Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 120
02/09/2015 05:00 PM House RULES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HCR3 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HCR 3 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RULES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 9, 2015
5:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Craig Johnson, Chair
Representative Mike Chenault
Representative Mike Hawker
Representative Lora Reinbold
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Representative Chris Tuck
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Kurt Olson, Vice Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 3
Urging the governor and the attorney general to pursue all legal
and legislative options to open the coastal plain of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge and areas of the Chukchi and Beaufort
Seas to oil and gas exploration, development, and production.
- MOVED CSHCR 3(RLS) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HCR 3
SHORT TITLE: ENDORSING ANWR LEASING
SPONSOR(s): RULES
02/02/15 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/02/15 (H) RLS
02/09/15 (H) RLS AT 5:00 PM CAPITOL 120
WITNESS REGISTER
TOM WRIGHT, Staff
Representative Chenault
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HCR 3.
MICHAEL SCHECHTER, Assistant Attorney General
Natural Resources Section
Civil Division (Anchorage)
Department of Law (DOL)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided remarks regarding Amendment 1 and
answered questions.
ACTION NARRATIVE
5:00:16 PM
CHAIR CRAIG JOHNSON called the House Rules Standing Committee
meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Representatives Chenault, Hawker,
Reinbold, Tuck, and Johnson were present at the call to order.
Representative Kreiss-Tomkins arrived as the meeting was in
progress.
HCR 3-ENDORSING ANWR LEASING
5:00:26 PM
CHAIR JOHNSON announced that the only order of business would be
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 3, Urging the governor and the
attorney general to pursue all legal and legislative options to
open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
and areas of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to oil and gas
exploration, development, and production.
5:00:33 PM
TOM WRIGHT, Staff, Representative Chenault, Alaska State
Legislature, explained that HCR 3 is being offered because the
governor and the attorney general must act generally in response
to the Obama Administration's attempt to stifle traditional oil
and gas development in Alaska. The aforementioned, he
emphasized, would cripple future energy development in the
state. This resolution is in specific response to actions taken
by the president and the administration on January 25th and 27th
of this year.
5:01:43 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CHENAULT moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 29-
LS0452\W.1, Nauman, 2/6/15, which read:
Page 3, lines 2 - 3:
Delete "reserved the right to permit further oil
and gas exploration, development, and production"
Insert "authorized non-drilling exploratory activity"
CHAIR JOHNSON objected for discussion purposes.
5:02:09 PM
MICHAEL SCHECHTER, Assistant Attorney General, Natural Resources
Section, Civil Division (Anchorage), Department of Law (DOL),
related that Amendment 1 was requested in order to maintain a
unified understanding of how the state views both the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and the
current Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) issues. The goal
is also to ensure that the arguments made in the ANWR, Section
1002 area lawsuit seeking that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service be required to review the state's exploration plan for
non-drilling exploratory activity in the ANWR, Section 1002 area
aren't undermined.
5:03:22 PM
CHAIR JOHNSON withdrew his objection. There being no further
objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.
5:03:45 PM
CHAIR JOHNSON, upon determining no one would like to testify,
closed public testimony.
5:04:04 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK directed attention to page 5, line 9, of HCR
3 and asked if "unlawfully blocking" is appropriate language.
MR. SCHECHTER answered that he doesn't have an issue with the
existing language in HCR 3. If the federal administration is
doing things contrary to federal law or an agreement between the
state and federal government, those things would be unlawful.
The last resolve is, as a whole, directing the attorney general
and the governor to take appropriate action for things that are
unlawful. Although there may be issues that are arising now, he
said he didn't want to be too specific because the Record of
Decision on the ANWR Comprehensive Conservation Plan hasn't yet
been adopted. He pointed out that some issues may be of
political and legislative determination between the state and
federal government as opposed to litigation and trying to stop
unlawful actions. Mr. Schechter said that the governor and the
attorneys general would be used to stop unlawful actions.
5:06:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK remarked that it's unknown whether it's
unlawful or not, and thus he suggested the need for a change in
case it ends up being lawful.
5:06:47 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK moved to adopt Amendment 2, as follows:
Page 5, line 9, following "unlawfully";
Insert "and unfairly"
CHAIR JOHNSON opined that fairness is in the eye of the
beholder, and therefore he said he wasn't certain of that
language.
MR. SCHECHTER offered that the first resolve addresses what is
or is not fair. The first resolve gets to the notion that the
governor and the legislature should work with the state's
congressional delegation regarding a legislation solution for
those things being sought to be accomplished. If an amendment
is truly desired, he suggested inserting "or unfairly" on page
5, line 9, following "unfairly". With the aforementioned
language, the vagueness of the term "unfairly" doesn't take away
from the "unlawfully" charge.
5:08:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK withdrew Amendment 2.
5:08:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK moved to adopt Amendment 3, as follows:
Page 5, line 9, following "unlawfully";
Insert "or unfairly"
CHAIR JOHNSON objected.
CHAIR JOHNSON, upon determining there was no discussion,
withdrew his objection to Amendment 3.
5:09:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HAWKER objected to Amendment 3. Representative
Hawker pointed out that even with the conjunction change from
"and" to "or", one can't be sure whether the language will be
interpreted as inclusive or exclusive. Furthermore, he inquired
as to how one would prove a standard of "unfairly." He
highlighted that the [resolution] attempts to maintain
specificity and consistency with the language that has been used
in previous legislative pursuits. Representative Hawker said he
didn't harbor any disrespect for trying to temper the
resolution, but he didn't want to get in the way of attorneys.
Representative Hawker maintained his objection.
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK clarified that he isn't trying to temper the
tone of the resolution but rather maintain some strength to the
resolution in case it's deemed lawful. Representative Tuck
maintained his motion to adopt Amendment 3.
5:11:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD inquired as to what Amendment 3 would do
and whether Mr. Schechter would recommend its adoption or not.
5:11:43 PM
MR. SCHECHTER reiterated that Representative Tuck's concerns are
addressed in the first resolve. If something is determined to
be unlawful, it may not be the greatest direction to the
governor and the attorney general to pursue that fully.
5:12:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TUCK withdrew Amendment 3.
5:13:03 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CHENAULT moved to report HCR 3, as amended, out
of committee with individual recommendations and the
accompanying zero fiscal note. There being no objection, CSHCR
3(RLS) was reported from the House Rules Standing Committee.
5:13:25 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Rules Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 5:13 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HCR 3.pdf |
HRLS 2/9/2015 5:00:00 PM |
HCR 3 |
| HCR 3 Fiscal Note.pdf |
HRLS 2/9/2015 5:00:00 PM |
HCR 3 |
| HCR 3 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HRLS 2/9/2015 5:00:00 PM |
HCR 3 |
| HCR 3 Background Information.pdf |
HRLS 2/9/2015 5:00:00 PM |
HCR 3 |
| HCR 3 Amendment W.1.pdf |
HRLS 2/9/2015 5:00:00 PM |
HCR 3 |