Legislature(1995 - 1996)
04/29/1996 03:42 PM Senate RES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE RESOURCES COMMITTEE
April 29, 1996
3:42 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Loren Leman, Chairman
Senator Drue Pearce, Vice Chairman
Senator Steve Frank
Senator Rick Halford
Senator Robin Taylor
Senator Georgianna Lincoln
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Lyman Hoffman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 456(L&C)
"An Act relating to the Board of Storage Tank Assistance; and
providing for an effective date."
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 538(2d FSH)
"An Act relating to vessels participating in the Bering Sea Korean
hair crab fishery; relating to a vessel permit limited entry
system; and providing for an effective date."
CS FOR SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 191(FIN)
"An Act relating to the management and disposal of state land and
resources; relating to certain remote parcel and homestead entry
land purchase contracts and patents; and providing for an effective
date."
HB 58 (CHICKALOON FLATS CRITICAL HABITAT AREA) was scheduled but
not taken up this date.
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
HB 456 - See Resources minutes dated 4/27/96.
HB 538 - No previous action to record.
HB 191 - See Resources minutes dated 3/1/96.
WITNESS REGISTER
John Barnett, Executive Director
Board of Storage Tank Assistance
410 Willoughby Ave., Suite 105
Juneau, AK 99801-1795
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information in support of CSHB
436(L&C)
Jim Hayden, Program Manager
Storage Tank Program
Division of Spill Prevention & Response
Department of Environmental Conservation
410 Willoughby Ave., Suite 105
Juneau, AK 99801-1795
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of CSHB 436(L&C)
Roger Poppe, Aide to Representative Pete Kott
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on CSHB 436(L&C)
Representative Alan Austerman
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Prime Sponsor of HB 538
Gordon Blue
Sitka, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of CSHB 538(2d FSH)
John Winther
P.O. Box 509
Petersburg, AK 99833
POSITION STATEMENT: Supports CSHB 538(2d FSH)
Frank Homan, Commissioner
Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
8800 Glacier Highway, Suite 109
Juneau, AK 99801-8079
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on CSHB 538(2d FSH)
Representative Gene Therriault
Sara Fisher, Staff to Representative Gene Therriault
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on CSSSHB 191(FIN)
Steve Borell, Executive Director
Alaska Miners Association
501 W. 9th Ave., #203
Anchorage, AK 99503
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of CSSSHB 191(FIN)
Bill Barker
P.O. Box 2135
Kodiak, AK 99615
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposes Sections 24, 25 & 26 in CSSSHB
191(FIN)
Duncan Fields
P.O. Box 25
Kodiak, AK 99615
POSITION STATEMENT: Has concerns with CSSSHB 191(FIN)
Robert Purpura
P.O. Box 423
Homer, AK 99603
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposes Section 26 in CSSSHB 191(FIN)
Ms. Lauren Carlton
P.O. Box 198
Homer, AK 99603
POSITION STATEMENT: Suggested changes to CSSSHB 191(FIN)
Jules Tileston, Director
Division of Mining & Water Management
Department of Natural Resources
3061 C St., Suite 800
Anchorage, AK 99803-5935
POSITION STATEMENT: Available for questions on CSSSHB 191(FIN)
Ron Swanson
Division of Land
Department of Natural Resources
400 Willoughby Ave.
Juneau, AK 99801-1724
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered information on CSSSHB 191(FIN)
Reed Stoops
240 Main St., #600
Juneau, AK 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Suggested amendment to CSSSHB 191(FIN)
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 96-68, SIDE A
Number 001
CSHB 456(L&C) BOARD OF STORAGE TANK ASSISTANCE
CHAIRMAN LEMAN called the Senate Resources Committee meeting to
order at 3:42 p.m. He stated the meeting would be considered a
work session until a quorum as established. He then introduced
CSHB 456(L&C) as the first order of business.
JOHN BARNETT , Executive Director of the Board of Storage Tank
Assistance, said the board was formed through legislation adopted
in 1990. It is comprised of seven members: the commissioner of
the Department of Transportation & Public Facilities; the
commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation; and
five members from the private sector. HB 456 replaces one of the
commissioners with a member of the general public that has no
personal financial interest in underground storage tanks, This
change, in addition to the actual extension of the board, was a
recommendation of a legislative audit conducted last year.
Mr. Barnett explained the board is a judicial appeal board and acts
as a mediator between the regulated underground tank owners
community and the Department of Environmental Conservation. When
tank owners have disputes with DEC, they can go before the board
and the board can make rulings which affect DEC or affect the
owner-operator. Also, the board can make recommendations.
The board also resolves disputes regarding eligibility for
financial assistance, as well as providing educational assistance
and technical assistance to tank owners throughout the state. Mr.
Barnett noted there are 1,000 unfunded financial assistance
requests on file, which represent about $50 million. The board
sets the ranking criteria to rank those sites. He noted the board
has been very successful over the last four years in ensuring that
smaller businesses get the funds in general.
Mr. Barnett said the board has also been very successful at
eliminating problems before they escalate. By acting as a mediator
they can actually assist a tank owner in getting assistance, either
technical, financial or otherwise.
Mr. Barnett stated the board supports the legislative audit
recommendation of continuation for four more years.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked how much the program costs, and if it breaks
even with the user fees. MR. BARNETT replied that the user fees
they've taken in through tank registration receipts are slightly
under $400,000 a year, and the board cost is approximately $114,000
a year. He added that this year they are funded at about $1.9
million for financial assistance grants and loans, the source of
these funds is in the response fund.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked if DEC supports the legislation, and MR.
BARNETT acknowledged that they do.
Number 172
JIM HAYDEN, Program Manager, Storage Tank Program, Department of
Environmental Conservation, said in 1988 it was recognized that new
federal rules would impact the small businesses and that they would
have a very difficult time of administering or coming up to speed
with the new rules so the board was brought into play to try to
mediate between the department and the small tank owner. He said
the program has worked very well, and the department is very much
in favor of the board's participation and continued participation.
ROGER POPPE, aide to Representative Pete Kott who is prime sponsor
of HB 456, clarified the legislation applies to just underground
storage of which there are approximately 2,500 in the state at 900
facilities. He said EPA already has a great many restrictions with
some new ones going into effect in 1998, which is a good argument
for continuation of the board just in anticipation of how to deal
with those new federal restrictions.
There being no further testimony on CSHB 456(L&C), CHAIRMAN LEMAN
closed the public hearing and stated the bill would be set aside
until a quorum was established.
CSHB 538(2d FSH) HAIR BRAB VESSELS; LTD ENTRY FOR VESSELS
CHAIRMAN LEMAN brought CSHB 538(2d FSH) before the committee as the
next order of business.
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said he introduced HB 538 as a result of
discussions with fishermen, the Department of Fish & Game and the
Limited Entry Commission.
Representative Austerman said the Bering Sea hair crab fisheries is
a very delicate and rather small fishery in the Bering Sea that
first started back in about 1980, ran for a couple of years, and
then crashed because of over-fishing. It started up again in about
1990, but with the way the other crab fisheries are going out in
the Bering Sea, there is more and more of a concentrated effort on
the Korean hair crab. It has become apparent that because of the
small fishery that it is and hair crab being such a delicate crab
itself, that a moratorium should be placed on this fishery until
Fish & Game has a chance to take a hard look at it to see if it
needs to be limited on the number of boats that are operating out
there.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked if there has been any opposition to the
legislation. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN acknowledged there was some
opposition from some of the small fishing boats in the Bering Sea
and the St. Paul-St. George area. The legislation was then amended
to allow smaller vessels to be involved.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked if the legislation disallows larger vessels
from being involved. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN replied that within
five miles of the shore, a vessel may not be longer than 58 feet,
but it does not disallow larger vessels outside that five-mile
limit.
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN pointed out that the legislation provides
that the moratorium will be repealed on July 1, 2000. During the
moratorium period, these are interim permits that are non-
transferrable and with no value to them. He said it has been
suggested to the Limited Entry Commission that they take a look at
setting up a system that if they do limited entry, they make them
non-transferrable permits that could possibly be returned to the
state and then given out either through some type of an auction, or
all allocation, or a drawing of some kind, so that we're not really
getting into giving away the state resources.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN opened the hearing on HB 538 to public comment.
Number 279
GORDON BLUE , testifying from Sitka, stated he shares the ownership
of two vessels that are in the Bering Sea crab fisheries and also
engaged in the Korean hair crab fishery around St. Paul Island.
The partners in the vessels include TDX Corporation, which is the
village corporation for St. Paul, and the Central Bering Sea
Fishermen's Corporation, which is a subsidiary of Central Bering
Sea Fishermen's Association, a community development group for St.
Paul Island.
Mr. Blue said they helped to restart the fishery in 1990, as well
as helping to develop a special gear tact that's now in the
regulations that is designed to limit by-catch and other kinds of
crab, and to run a clean fishery for hair crab in this area. They
have developed techniques to try to handle these animals as little
as possible and as delicately as possible in the conditions that
are out there.
He noted the Bering Sea red king crab fishery in Bristol Bay has
been closed for the last two seasons, it will probably be closed
again this year, and possibly for years in the future according to
the Department of Fish & Game. This has resulted in going from a
pioneering effort of two vessels to a total of 18 vessels last
year. He said they have been told that if this progression
continues, the Department of Fish & Game will close the fishery,
deeming it unmanageable with the kind of effort that's near
doubling every year. If the red king crab fishery is closed again
this year and they don't have some sort of protection, they
probably won't have a fishery at all.
Mr. Blue stressed the fishery has been vital to their business plan
for the small boats and the relatively small crab boats that they
are operating in that area. These are 100 foot boats so they are
not the same small boats that were also included in the bill under
the five-mile language. The intent there was to allow community
members in the partnership to try to operate within the shelter and
lee of the islands and take some of the crab that is near shore.
Concluding his testimony, Mr. Blue said he has a lot of hope that
this bill will do what it sets out to do, which is to shelter the
existing fleet, to prevent the fishery from being decimated by too
much effort, or alternatively, from losing all economic benefit and
having the fishery closed, and to just give a little breathing room
for a program to be fully developed.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked Mr. Blue if he supports the bill as currently
written. MR. BLUE answered that he does.
JOHN WINTHER, a resident of Petersburg testifying from Anchorage in
support of CSHB 536(2d FSH), stated he has been involved in the
Bering Sea crab fishery since 1973.
Mr. Winther pointed out that the hair crab fishery is one of the
few fisheries in that area totally managed by the state of Alaska.
Most of them are managed through the federal system or the North
Pacific Fisheries Management Council. This is why the fishermen
came to the Legislature asking for help to implement a moratorium.
Because it is state managed, it's one of the few fisheries that's
not included in the current moratorium in the Bering Sea.
Mr. Winther said he thinks the level of effort right now is as much
as the fishery can sustain. The quotas are roughly 1.5 million to
2 million pounds a year, the stocks seem fairly healthy, and the
harvest looks like it can sustain that level. He urged passage of
the legislation so that the fishermen can work with the Commercial
Fisheries Entry Commission to get something into place that will
benefit those already involved in the fishery. He also noted that
probably 75 percent of the harvest is being done by Seattle boats.
FRANK HOMAN, Commissioner, Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission,
said the Commission has been working with the sponsor and the
fishermen in the development of the moratorium legislation since
late last year when they were petitioned to investigate limited
entry for the hair crab fishery. The current system, which is a
individual license program, didn't fit the type of fishery that's
in the Bering Sea, which is larger boats that have relief skippers.
If they had gone ahead with their traditional system that's in
place, it would have allowed for eligibility from whatever skippers
had been on the vessels in the last four or five years, and that
would have substantially increased the numbers because some of them
have two or three different skippers. So they were looking for
another management system under a moratorium or limited entry, and
HB 538 directs the commission to look at a vessel licensing system
while providing a moratorium for up to four years.
Mr. Homan pointed out that the bill calls for a five-mile offshore
boundary and the moratorium would start at that point. The inshore
would be open to small boats, and the idea around that was to
protect an area for some of the local fishermen on some of the
resource there. Page 3, lines 2-5, allows the Commission to
establish administrative areas for the fishery. He said within
Fish & Game there are statistical areas that are used for
reporting, and one of them is a three-mile radius around the
islands of St. Paul and St. George. It would be the Commission's
intention to extend that by another two miles and call that the
administrative area so that the moratorium would apply outside of
that five miles.
There being no further testimony on CSHB 538(2d FSH), CHAIRMAN
LEMAN closed the public hearing and stated the bill would be set
aside until a quorum was established.
Number 435
CSSSHB 191(FIN) MANAGEMENT OF STATE LAND AND RESOURCES
CHAIRMAN LEMAN brought CSSSHB 191(FIN) before the committee as the
next order of business. He noted there was a draft Resources SCS
before the committee, but suggested waiting until a quorum was
established before going through the entire bill section by
section.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked why the sponsor and the department are
proposing to change the rate for the shore fishery leases from the
way it is now, which is a system that recovers the cost of
operating that program, to one in which it not only does that, but
goes beyond and establishes a rental rate based on a percentage of
the permit value. SARA FISHER , staff to Representative Gen
Therriault who is prime sponsor of HB 191, said basically there is
a use of state land that has a commercial value and the
restructuring of these sections would recognize the commercial use
of these sites. She pointed out that in Section 25 of the new
draft Resources SCS, the reference to the term "action" has been
removed which restores it to the original language requiring the
director to attempt to determine who is the most qualified
applicant for the site. If one application is received, the
commissioner may issue a lease at a rental rate, as opposed to the
administrative rate which is set in regulation and is currently
$300. Many of the leases that had been signed many years ago are
still under the old lease rate of $150 per year.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN pointed out the shore fishery lease program is a
voluntary program to help sort out conflicts between adjoining or
adjacent shore fishery participants. His concern is that by
raising the price and going beyond what is taken out to cover the
program, it will drive people out. He wondered if an analysis has
been done on what percentage of people will be driven out and what
the impact will be on the program if the fee is raised.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN opened the hearing to public comment.
STEVE BORELL, Executive Director, Alaska Miners Association,
testifying from Anchorage, stated their support for CSSSHB 191(FIN)
and in particular Sections 30-35.
Mr. Borell said earlier in the session, Representative Therriault
removed a section from this legislation and place it into CSHB
331(RES), and he suggested the section be reinserted in HB 191. He
said the issue in HB 331 is to clarify the existing statute and
establish in statute the current interpretation of practice that
has been followed by DNR and by industry effectively since
statehood. The change is needed to ensure that the rights of the
state to its subsurface mineral resources where the surface estate
has been sold or otherwise transferred to a third party. Unless
specifically closed to mineral entry, this land is still available
for staking of mining claims. It has been the interpretation and
practice of the state that claims staking alone can be allowed and
without giving permission of the third party surface estate owner.
He pointed out that in the Fairbanks area there are various small
homesites of a few acres that run the risk of causing existing
mining claims to be void.
Number 545
BILL BARKER, a set netter testifying from Kodiak, voiced his
opposition to Section 24, 25 & 26. He said there doesn't appear to
be any reason to change the fee structure at this time. If the
basis for the fee structure is placed on the limited entry permit
and the value of the limited entry permit, then we have a tax being
placed on the fishery resource, not on the land resources. He
suggested if there is going to be a tax placed on the fisheries
resource, then it needs to be placed on all of the fishermen. As
far as the operation of the shore fisheries leases and the pursuit
of the shore-based gillnet operation, he said everybody understands
the rules, and with some of the language being proposed in HB 191,
the rules start to change and he can see many problems with
bringing these changes.
TAPE 96-68, SIDE B
Number 025
CHAIRMAN LEMAN informed Mr. Barker that the Resources SCS before
the committee addresses some of the issues he spoke to.
DUNCAN FIELDS, testifying from Kodiak, concurred that it is the
consensus of his community that the shore fishery lease program is
paying for itself, in fact current information shows that revenues
in excess of expenditures in FY 95 is about $150,000. He
questioned why the lease rate for set net leases is being increased
when the program is paying for itself. He pointed out many of the
current lease holders pay a rate of $150, and with the current
language in the bill, that will jump to approximately $556, which
is approximately a $400 increase per permit holder. He believes
this will drive people away from the program, and the net result
will be less revenue than the program currently enjoys. He also
suggested a lease rate of a definite amount makes much more sense
than a sliding scale based on a percentage of permit value.
Number 086
CHAIRMAN LEMAN commented that it appears that the only section
that's really in conflict in the bill is the new Section 26. He
said Sections 25 and 27 were reworked to accommodate the concerns
that were expressed by a lot of people.
ROBERT PURPURA, representing the Katsitsna Bay Salmon Producers and
testifying from Homer, stated their objection to the language in
Section 26, namely the 0.6 percent assessment on limited entry
permits with a $600 cap. They believe it is unfair to target a
small group of other set netters, and they do not feel that any
extra cost at this time is warranted in their fishery. He urged
that the committee not support the language to determine the fee of
the leases be tied in with the permit.
MS. LAUREN CARLTON , a setnetter testifying from Homer, referred to
language on page 12, line 2, which provides that the rental rate
shall be adjusted annually, and she said she would like to see it
only adjusted every five years, which would provide the opportunity
to look at the long-term values and how they have changed. She
said their permit value might be high because they are part of Cook
Inlet, but their sites are not valued as high, so just going on a
permit value is not really being equitable to those who do not have
a valuable site. She pointed out her area has seen a drastic
decline in their salmon runs. She also pointed out that when
someone goes in to buy a permit at a set net price, they are paying
for the right to use that area, and there are also added costs that
are not seen up front.
Number 240
CHAIRMAN LEMAN said his recommendation is that Section 26 be
deleted in its entirety which would mean that there would be no
change to the existing system.
JULES TILESTON , Director, Division of Mining & Water Management,
Department of Natural Resources, testified from Anchorage that he
was present to respond to questions dealing with the amendments
associated with mining when they came before the committee.
RON SWANSON , Division of Land, Department of Natural Resources,
said after a hearing earlier in the session, he thinks the concerns
relating to the bidding war were addressed by taking care of the
problem of the department having to try to figure out who is most
qualified, and if they can't, they would then draw the name out of
the hat. It was also made clear that somebody with an existing
lease would get a preference to renew.
Mr. Swanson said the shore fishery lease is the only voluntary
program that the Division of Land administers, and they consider it
a commercial use of state land, so they believe that the
compensation rate should go up rather than just covering the
administrative cost. He said when it comes to budget cuts, the
first thing that they have to look at is non-voluntary programs.
He sated the Administration is neutral on what the compensation
rate should be.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked if it would be acceptable to the department to
delete that section which would leave it as it is now which says
that it must cover administrative costs. MR. SWANSON responded
that the department would not oppose the deletion of that section.
REED STOOPS , testifying on behalf of AJ Associates and speaking to
a proposed amendment dealing with the right of entry on private
land by a party for the sake of filing mining claims, said the
reason for the amendment is the result of a Superior Court decision
in a lawsuit that AJ Associates is involved with. There is a
dispute over whether mining claims were validly filed on property
that AJ
Associates is the surface owner of. Judge Jahnke, in his decision,
interpreted existing law to mean that anybody that's going to file
a mining claim on land that has been conveyed by the state to a
private party either has to have the permission of the land owner
or alternatively permission of the Department of Natural Resources
in order to file that claim. He said if the Legislature were to
adopt the amendment the way it's drafted, it is not only
prospective but retroactive, and by making it retroactive, it would
have a direct impact on their case which is pending before the
Supreme Court. He added if the Supreme Court overturns Judge
Janke's ruling, the amendment may not be necessary. Their
preference would be to not have to go litigate the case again
because it will have effectively changed the decision is that case.
For that reason, he said he would recommend that if the Legislature
thinks it is good policy, it ought to do it prospectively at this
pint, at least until the Supreme Court has rendered a decision.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN said he was not sure he wanted to take that issue up
in this bill, that it is something that should fly on its own, but
he wanted to discuss that with the bill's sponsor.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN recessed the meeting at 5:05 p.m. until a quorum
could be established. The meeting was called back to order at 5:50
p.m. with a quorum of committee members present.
Number 455
SENATOR PEARCE moved the adoption of SCS CSSSHB 191(RES), version
"W" dated 4/26/96. Hearing no objection, the motion carried.
REPRESENTATIVE THERRIAULT , speaking to deleting Section 26 in the
Resources SCS, explained an agreement had been reached on Section
26, that instead of trying to attach the lease fee to a sliding
scale, they were agreeable to just go to a flat $300 fee. He
suggested deleting all the language in Section 26 and replacing it
with language saying that the annual rental rate shall be set at
$300. CHAIRMAN LEMAN added that the understanding is that existing
leases do not shift to the rate until they expire. RON SWANSON
added that their current fee is $300, although a lot of the leases
are at $150, and this would fix them all at $300 and bring in a
revenue to the state of a little over $400,000. It costs about
$250,000 to administer the program.
Number 515
SENATOR PEARCE moved as Amendment No. 1 to delete the language in
Section 26 and replace it with language saying that the annual
rental rate shall be set at $300. Hearing no objection, the
Chairman stated the amendment was adopted.
RON SWANSON , speaking to the issue in HB 331 relating to access for
mining staking, explained that the proposed Amendment No. 2 is to
exclude private land until the Supreme Court rules. It would make
it very clear that a bond does not have to be posted before the
claim is staked.
SENATOR TAYLOR moved to adopt Amendment No. 2. Hearing no
objection, the amendment was adopted.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN said he would like to have a conceptual amendment to
the amendment stating that this would apply only to municipal and
state lands and would not get into the private land dispute right
now. SENATOR TAYLOR moved the conceptual amendment. Hearing no
objection, it was adopted.
Number 600
SENATOR PEARCE noted Section 21 of CSSSHB 191(FIN) was not in the
Resources SCS, and she asked if this means we are now going back to
the mandatory preference right that is in current law about
agricultural land. RON SWANSON explained that originally if you
were an adjacent farmer you would not have a preference to pick up
the land next to you, even if you needed it for expansion of your
facility, and this will allow that to happen. It only goes to an
Alaskan bidder, and it gives them a first preference to meet high
bid.
SENATOR LINCOLN referred to page 18, line 29, and the language "an
operated exclusively." She said she had an amendment which would
delete the word "exclusively." She said the reason for the
amendment was because of an old school that was no longer in use in
one of the communities, and the community wanted to use it but they
couldn't under present law. By deleting "exclusively" they would
then be able to utilize the abandoned school. MR. SWANSON stated
the department would support the amendment.
TAPE 96-69, SIDE A
Number 025
SENATOR LINCOLN moved the adoption of Amendment No. 3, which would
delete the word "exclusively." Hearing no objection, the amendment
was adopted.
SENATOR PEARCE asked if anything in the bill changes the liability
that the purchaser or recipient of state lands would have for
previous hazardous substance releases on state lands. MR. SWANSON
responded that there are a couple of sections in the bill saying
that the holder of the lease at the time the problem occurred is
responsible for cleaning up anything. SENATOR PEARCE pointed out
that AIDEA can't lease lands that they got back from Mark Air after
the bankruptcy because DOT is trying to force AIDEA to do all the
cleanup from even pre-Mark Air days. MR. SWANSON acknowledged that
there is nothing in the bill that changes the liability standard if
somebody leases state land.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN directed attention to a memorandum from the
legislative drafter suggesting technical changes to page 25, lines
13 & 14 relating to effective dates. Hearing no objection, he
stated the drafter would be instructed to make the changes.
SENATOR TAYLOR moved as Amendment No. 4, on page 14, line 5 delete
"private residential" and delete all references to "residential" in
subsection (f).
SENATOR HALFORD directed attention to Section 29, and said to make
it conforming under (a) it would necessitate deleting (2) which is
all buildings and fixtures including gravel pads, foundations and
slabs not belonging to the state within 60 days of termination of
the lease. He also suggested in subsection (c) deleting "buildings
and fixtures" on lines 23, 25, 27 & 28. The effect of these
changes would be there would still be the cleanup requirements and
the requirements regarding everything but essentially the real
property improvements that can't be removed, and then they are
treated in the same way that (f) would treat them for a residence.
SENATOR LINCOLN asked if the effect of the amendment was just
removing "private residential" and "residential" in subsection (f).
SENATOR HALFORD responded that it was, so that condition and that
method still applies to commercial improvements. All of the
cleanup requirements still apply to everything but buildings and
fixtures, which are the permanent fixtures.
SENATOR TAYLOR suggested as part of Amendment No. 4, on page 14,
line 7 to insert the words "shall be leased or purchased."
After extensive discussion relating to Amendment No. 4 as outlined
by Senator Taylor and Senator Halford, CHAIRMAN LEMAN stated the
amendment was adopted.
Number 305
SENATOR HALFORD moved as a conceptual Amendment No. 5 to insert
exactly the same language in exactly the same way in whatever title
deals with DOT on airports. He explained the amendment would fit
into the title of the bill and it would fix an area where there are
numerous problems for rural airports all across the state.
REPRESENTATIVE THERRIAULT said he made a commitment that he would
not allow a lot of different issues to be added to this bill, and
he also pointed out that Representative Hanley has done a lot of
work on a House bill that is in the system. SENATOR HALFORD stated
he would withdraw the amendment.
Number 459
SENATOR HALFORD moved as Amendment No. 5 to page 5, line 19, to
delete the word "should" and insert "may" in its place. He said
the change would take out at least some of the preload of the
section toward anything but sale to private ownership. Hearing no
objection, the Chairman stated Amendment No. 5 was adopted.
SENATOR HALFORD said Sections 16, 17 and others which repeal the
bidder must appear in person at the auction provisions are contrary
to a general intent of the Legislature to always try and load any
of these programs to be the most beneficial to Alaska residents.
MR. SWANSON explained these provisions relate to a Superior Court
case dealing with a Kodiak land disposal six years ago, and this
brings the statute into compliance with that decision.
After further questions and discussion on section of the bill, the
committee took a brief at ease at 6:50 p.m., coming back to order
at 7:19 p.m.
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked for the pleasure of the committee on HB 191.
SENATOR PEARCE moved SCS CSSSHB 191(RES) be passed out of committee
with individual recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was so
ordered.
TAPE 96-69, SIDE B
CSHB 456(L&C) BOARD OF STORAGE TANK ASSISTANCE
CHAIRMAN LEMAN brought CSHB 456(L&C) back before the committee and
asked for the pleasure of the committee.
SENATOR TAYLOR moved CSHB 456(L&C) be passed out of committee with
individual recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was so
ordered.
CSHB 538(2d FSH) HAIR CRAB VESSELS; LTD ENTRY FOR VESSELS
CHAIRMAN LEMAN brought CSHB 538(2d FSH) back before the committee,
and asked for the pleasure of the committee.
SENATOR TAYLOR moved CSHB 538(2d FSH) be passed out of committee
with individual recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was so
ordered.
There being no further business to come before the committee, the
meeting was adjourned at 7:38 p.m.
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