Legislature(1999 - 2000)
04/12/1999 01:40 PM Senate JUD
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
April 12, 1999
1:40 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Robin Taylor, Chairman
Senator Rick Halford, Vice-Chairman
Senator Dave Donley
Senator Johnny Ellis
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator John Torgerson
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 110
"An Act relating to liability involving certain property acquired
by a governmental entity; and providing for an effective date."
-HEARD AND HELD
SENATE BILL NO. 114
"An Act relating to impersonating a public servant."
-HEARD AND HELD
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14
Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the State of Alaska
relating to the election and the duties of the attorney general.
-HEARD AND HELD
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SB 110 - No previous action to report.
SB 114 - See Judiciary minutes dated 3-29-99.
SJR 14 - See State Affairs minutes dated 3/18/99 and 4/7/99.
WITNESS REGISTER
Senator Gary Wilken
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 110
Ms. Beth Hagevig
Staff to Senator Gary Wilken
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented information on SB 110
Senator Jerry Ward
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SJR 14
Mr. Virgil Norton
PO Box 141796
Anchorage, AK 99514
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered testimony on SB 110
Mr. Breck Tostevin, Assistant Attorney General
Department of Law
103 W. 4th Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99501
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered testimony on SB 110
Mr. Paul Costello
PO Box 71267
Fairbanks, AK 99707
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered testimony on SB 110
Mr. Frank Mielke, Chief Right-of-Way Agent
Department of Transportation
6860 Glacier Highway
Juneau, AK 99801-7898
POSITION STATEMENT: Suggested amending SB 110
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 99-26, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN ROBIN TAYLOR called the Judiciary Committee meeting to
order at 1:40 and announced SB 110 would be the first order of
business.
SB 110-PROPERTY ACQUIRED BY GOVT. ENTITY
SENATOR GARY WILKEN, sponsor of SB 110, explained the bill deals
with a municipality's responsibility for contaminated property it
receives as a result of tax delinquency. SENATOR WILKEN said he was
asked to bring the bill forward on behalf of the Fairbanks North
Star Borough (FNSB) which is faced with liability for "dirty
property."
SENATOR WILKEN stated federal law exempts state and local
government entities from liability for cleaning up contaminated
property when the property has been acquired by escheat, tax
delinquency, or foreclosure. He explained that tax foreclosure is
an obligatory action for a municipality faced with tax delinquent
property. Due to strict liability, municipalities are concerned
they may be held liable for preexisting contamination of foreclosed
lands and the significant environmental remediation costs those
properties incur.
SENATOR WILKEN stated SB 110 will change state law to mirror
federal law, and allow municipalities, in certain instances, to
hold title to contaminated land without liability for clean up.
Number 061
SENATOR HALFORD asked how the term "government entity" is defined.
He suggested the term be changed to "state governmental entity" so
the federal government would not be able to walk away from any
liability. SENATOR WILKEN said he is open to any change that
improves the bill, and stated it is not his intent to let the
federal government off the hook for contaminated federal lands.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR asked if the federal government exempted themselves
from liability in these cases.
Number 110
MR. VIRGIL NORTON, testifying from Kenai, stated he does not oppose
the intent of SB 110. He said there is a lot of work that could be
done to strengthen the "innocent landowner" affirmative defense
against the current strict liability standard for property owners.
MR. NORTON said, in the case of dirty property, someone is going to
have to pay to clean it up. He suggested that the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is a more appropriate agency to clean up
contaminated sites. MR. NORTON asked if SB 110 will result in
different treatment for governmental and commercial property
owners.
MR. NORTON concluded that SB 110 will have far-reaching
implications for all property owners in Alaska. He believes when a
land owner who comes into possession of contaminated property acts
responsibly, the state should assist him or her in finding the
person responsible for the release of toxins into the environment,
and hold that person responsible.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR asked MR. NORTON if he has any specific amendments
to the bill. MR. NORTON said he had "a whole table full." CHAIRMAN
TAYLOR asked him to forward his suggestions to the committee.
Number 308
MR. NORTON said he would do that, and also come to Juneau and help
with SB 110.
MR. PAUL COSTELLO, from Fairbanks, indicated that Senator Wilken's
testimony accurately represented the concerns of the FNSB. He said
the FNSB hopes to extend liability protection to tax foreclosed
land acquired, so that it will not be responsible for the
preexisting condition of this land. MR. COSTELLO said the FNSB is
currently in possession of 14 pieces of contaminated property with
an estimated liability of 1.5 million dollars. He urged passage of
SB 110.
Number 352
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR asked MR. BRECK TOSTEVIN, the representative from
the Department of Law testifying from Anchorage, if the federal
government had exempted itself from liability. MR. TOSTEVIN said
the federal government held itself liable; the exemption from
liability exists only for state and local governments when property
is acquired through tax delinquency.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR asked if the federal government is liable for
existing federal lands such as military bases. MR. TOSTEVIN
replied that is correct. The federal government waived its
sovereign immunity and assumed liability for military land.
Number 372
MR. FRANK MIELKE, chief right-of-way agent for the Department of
Transportation (DOT), proposed that the Department would like the
committee to broaden Subsection 5 of the bill to include any land
acquired by the state. He recounted laws other than the Statehood
Act under which the state has acquired land, including the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act, the Omnibus Act, and School Lands
Act, as well as other donated lands. He asked that the state not be
held to the strict liability standard for those lands.
SENATOR HALFORD said he has no problem granting immunity to a
municipality for land that is involuntarily transferred to it.
However, the strict liability standard was created by state law and
to exempt the state from it would be unfair to the private sector.
Number 410
MR. MIEKLE said that strict liability for the state denotes
ultimate liability, meaning the state ends up paying for the entire
cleanup even when the state can find fault with the previous owner.
SENATOR HALFORD asked why the state would not go after the guilty
party for damages. MR. MIELKE said it is difficult to find the
responsible party. Additionally, sometimes these parties, when
found, are "judgment proof." MR. MIELKE concluded that sometimes
"the cost of pursuing all of the various people to get the ultimate
liability on somebody else, was more than the cost of the cleanup."
SENATOR HALFORD asked Mr. Mielke what effect the exemption he
requested would have. MR. MIELKE replied, "We probably would have
gone to DEC . . . or to EPA and said 'This is a cleanup problem,
please clean it up. Instead, we were stuck with the cleanup on
it.'"
SENATOR HALFORD replied, "So you're asking us for a change that
would stop the state from cleaning up the mess?" He said that is
what other property owners are faced with, because the state
decided the cleanup was so important it had to be done.
Number 443
MR. MIELKE said DOT explored the option of taking the cleanup fee
out of the condemnation proceeds, but the Alaska Superior Court
denied that. SENATOR HALFORD said he does not disagree with MR.
MIELKE's point; it is simply contrary to the principle of strict
liability.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR asked MR. TOSTEVIN if he could comment on some
points made by MR. NORTON. MR. TOSTEVIN informed the committee
that MR. NORTON represents a client currently in litigation with
the state. Though unable to address MR. NORTON's comments
directly, MR. TOSTEVIN spoke generally about the statute and
explained that the law casts a wide net of liability for
contaminated property which encompasses everyone who has obtained
an economic benefit from the land in question. MR. TOSTEVIN said
this law was purposefully drawn broadly in order to find all
responsible parties and relieve the state from the burden of
cleanup costs.
Number 495
SENATOR HALFORD repeated his suggestion to add the word "state"
before "government" on page 2, line 2.
SJR 14-ELECTION OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
SENATOR JERRY WARD, sponsor of SJR 14, explained that the proposed
work draft contains a prohibition against a person elected Attorney
General from becoming Governor or Lieutenant Governor until at
least one term intervenes. He stated he supports the change.
Number 516
SENATOR HALFORD moved the adoption of the work draft. Without
objection, the work draft was adopted.
SENATOR DONLEY asked if the election of the Attorney General would
occur at the same time the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are
elected. SENATOR WARD replied yes, they would be elected
independently (not as a part of a ticket) at this time.
SENATOR HALFORD noted that under SJR 14, the only qualifications
for a candidate seeking the office of Attorney General is that they
be 30 years old. He asked if there was a residency requirement for
a person to be elected Attorney General. He asked what the
residency requirement for the office of Governor is. CHAIRMAN
TAYLOR said the requirement is seven years. SENATOR HALFORD asked
if the sponsor would object to a seven year residency requirement.
SENATOR WARD said he would not. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR asked if the
sponsor would object to a requirement that the person actually be
an attorney. SENATOR WARD remarked that would preclude him or
SENATOR HALFORD from holding the position, but he would not object.
Number 540
SENATOR HALFORD moved conceptual Amendment 1: that the bill contain
the same residency requirement for an elected Attorney General as
is currently required to hold the office of Governor, and that an
Attorney General be an attorney who has passed the Bar exam,
licenced for at least five years in Alaska. Without objection,
conceptual Amendment 1 was adopted.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR stated the bill would be brought up again.
SB 114-IMPERSONATE POLICE/EMERGENCY VEHICLE
Number 571
SENATOR DONLEY moved Amendment 1 by Senator Ellis. The text of the
amendment reads:
Page 1, line 10, following "vehicle":
Insert "Owned or used by a federal, state or municipal fire,
law enforcement, or emergency services agency or public or private
ambulance service"
Page 1, following line 10:
Insert a new bill section to read:
* Sec. 2. AS 11.56.830 is amended by adding a new subsection to
read:
(e)In a prosecution under (a)(2) of this section, it is
an affirmative defense that the person operating the propelled
vehicle was a member of a community patrol organized by or in
cooperation with a municipality, and the propelled vehicle did not
have
(1) lights or sirens that may only be used by a
police or emergency vehicle;
(2) the words "police," "fire," or "emergency"
affixed or displayed on the vehicle.
Without objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.
SENATOR DONLEY explained the amendment adds an affirmative defense
to the bill. CHAIRMAN TAYLOR indicated there is other work being
done on SB 114 and so it will be brought up again.
With nothing further to come before the committee, CHAIRMAN TAYLOR
adjourned the meeting at 2:26 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|