00 HOUSE BILL NO. 4 01 "An Act relating to permits issued by the Department of Fish and Game for 02 activities in anadromous fish streams, to forest land use plans prepared by the 03 Department of Natural Resources, to rights-of-way, easements, and permits issued 04 by the Department of Natural Resources, and to disposal of state land and 05 interests in state land." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 16.05.050 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 08  (20) to review a proposed plan or an application for a right-of-way, 09 easement, or permit described under AS 16.05.870(e); identify activities to be 10 authorized under the plan, right-of-way, easement, or permit that may result in 11 construction of a hydraulic project or the use, diversion, pollution, or change of the 12 natural flow or bed of a body of water identified under AS 16.05.870(a) or use of 13 wheeled, tracked, or excavating equipment or log-dragging equipment in the bed of a 14 body of water identified under AS 16.05.870(a); and provide recommendations of 01 constructive and economically feasible methods and practices that will properly protect 02 economically important populations of fish and game that use those waters. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.870(d) is amended to read: 04  (d) The commissioner shall approve the proposed construction, work, or use 05 in writing unless the commissioner finds the plans and specifications insufficient for 06 the proper protection of an economically important population of fish or [AND] 07 game. Upon a finding that the plans and specifications are insufficient for the proper 08 protection of an economically important population of fish or [AND] game, the 09 commissioner shall notify the person or governmental agency that submitted the plans 10 and specifications of constructive and economically feasible methods and practices 11 that will properly protect the population of fish or game [THAT FINDING] by first 12 class mail. The person or governmental agency may, within 90 days of receiving the 13 notice, initiate a hearing under AS 44.62.370. The hearing is subject to AS 44.62.330 14 - 44.62.630. 15 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.870 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 16  (e) This section does not apply to activities authorized by 17  (1) a forest land use plan under AS 38.05.112; 18  (2) a permit, right-of-way, or easement under AS 38.05.850(a); or 19  (3) a miscellaneous state land use permit under AS 38.05.850(c). 20 * Sec. 4. AS 38.05.035(e) is amended to read: 21  (e) Upon a written finding that the interests of the state will be best served, 22 the director may, with the consent of the commissioner, approve contracts for the sale, 23 lease, or other disposal of available land, resources, property, or interests in them. In 24 addition to the conditions and limitations imposed by law, the director may impose 25 additional conditions or limitations in the contracts as the director determines, with the 26 consent of the commissioner, will best serve the interests of the state. The preparation 27 and issuance of the written finding by the director are [IS] subject to the following: 28  (1) with the consent of the commissioner and subject to the director's 29 discretion, for a specific proposed disposal of available land, resources, or property, 30 or of an interest in them, the director, in the written finding, 31  (A) shall establish the scope of the administrative review on 01 which the director's determination is based, and the scope of the written 02 finding supporting that determination; the scope of the review and finding may 03 address only reasonably foreseeable, significant effects of the uses proposed to 04 be authorized by the disposal; 05  (B) may limit the scope of an administrative review and finding 06 for a proposed disposal to 07  (i) applicable statutes and regulations; 08  (ii) the facts pertaining to the land, resources, or 09 property, or interest in them, that the director finds are material to the 10 determination and that are known to the director or knowledge of which 11 is made available to the director during the administrative review; and 12  (iii) issues that, based on the statutes and regulations 13 referred to in (i) of this subparagraph, on the facts as described in (ii) 14 of this subparagraph, and on the nature of the uses sought to be 15 authorized, the director finds are material to the determination of 16 whether the proposed disposal will best serve the interests of the state; 17 and 18  (C) may, if the project for which the proposed disposal is 19 sought is a multiphased development, limit the scope of an administrative 20 review and finding for the proposed disposal to the applicable statutes and 21 regulations, facts, and issues identified in (B)(i) - (iii) of this paragraph that 22 pertain solely to a discrete phase of the project when 23  (i) the only uses to be authorized by the proposed 24 disposal are part of that discrete phase; 25  (ii) the department's approval is required before the next 26 phase of the project may proceed; and 27  (iii) the department describes its reasons for a decision 28 to phase and conditions its approval to ensure that any additional uses 29 or activities proposed for that or any later phase of the project will 30 serve the best interests of the state; 31  (2) the director shall discuss in the written finding prepared and issued 01 under this subsection the reasons that each of the following was not material to the 02 director's determination that the interests of the state will be best served: 03  (A) facts pertaining to the land, resources, or property, or an 04 interest in them other than those that the director finds material under (1)(B)(ii) 05 of this subsection; and 06  (B) issues based on the statutes and regulations referred to in 07 (1)(B)(i) of this subsection and on the facts described in (1)(B)(ii) of this 08 subsection; 09  (3) a written finding for an oil and gas lease sale under AS 38.05.180 10 is subject to (g) of this section; 11  (4) a contract for the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or 12 an interest in land is not legally binding on the state until the commissioner approves 13 the contract, but, if the appraised value is not greater than $50,000 in the case of the 14 sale of land or an interest in land, or $5,000 in the case of the annual rental of land 15 or interest in land, the director may execute the contract without the approval of the 16 commissioner; 17  (5) public notice requirements relating to the sale, lease, or other 18 disposal of available land or an interest in land for oil and gas proposed to be 19 scheduled in the five-year oil and gas leasing program under AS 38.05.180(b), except 20 for a sale under (6)(G) of this subsection, are as follows: 21  (A) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 22 180 days before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an interest 23 in land, the director shall make available to the public a preliminary written 24 finding that states the scope of the review established under (1)(A) of this 25 subsection and includes the applicable statutes and regulations, the material 26 facts and issues in accordance with (1)(B) of this subsection, and information 27 required by (g) of this section, upon which the determination that the sale, 28 lease, or other disposal will serve the best interests of the state will be based; 29 the director shall provide opportunity for public comment on the preliminary 30 written finding for a period of not less than 60 days; 31  (B) after the public comment period for the preliminary written 01 finding and not less than 90 days before the sale, lease, or other disposal of 02 available land or an interest in land for oil and gas, the director shall make 03 available to the public a final written finding that states the scope of the review 04 established under (1)(A) of this subsection and includes the applicable statutes 05 and regulations, the material facts and issues in accordance with (1)(B) [(1)] 06 of this subsection, and information required by (g) of this section, upon which 07 the determination that the sale, lease, or other disposal will serve the best 08 interests of the state is based; 09  (6) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 21 days 10 before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land, property, resources, or 11 interests in them other than a sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an 12 interest in land for oil and gas under (5) of this subsection, the director shall make 13 available to the public a written finding that, in accordance with (1) of this subsection, 14 sets out the material facts and applicable statutes and regulations and any other 15 information required by statute or regulation to be considered upon which the 16 determination that the sale, lease, or other disposal will best serve the interests of the 17 state was based; however, a written finding is not required before the approval of 18  (A) a contract for a negotiated sale authorized under 19 AS 38.05.115; 20  (B) a lease of land for a shore fishery site under AS 38.05.082; 21  (C) a permit or other authorization revocable by the 22 commissioner; 23  (D) a mineral claim located under AS 38.05.195; 24  (E) a mineral lease issued under AS 38.05.205; 25  (F) a production license issued under AS 38.05.207; [OR] 26  (G) an exempt oil and gas lease sale under AS 38.05.180(d) of 27 acreage subject to a best interest finding issued within the previous 10 years or 28 a reoffer oil and gas lease sale under AS 38.05.180(w) of acreage subject to a 29 best interest finding issued within the previous 10 years, unless the 30 commissioner determines that substantial new information has become available 31 that justifies a supplement to the most recent best interest finding for the 01 exempt oil and gas lease sale acreage and for the reoffer oil and gas lease sale 02 acreage; however, for each oil and gas lease sale described in this 03 subparagraph, the director shall call for comments from the public; the 04 director's call for public comments must provide opportunity for public 05 comment for a period of not less than 30 days; if the director determines that 06 a supplement to the most recent best interest finding for the acreage is required 07 under this subparagraph, 08  (i) the director shall issue the supplement to the best 09 interest finding not later than 90 days before the sale; 10  (ii) not later than 45 days before the sale, the director 11 shall issue a notice describing the interests to be offered, the location 12 and time of the sale, and the terms and conditions of the sale; and 13  (iii) the supplement has the status of a final written best 14 interest finding for purposes of AS 38.05.035(i) and (l); 15  (H) a shallow gas lease authorized under AS 38.05.177 in an 16 area for which leasing is authorized under AS 38.05.177; 17   (I) a disposal of timber for which a forest land use plan has 18 been adopted under AS 38.05.112; notwithstanding this subparagraph, a 19 written finding is required before approval of a salvage sale authorized 20 under AS 38.05.117 or a negotiated sale authorized under AS 38.05.123; 21 or 22  (J) a disposal of land or an interest in land authorized under 23 AS 38.05.850(a) or (c); 24  (7) the director shall include in 25  (A) a preliminary written finding, if required, a summary of 26 agency and public comments, if any, obtained as a result of contacts with other 27 agencies concerning a proposed disposal or as a result of informal efforts 28 undertaken by the department to solicit public response to a proposed disposal, 29 and the department's preliminary responses to those comments; and 30  (B) the final written finding a summary of agency and public 31 comments received and the department's responses to those comments. 01 * Sec. 5. AS 38.05.112(a) is amended to read: 02  (a) The department may not authorize the harvest of timber, except for 03 harvests of 10 acres or less or timber salvaged from land cleared for a nonforest use, 04 until a site-specific forest land use plan has been adopted.  However, a [A] forest land 05 use plan is not required if [WHETHER OR NOT] a regional or area land use plan 06 under AS 38.04.065(a) or a forest management plan under AS 41.17.230 has been 07 adopted. 08 * Sec. 6. AS 38.05.112(b) is amended to read: 09  (b) In adopting a forest land use plan, the commissioner shall consider the best 10 available data, including information and recommendations provided by other 11 agencies describing 12   (1) the immediate and long-term effects of individual and collective 13 forest activities on the timber base and on other resources and uses; and 14  (2) constructive and economically feasible methods or practices to 15 protect economically important populations of fish and game that use bodies of 16 water identified under AS 16.05.870(a) that are located within the area for which 17 the plan is adopted. 18 * Sec. 7. AS 38.05.123(d) is amended to read: 19  (d) Before a sale may be negotiated under this section, 20  (1) the area of the sale must be designated for forestry purposes by a 21 valid existing area plan adopted under AS 38.04; [AND] 22  (2)  a forest land use plan under AS 38.05.112 must be adopted; and 23  (3) the requirements of AS 38.05.113 [AS 38.05.112 AND 38.05.113] 24 must be met. 25 * Sec. 8. AS 38.05.850(a) is amended to read: 26  (a)  After consultation with other state agencies that have an interest in 27 activities for which the permit is requested, the [THE] director, without the prior 28 approval of the commissioner, may issue permits, rights-of-way, or easements on state 29 land for roads, trails, ditches, field gathering lines or transmission and distribution 30 pipelines not subject to AS 38.35, telephone or electric transmission and distribution 31 lines, log storage, oil well drilling sites and production facilities for the purposes of 01 recovering minerals from adjacent land under valid lease, and other similar uses or 02 improvements, or for the limited personal use of timber or materials. The 03 commissioner, upon recommendation of the director, shall establish a reasonable rate 04 or fee schedule to be charged for these uses, subject to the exception for nonprofit 05 cooperative associations specified in (b) of this section. In the granting, suspension, 06 or revocation of a permit or easement of land, the director shall give preference to that 07 use of the land that [WHICH] will be of greatest economic benefit to the state and the 08 development of state [ITS] resources. However, first preference shall be granted to the 09 upland owner for the use of a tract of tideland, or tideland and contiguous submerged 10 land, that [WHICH] is seaward of the upland property of the upland owner and that 11 [WHICH] is needed by the upland owner for any of the purposes for which the use 12 may be granted. 13 * Sec. 9. AS 38.05.850 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 14  (c) After consultation with other state agencies that have an interest in the 15 activities for which the permit is requested, the director may issue a miscellaneous 16 state land use permit for the term and under conditions as the director considers 17 appropriate. A person may not conduct the following activities on state land unless 18 the person has received a miscellaneous state land use permit: 19  (1) activity requiring 20  (A) the use of explosives and explosive devices, except 21 firearms; 22  (B) the use of equipment specified by the commissioner by 23 regulation; 24  (C) the use of hydraulic prospecting or mining equipment 25 methods; 26  (D) drilling to a depth in excess of 300 feet, including 27 exploratory drilling or stratigraphic test wells on state land not under oil or gas 28 lease; 29  (E) geophysical exploration for minerals subject to lease or an 30 oil and gas exploration license under AS 38.05.131 - 38.05.181; 31  (2) activity that the commissioner determines may result in unnecessary 01 harm to land having special scenic, historic, archaeologic, scientific, biological, 02 recreational, or other special resource values; and 03  (3) activity on land under mineral permit, lease, oil and gas exploration 04 license, or claim by a person other than the holder of the permit, lease, oil and gas 05 exploration license, or claim, or the holder's authorized representative if the parties 06 cannot agree on concurrent use of the land. 07 * Sec. 10. AS 46.35.200(4)(V) is amended to read: 08  (V) miscellaneous state land use permit -- AS 38.05.850 09 [AS 38.05.035, 11 AAC 96.010];