areas, then perhaps simply adding a reference to
subsection (c) as an exception would suffice.
SENATOR OLSON suggested also altering subsection (c) such that
it then references subsection (b).
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS pointed out, however, that subsection (a)
still only refers to one who constructs, maintains, or repairs a
landing area, whereas subsection (b) only refers to one who owns
or operates a landing area. He then questioned what the
difference is between such persons.
SENATOR OLSON offered that a person under subsection (a) could
simply be someone who comes in with heavy equipment one time and
does something to the landing area, whereas a person under
subsection (b) [has an ongoing relationship] with the landing
area. He offered his belief that all mines operating out in the
Bush have some sort of landing area on the property.
1:34:28 PM
TOM GEORGE, Alaska Regional Representative, Aircraft Owners and
Pilots Association (AOPA), after noting that the AOPA serves
about 4,200 Alaska members, offered that in addition to the
airports that are operated by the Department of Transportation &
Public Facilities (DOT&PF), there are many other runways,
airstrips, and landing areas [in Alaska], all of which are very
important to the AOPA's members because they provide safety in
cases of emergency, access to public lands, and "reliever space"
for municipal- and state-operated airports. Although existing
statute is intended to put some limits on civil liability for
people who are willing to support such facilities, either on
public or private land, the current language in subsection (b)
has led to confusion and has left some people feeling that they
must close their airport in order to enjoy limited liability.
MR. GEORGE offered his understanding that the original intent of
subsection (b) was to deal with the issue of landing areas that
are used seasonally and that may not have anyone maintaining
them throughout the year; the thought at the time was that if
"you 'X' the runway and if you had it listed in the
publications," then that exemption from liability would protect
a person, but the reality is that with regard to the FAA,
landing areas cannot simply be switched on and off, and so the
solution attempted via subsection (b) is unworkable. He said
that as he reads Version E, one can only enjoy limited liability
if one lists or charts a landing area as private. However, the
FAA won't guarantee that it will chart an airstrip as private
because it will only do so if there is room on the chart. In
other words, although Version E is attempting to provide a
protection, that protection will only apply if one can get the
FAA to take a particular action - an action that the FAA may not
be willing to take.
MR. GEORGE suggested that a solution, therefore, would be to
simply delete AS 09.65.093(b) and add to AS 09.65.093(a)
language that says "owner-operator". He added, "I believe the
intent is ... to say that people who are operating their
airports without compensation ... should be exempt."
SENATOR OLSON offered his understanding that such a change would
also require adding a majority of the language currently in
subsection (b) to subsection (a).
MR. GEORGE offered his belief, though, that simply changing
subsection (a) such that it would then in part read, "a person
who without compensation owns, operates, constructs, maintains,
..." would be sufficient.
SENATOR OLSON said that such a change would be fine with him as
long as it addresses the committee's concerns.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS surmised that the suggested change would
ensure that an owner or operator of a non-commercial landing
area would not be liable except in cases of gross negligence [or
recklessness or intentional misconduct].
REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES, in response to a question, offered her
belief that such a change would address members' concerns.
The committee took an at-ease from 1:40 p.m. to 1:53 p.m.
1:53:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES made a motion to adopt Conceptual
Amendment 1, to add a new section to the bill amending AS
09.65.093(a) such that after the word, "compensation", the
words, "owns, operates," are added; to delete all of AS
09.65.093(b); and to [re-letter] the statute accordingly.
CHAIR RAMRAS objected for the purpose of discussion.
SENATOR OLSON characterized Conceptual Amendment 1 as a good
amendment.
MR. GEORGE indicated that Conceptual Amendment 1 would address
the AOPA's concerns.
CHAIR RAMRAS removed his objection. [Although nothing further
was said, Conceptual Amendment 1 was treated as adopted.]
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved to report the proposed HCS for
SSSB 139, Version 25-LS0792\E, Bailey, 1/16/08, as amended, out
of committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying fiscal notes. There being no objection, HCS SSSB
139(JUD) was reported from the House Judiciary Standing
Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Judiciary Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 1:56 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|