Legislature(2021 - 2022)BARNES 124
05/13/2021 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB120 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 120 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
May 13, 2021
3:12 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Josiah Patkotak, Chair
Representative Grier Hopkins, Vice Chair
Representative Zack Fields
Representative Calvin Schrage
Representative Sara Hannan
Representative George Rauscher
Representative Mike Cronk
Representative Ronald Gillham
Representative Tom McKay
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 120
"An Act relating to state land; relating to the authority of the
Department of Education and Early Development to dispose of
state land; relating to the authority of the Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities to dispose of state land;
relating to the authority of the Department of Natural Resources
over certain state land; relating to the state land disposal
income fund; relating to the leasing and sale of state land for
commercial development; repealing establishment of recreation
rivers and recreation river corridors; and providing for an
effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 120
SHORT TITLE: STATE LAND SALES AND LEASES; RIVERS
SPONSOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
03/01/21 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/01/21 (H) RES, FIN
04/30/21 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
04/30/21 (H) Heard & Held
04/30/21 (H) MINUTE(RES)
05/12/21 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
05/12/21 (H) Scheduled but Not Heard
05/13/21 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
WITNESS REGISTER
MARTY PARSONS, Director
Division of Mining Land and Water
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information and answered questions
during the hearing on HB 120.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:12:55 PM
CHAIR JOSIAH PATKOTAK called the House Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:12 p.m. Representatives McKay,
Cronk, Hopkins, Schrage, Gillham, and Patkotak were present at
the call to order. Representatives Fields, Hannon, and Rauscher
arrived as the meeting was in progress.
HB 120-STATE LAND SALES AND LEASES; RIVERS
3:13:29 PM
CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that the only order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 120, "An Act relating to state land; relating
to the authority of the Department of Education and Early
Development to dispose of state land; relating to the authority
of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to
dispose of state land; relating to the authority of the
Department of Natural Resources over certain state land;
relating to the state land disposal income fund; relating to the
leasing and sale of state land for commercial development;
repealing establishment of recreation rivers and recreation
river corridors; and providing for an effective date."
CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that the Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) had been reworking the bill and requested an
amendment, labeled 32-GH1634\B.5, Radford, 5/10/21, which is the
purpose for this hearing and may affect any amendments drafted
by the committee members.
3:15:30 PM
MARTY PARSONS, Director, Division of Mining Land and Water,
Department of Natural Resources (DNR), briefly reviewed the
information presented during the House Resources Standing
Committee meeting on April 30, 2021. He then addressed the
amendment brought forward by the administration, labeled 32-
GH1634\B.5, Radford, 5/10/21, which read as follows:
Page 1, line 7, following "land;":
Insert "relating to the Alaska Native Vietnam
veteran land exchange;"
Page 8, lines 5 - 6:
Delete "through a classification order under
AS 38.05.300 and a written decision by the director
under AS 38.05.035(e)"
Insert "under AS 38.04.065 and AS 38.05.300"
Page 12, following line 25:
Insert new bill sections to read:
"* Sec. 17. AS 38.50.010(b) is amended to read:
(b) Except as provided in AS 38.50.015, land
[LAND] or an interest in land exchanged must be of
approximately equal value; however, the director may
accept from or pay to a party to an exchange cash or
other consideration to equalize the value of the
property conveyed and received by the state. If the
director determines that the property to be exchanged
is not of approximately equal value or if the value of
the property cannot be ascertained with reasonable
certainty, the director may enter into an exchange
with a finding that the value of the property
received, together with the value of other public
benefits, equals or exceeds the value of the property
relinquished by the state.
* Sec. 18. AS 38.50 is amended by adding a new
section to read:
Sec. 38.50.015. Alaska Native Vietnam veteran
land exchange. (a) An eligible individual who has
received a land allotment under 43 U.S.C. 1629g-1 may
apply to the department to exchange that land
allotment for a parcel of state land identified by the
department under this section. An exchange made under
this section is considered to be in the best interest
of the state, and the director shall find that the
exchange is in the public interest.
(b) The department shall identify in each region
of the state the state land that is available for
exchange under (a) of this section and provide public
notice and a map of the available state land.
(c) A land allotment and a parcel of state land
exchanged under (a) of this section are not required
to be located in the same region of the state.
(d) The director shall exchange a land allotment
under (a) of this section as follows:
(1) for a land allotment that is between
2.5 and 10 acres, the director shall exchange a parcel
of state land that is the same size, regardless of the
value of the parcel of state land subject to the
exchange;
(2) for a land allotment greater than 10
acres, the value of which is less than or
approximately equal to the value of the 10-acre parcel
of land subject to exchange, the director shall
exchange a parcel of state land that is 10 acres;
(3) for a land allotment greater than 10
acres, the value of which is greater than the 10-acre
parcel of land subject to exchange, the director shall
adjust the acreage of the parcel of state land to
ensure the land exchanged is of approximately equal
value.
(e) Notwithstanding AS 38.05.840, when
determining the value of a land allotment and a parcel
of state land subject to exchange under this section,
the department shall adopt in regulation an informal
valuation process that may include consideration of
state land sales in the area where the land allotment
and the parcel of state land are located.
(f) If a parcel of state land or any portion of
a parcel of state land is requested for exchange by
more than one eligible individual under (a) of this
section, the department may meet with each eligible
individual and adjust the size and shape of the
requested parcel of state land. In adjusting the
requested parcel of state land, the department may
grant preference to the earliest filed application.
(g) To the extent practicable, the department
shall attempt to complete a land exchange under this
section within 180 days after receiving a completed
application from an eligible individual.
(h) An eligible individual who applies for a
land exchange under this section shall comply with all
applicable federal laws and regulations necessary to
exchange a land allotment awarded under 43 U.S.C.
1629g-1 with state land.
(i) In this section,
(1) "department" means the Department of
Natural Resources;
(2) "eligible individual" has the meaning
given in 43 U.S.C. 1629g-1."
Renumber the following bill sections accordingly.
MR. PARSONS explained that this proposed amendment is intended
to fulfill obligations to Alaska Native Vietnam veterans who
weren't able to apply for their land allotments during the
Vietnam War by allowing eligible veterans to select from the
available 1.5 million acres in Goodnews Bay, Fortymile River,
and an area outside of Yakutat. They could then exchange those
lands for lands closer to their area of heritage.
3:20:10 PM
MR. PARSONS characterized the land allotment process as "fairly
straightforward" and explained that an eligible Alaska Native
Vietnam veteran would apply to the federal government, have
their application reviewed by the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), and then select from the available federal land. The
federal government would survey the land and issue a certificate
to the allotee. He noted that this process could take one to
two years, depending on the budget for surveying. The allotee
would begin the land exchange process with the state, selecting
from land currently identified for conveyance, such as
agriculture or resource management lands. He clarified that the
land must not be in a legislative designated area, classified
for resource development, or habitat land. There would be a
process for public input and easement, and then the allotee's
certificate for federal land would be exchanged for state land.
Mr. Parsons directed the committee's attention to page 2, lines
10-21, of the amendment, which contained the terms of exchange
for various parcel sizes.
3:25:49 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS referred to an e-mail he had received
[included in the committee packet], in which Dick Mylius, a
former director of the Division of Mining Land and Water,
expressed a concern with the proposed legislation.
Representative Fields read from the e-mail as follows [original
punctuation provided]:
Section 13, new AS 38.05.086(c) that allow individuals
to nominate parcels for commercial development leases
essentially ignores land use planning processes and
allows the state to essentially do noncompetitive,
sole source leases and sales of state land.
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS noted that the committee should be
cognizant of the land use planning process when considering the
proposed legislation.
3:26:55 PM
CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that Legislative Legal and Research
Services would draft a new working document based on
incorporation of the amendment labeled 32-GH1634\B.5, Radford,
5/10/21, as well as any other work done by DNR in cooperation
with concerned stakeholders.
3:28:41 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN asked whether there would be a committee
substitute (CS) with the incorporation of the amendment labeled
32-GH1634\B.5, Radford, 5/10/21, offered by the administration
to their bill. She asked for confirmation of her understanding
that the committee isn't adopting this amendment.
CHAIR PATKOTAK confirmed that the amendment labeled 32-
GH1634\B.5, Radford, 5/10/21, along with any other changes or
amendments the administration has, would be incorporated into a
CS.
3:29:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked who [requested] this amendment.
CHAIR PATKOTAK said that the governor, through DNR and the
Division of Mining Land and Water, requested the amendment. He
then reviewed the history of land allotments, beginning with the
Alaska Native Allotment Act of 1906, which permitted Alaska
Natives to acquire title to up to 160 acres. The Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971 included a provision
repealing the Alaska Native Allotment Act, but with a provision
allowing the U.S. Department of the Interior to finalize the
pending claims. As many of those eligible claimants were
serving in the Vietnam War at the time, the Alaska Native
Vietnam era veterans land allotment section of the federal John
D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act
allowed Vietnam veterans to select federal lands, offering only
"edges of rivers and tops of glaciers" that weren't regionally
specific; for instance, a Vietnam veteran from Barrow wouldn't
have been able to claim ancestral land. He said that this
amendment would allow Alaska Native Vietnam veterans to claim
land which is regionally connected to their heritage.
MR. PARSONS expressed his agreement with Chair Patkotak's
summation.
3:32:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked Mr. Parsons how many veterans are
eligible.
MR. PARSONS replied that rough numbers range from 300 to 2,000;
the number is declining, which is why this amendment is
important.
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked whether the allotees would be
allowed to pass the property to relatives.
MR. PARSONS explained that once an applicant is determined to be
eligible, heirs could continue the process. He stressed that
once land is conveyed to an allotee, the property is wholly
owned by the allotee.
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked, "They can pass it down or sell
it, but if they pass it down, [and] they haven't sold it, are
they allowed to still trade it?"
MR. PARSONS stated his understanding that Representative
Rauscher was asking whether heirs of a deceased veteran in
possession of a federal land allotment would be able to now
enter into a land exchange agreement with the state. In
response to Representative Rauscher's agreement, Mr. Parsons
replied that that specific situation has not been contemplated
in this proposed legislation.
CHAIR PATKOTAK expressed that the question of whether heirs are
eligible for the land exchange would have an effect on his
family.
3:36:26 PM
MR. PARSONS interjected that he just received a note from
Christopher Orman, Assistant Attorney General, Natural Resources
Section, Civil Division (Juneau), Department of Law, clarifying
that heirs of deceased federal land allotment holders are
eligible to enter into a land exchange.
3:36:40 PM
CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that HB 120 was held over.
3:37:34 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 3:37 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 120 DNR Clarification and Addendum Document 5.12.2021.pdf |
HRES 5/12/2021 1:00:00 PM HRES 5/13/2021 1:00:00 PM |
HB 120 |
| HB 120 Amendment B.5 5.12.2021.pdf |
HRES 5/12/2021 1:00:00 PM HRES 5/13/2021 1:00:00 PM |
HB 120 |
| HB 120 Letter NANA Doyon ASRC 5.12.2021.pdf |
HRES 5/13/2021 1:00:00 PM HRES 5/2/2022 1:00:00 PM |
HB 120 |
| HB 120 Letter Dick Mylius 5.13.2021.pdf |
HRES 5/13/2021 1:00:00 PM HRES 5/2/2022 1:00:00 PM |
HB 120 |