Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/09/1993 11:15 AM Senate O&G
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON OIL & GAS
February 9, 1993
11:15 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Rick Halford
Senator Bert Sharp
Senator Judith Salo
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Loren Leman, Chairman
Senator Al Adams
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 81
"An Act repealing the 65-day time limit for approval or
disapproval of a proposed oil discharge contingency plan by
the Department of Environmental Conservation; and providing
for an effective date."
SENATE BILL NO. 75
"An Act relating to the reporting of certain steering
malfunctions, losses of power, or other situations
significantly affecting the seaworthiness of tank vessels;
and providing for an effective date."
PREVIOUS ACTION
SB 81 - No previous action to record.
SB 75 - No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
Steve Porter
ARCO Alaska, Inc.
P.O. Box 100360
Anchorage, Alaska 99510-0360
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 81.
Janice Adair, Assistant Commissioner
Department of Environmental Conservation
410 Willoughby Ave., Suite 301
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1795
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 81.
Russell Heath, Executive Director
Alaska Environmental Lobby
P.O. Box 22151
Juneau, Alaska 99802
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 81 and SB 75.
Mike Conway, Director
Spill Prevention and Response
Department of Environmental Conservation
410 Willoughby, Suite 105
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1795
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 75.
Ray Gillespie
Gillespie & Associates
9478 Riverbend Court
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 75.
Jerry Luckhaupt
Legislative Legal Counsel
130 Seward Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801-2105
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 75.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-1, SIDE A
Number 001
SENATOR HALFORD called the Special Committee on Oil and Gas
meeting to order at 11:15 a.m. and announced SB 81 REPEAL
65-DAY DEADLINE: OIL SPILL PLANS to be up for consideration.
STEVE PORTER, ARCO, said this bill comes from a grass roots
effort from spill planners, the agencies - the people who
review plans on a daily basis. They have problems with
trying to coordinate the Alaska Coastal Management Program
with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
Spill review authority. Deleting the 65 day provision in
the statute does not allow for a stopping process. They
recommend reviewing DEC regulations to design a process for
the interior and coordinate it with the Alaska Coastal Zone
program.
Number 57
JANICE ADAIR, Department of Environmental Conservation,
agreed with Mr. Porter's testimony. She said they do want
to make sure the 15 contingency plans from the interior of
Alaska are not subject to CZM review and have the 65 day
requirement so DEC has to take some action during that time
period.
SENATOR SALO asked if 65 days could be done in regulation.
MS. ADAIR said that it already was in regulation.
Number 77
RUSSELL HEATH, Alaska Environmental Lobby, supported SB 81
because it would improve the ability for both the oil
companies and the public to review the oil contingency
plans.
SENATOR HALFORD closed the hearing on SB 81 and announced SB
75 REPORTING OIL TANKER MALFUNCTIONS to be up for
consideration.
SENATOR PEARCE, sponsor of SB 75, requires the operator of a
vessel carrying petroleum products to notify either the
Coast Guard or the proper state authority whenever they
experience a malfunction lasting more than 60 minutes. She
introduced the bill after reading a preliminary report about
the sequence of events that led to the recent wreck of the
Braer off the Shetland Islands where the ship's captain
spent a considerable amount of time trying to get permission
from the owners to send an SOS.
She said that maritime insurance law is so structured that a
large percentage of the cargo and the boat itself go to the
salvaging boat. This causes owners to delay sending an SOS
until the last possible moment.
She does not intend for action to necessarily take place,
but it would give the Governor the authority to declare an
emergency if there were a severe case. It is not her intent
to include, because of the definition of tank vessel that is
used, the ships coming out of Skagway and ships out of the
Red Dog Mine.
SENATOR PEARCE said she picked the 60 minute figure after
interviews with boat owners and operators.
Number 207
SENATOR SALO asked how she felt about the DEC being
designated as the state agency. SENATOR PEARCE said she
hadn't had an opportunity to talk if over with Mr. Conway or
Ms. Adair. She doesn't have a problem with DEC being
defined as the agency. She said she would want the person
in charge of the vessel to do the reporting and in most
cases this would be the captain of the vessel.
SENATOR SALO said she understood section (c) of the bill as
taking care of the 5th concern in the DEC position paper.
SENATOR HALFORD asked what definition was being used for
within state waters. SENATOR PEARCE said using that term
allowed flexibility to go out to 200 miles.
Number 296
MIKE CONWAY, Director, Division of Spill Prevention and
Response, supported SB 75 with DEC's suggested amendments.
They thought 60 minutes might be too much time to report a
vessel casualty in some areas.
SENATOR HALFORD asked him if they could go out to 200 miles
rather than just 3 miles. MR. CONWAY couldn't answer that.
The reporting requirements are more stringent within 3
miles.
SENATOR PEARCE said that the portions of OPA 90 that are
going into effect this month cover waters out to 200 miles
(Economic Exclusive Zone).
Number 355
SENATOR PEARCE said it was her intent to capture barges that
were carrying fuel and she thought they should decide what
size they wanted to include since there were small vessels
carrying fuel to rural Alaska.
Number 367
RUSSELL HEATH, Alaska Environmental Lobby, supported SB 75
saying it looks like a low cost measure which might prevent
a disaster. He encouraged the committee to replace the 60
minute time limitation with "as soon as possible."
Number 373
SENATOR SALO asked what size limitation for barges they
should consider. MR. HEATH said he didn't know how
effective communications were on the river and he didn't
know what regulations govern barges on internal waters.
SENATOR PEARCE commented that if the Governor's Northern Sea
Route is successfully promoted that there would be a lot
more traffic up the west coast. She did not intend for
small vessels to have to buy more equipment for
communications.
Number 400
RAY GILLESPIE, representing a group of refined fuel product
distributors, offered to work with staff to identify those
areas that would be appropriate for a capacity limit or
geographic areas that would be appropriate to make a
threshold requirement for reporting.
Number 415
SENATOR SHARP said he hoped to pursue information excluding
refined products up to a certain vessel size.
Number 428
JERRY LUCKHAUPT, drafter of SB 75, said he deliberately used
the terms "waters of the state" because it has an obscure
definition. He used this wording so they could have
jurisdiction out to 200 miles. The extra reporting
requirement on docking and filling the form for DEC was a
way to encourage compliance out to 200 miles.
Number 453
SENATOR HALFORD said they would hold SB 75 for further work
and adjourned the meeting at 11:45 a.m.
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