SB 92-VESSELS: REGISTRATION/TITLES; DERELICTS  4:32:11 PM CHAIR GIESSEL announced consideration of SB 92 and opened public testimony. BRYAN HAWKINS, Vice President, Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators (AAHPA), Homer, said he is also the Harbormaster for Homer and he supports SB 92. He noted that he served on the ad hoc Derelict Vessel Task Force as a representative for AAHPA. He said: Alaska is a maritime state. Most of our population lives next to the ocean, and our connection to it is vital to our ability to exist either by directly pulling our livelihoods from the sea or simply because of the fact that most of our goods we purchase and use every day are transported across the water. Alaska is in the business of boats. We have a thinking here: when it comes to vessels - any boat - large or small, and that is that we behave as if they will last forever. That is evidenced by the fact that we currently have no plan for when they don't. Alaskans must work together to develop a cradle-to- grave management plan for our vessels. This plan must work to protect the individual's rights of ownership, promote and encourage fleet renewal, while at the same time protect the state, municipalities, and private land owners from becoming the dump site for vessels that have no commercial value left in them. I realize this is a huge task and that we're starting late, but I don't believe it's an impossible one. And SB 92 is a big step forward in that effort. Thank you. RACHEL LORD, representing herself, Homer, said she facilitated the ad hoc Derelict Vessel Task Force, but her comments are hers. She said she supports SB 92 and the entire effort. It's a huge step forward. A couple of days ago the federal Government Accountability Office came out with a report requested by Alaska's entire congressional delegation and many other senators and congress people from around the country asking the federal government to look at the issue of derelict vessels. It paints the picture that there is a long way to go, she stated. Alaska is one state that has derelict vessel laws, but they are very outdated. This bill has a lot of pieces, and from her perspective on the task force, the effort was to look at the full suite of problems with derelict vessels, solutions being used around the country, and what could work here. MS. LORD encouraged the committee to look at this as a holistic effort. She has been talking to insurance companies and still feels like insurance is a really important tool. The intent is P&I [protection and liability] insurance covered by SB 92 with the wreck removal, and it is not to be an added burden on commercial fishing fleets or active commercial vessels but a protection when vessels are transferred and when folks are considering on-water endeavors. But insurance is just one piece of a very large puzzle, she concluded. GREG ROCZICKA, Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group, Bethel, expressed the working group's whole-hearted support of SB 92. He explained that the Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group consists of stakeholders that have been working with the State of Alaska on fisheries issues since 1988, including on derelict vessels. Some of the members participated in the task force, and the group has been pushing these kinds of issues for many years. They continue to see vessels sink or construction outfits dropping equipment off the side of their barges. They pose a significant navigation hazard. People get injured when outboards hit them, and they damage boats. He spoke of one that is in the slough, and people are hitting them by snow machines at night. It is a major concern throughout the whole Kuskokwim drainage, which is Alaska's second longest river, running from the base of Mt. McKinley to Nunivak Island. Throughout the drainages, people have similar problems. He expressed gratitude that something is moving forward to put teeth in some enforcement to address this problem. CHAIR GIESEL noted that photos from the next speaker are posted on BASIS. ALISSA NADINE ROGERS, Orutsararmiut Native Council, Bethel, said the council is the federally-recognized body representing the Native village of Bethel, Alaska. The council supports SB 92, because it holds people accountable for abandoning barges on public waters, and it streamlines the state's ability to prevent and manage derelict vessels. She said SB 92 will address some known 40-plus abandoned and derelict vessels in Steamboat Slough and 20 more vessels within the Bethel Native Corporation lands. These hazards have been abandoned and derelict and are mooring on tribal grounds. Over the past decade, the council and other organizations in Bethel have been asking for assistance to remove them, she said, but there is no agency that can help. For example, a boat sunk in the middle of Steamboat Slough a few years ago, as shown in the photos she provided to the committee. It has become increasingly dangerous to motorized vehicles, people, and the environment. Senate Bill 92 will provide a program with pro-active strategies to address such occurrences, and without it, towns like Bethel will continue to suffer the dangerous burden of derelict and abandoned vessels. They will continue to be hazardous to traffic, human life, and the ecosystem, and she urged support of this important legislation. 4:41:18 PM STEVEN RUSSELL, 152 Degrees West Environmental, Nikiski, said he is a former on-scene coordinator with the Department of Environmental Conservation. Currently, he is working in the environmental field outside of state government. He said much of this legislation is focused on the registration and titling of vessels that operate in state waters. State and federal managers can spend hundreds of hours trying to identify ADV [abandoned and derelict vessel] ownership, mostly to no avail. A state registration and titling system will be a significant resource to reduce future problems, he stated, but it is important to not lose sight of the need to deal with the hundreds of ADVs now found around the state. These vessels are threatening public health and safety, damaging habitat, and interfering with commercial fisheries and subsistence lifestyles, and they can impede or complicate economic opportunities in our remote communities. MR. RUSSELL said section 24 deals with ADV programs to increase prevention, assist communities to develop proper disposal options, educate vessel owners and operators, and develop other programs that incentivize the removal of the current fleet of abandoned vessels on state tidelands. This effort, of course, should receive the support of every port and harbor administration, boatyards, vessel owners, and communities that are affected by these vessels. The bill will provide a long-term plan essential to sound maritime operations. JOHN ERICKSON, City Manager, Yakutat, Alaska, said he supports SB 92. Yakutat has many derelict vessels, and because Yakutat is so isolated, trying to clean them and get barges up to haul them away is almost impossible. Anything to help identify owners will make a big difference for Yakutat. There are many boats damaging the environment, he added. 4:44:53 PM BETTY SVENSON, Deputy Director, Alaska Municipal League (AML) Juneau, said the AML supports SB 92, and the director will submit a letter of support and a copy of a resolution supporting improved management and prevention of derelict vessels. 4:45:57 PM SENATOR MICCICHE, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, sponsor of SB 92, said there is widespread exposure and potential in the state and there has been widespread damage. This bill is helpful and well considered. He said he doesn't plan to pass it out this year; there is some work to do. SB 92 was held in committee.