00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 46(RES) 01 "An Act relating to mining; and providing for an effective date." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 38.05.035(e)(5) is amended to read: 04  (5) public notice requirements relating to the sale, lease, or other 05 disposal of available land or an interest in land for oil and gas proposed to be 06 scheduled in the five-year oil and gas leasing program under AS 38.05.180(b), except 07 for a sale under (6)(F) [(6)(G)] of this subsection, are as follows: 08  (A) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 09 180 days before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an interest 10 in land, the director shall make available to the public a preliminary written 11 finding that states the scope of the review established under (1)(A) of this 12 subsection and includes the applicable statutes and regulations, the material 13 facts and issues in accordance with (1)(B) of this subsection, and information 14 required by (g) of this section, upon which the determination that the sale, 01 lease, or other disposal will serve the best interests of the state will be based; 02 the director shall provide opportunity for public comment on the preliminary 03 written finding for a period of not less than 60 days; 04  (B) after the public comment period for the preliminary written 05 finding and not less than 90 days before the sale, lease, or other disposal of 06 available land or an interest in land for oil and gas, the director shall make 07 available to the public a final written finding that states the scope of the review 08 established under (1)(A) of this subsection and includes the applicable statutes 09 and regulations, the material facts and issues in accordance with (1) of this 10 subsection, and information required by (g) of this section, upon which the 11 determination that the sale, lease, or other disposal will serve the best interests 12 of the state is based; 13 * Sec. 2. AS 38.05.035(e)(6) is amended to read: 14  (6) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 21 days 15 before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land, property, resources, or 16 interests in them other than a sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an 17 interest in land for oil and gas under (5) of this subsection, the director shall make 18 available to the public a written finding that, in accordance with (1) of this subsection, 19 sets out the material facts and applicable statutes and regulations and any other 20 information required by statute or regulation to be considered upon which the 21 determination that the sale, lease, or other disposal will best serve the interests of the 22 state was based; however, a written finding is not required before the approval of 23  (A) a contract for a negotiated sale authorized under 24 AS 38.05.115; 25  (B) a lease of land for a shore fishery site under AS 38.05.082; 26  (C) a permit or other authorization revocable by the 27 commissioner; 28  (D) a mineral claim located under AS 38.05.195; 29  (E) a mineral lease issued under AS 38.05.205; 30  (F) [A PRODUCTION LICENSE ISSUED UNDER 31 AS 38.05.207; OR 01  (G)] an exempt oil and gas lease sale under AS 38.05.180(d) of 02 acreage subject to a best interest finding issued within the previous 10 years or 03 a reoffer oil and gas lease sale under AS 38.05.180(w) of acreage subject to a 04 best interest finding issued within the previous 10 years, unless the 05 commissioner determines that substantial new information has become available 06 that justifies a supplement to the most recent best interest finding for the 07 exempt oil and gas lease sale acreage and for the reoffer oil and gas lease sale 08 acreage; however, for each oil and gas lease sale described in this 09 subparagraph, the director shall call for comments from the public; the 10 director's call for public comments must provide opportunity for public 11 comment for a period of not less than 30 days; if the director determines that 12 a supplement to the most recent best interest finding for the acreage is required 13 under this subparagraph, 14  (i) the director shall issue the supplement to the best 15 interest finding not later than 90 days before the sale; 16  (ii) not later than 45 days before the sale, the director 17 shall issue a notice describing the interests to be offered, the location 18 and time of the sale, and the terms and conditions of the sale; and 19  (iii) the supplement has the status of a final written best 20 interest finding for purposes of (i) and (l) of this section; 21   (G) [(H)] a shallow gas lease authorized under AS 38.05.177 22 in an area for which leasing is authorized under AS 38.05.177; 23   (H) a surface use lease under AS 38.05.255; 24 * Sec. 3. AS 38.05.180(d) is amended to read: 25  (d) The commissioner 26  (1) may annually offer oil and gas leases of the acreage described in 27 AS 38.05.035(e)(6)(F) [AS 38.05.035(e)(6)(G)]; 28  (2) may issue oil and gas leases in an area that has not been included 29 in a leasing program prepared, in accordance with (b) of this section, if the land to be 30 leased 31  (A) was previously subject to a valid state or federal oil and gas 01 lease; 02  (B) is contiguous to land already under state, federal, or private 03 lease and the commissioner makes a written finding, after hearing, that leasing 04 of the land would result in a substantial probability of early evaluation and 05 development of the land to be leased; 06  (C) is adjacent to land owned or controlled by another party on 07 which a discovery of commercial quantities of oil or gas has been made, and 08 the commissioner finds, after hearing, that there is a reasonable probability that 09 the land to be leased contains oil or gas in communication with the oil or gas 10 discovered on the land of the other party; 11  (D) is adjacent to land included in the federal five-year Outer 12 Continental Shelf leasing program under 43 U.S.C. 1344, and the commissioner 13 makes a written finding, after hearing, that coordinated or simultaneous leasing 14 with the federal government is in the public interest; or 15  (E) is the subject of an oil and gas exploration license issued 16 under AS 38.05.131 - 38.05.134. 17 * Sec. 4. AS 38.05.185(a) is amended to read: 18  (a) The acquisition and continuance of rights in and to deposits on state land 19 of minerals, which on January 3, 1959, were subject to location under the mining laws 20 of the United States, shall be governed by AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.275. Nothing in 21 AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.275 affects the law pertaining to the acquisition of rights to 22 mineral deposits owned by any other person or government. The director, with the 23 approval of the commissioner, shall determine that land from which mineral deposits 24 may be mined only under lease, and, subject to the limitations of AS 38.05.300, that 25 land that shall be closed to location under AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.275 [MINING]. 26 State land may not be closed to [MINING OR MINERAL] location under 27 AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.275 except as provided in AS 38.05.300 and unless the 28 commissioner makes a finding that mining would be incompatible with significant 29 surface uses on the state land. State land may not be restricted to mining under lease 30 unless the commissioner determines that potential use conflicts on the state land 31 require that mining be allowed only under written leases issued under AS 38.05.205 01 or the commissioner has determined that the land was mineral in character at the time 02 of state selection. The determinations required under this subsection shall be made in 03 compliance with land classification orders and land use plans developed under 04 AS 38.05.300. 05 * Sec. 5. AS 38.05.190(a) is amended to read: 06  (a) The right to acquire exploration and mining rights under AS 38.05.185 - 07 38.05.275 may be acquired or held only by 08  (1) citizens of the United States at least 18 years of age; 09  (2) legal guardians or trustees of citizens of the United States under 18 10 years of age on behalf of the citizens; 11  (3) persons at least 18 years of age who have declared their intention 12 to become citizens of the United States; 13  (4) [ALIENS AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE IF THE LAWS OF 14 THEIR COUNTRY GRANT LIKE PRIVILEGES TO CITIZENS OF THE UNITED 15 STATES; 16  (5)] corporations organized under the laws of the United States or of 17 any state or territory of the United States and qualified to do business in this state [, 18 EXCEPT THAT IF MORE THAN 50 PERCENT OF THE STOCK OF A 19 CORPORATION IS OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY ALIENS WHO ARE NOT 20 QUALIFIED, THE CORPORATION IS NOT QUALIFIED TO ACQUIRE OR HOLD 21 THE RIGHTS]; 22   (5) [(6)] associations of persons described in (1) - (4) [(1) - (5)] of this 23 subsection. 24 * Sec. 6. AS 38.05.211(d) is repealed and reenacted to read: 25  (d) The rental amount established under this section shall be revised by the 26 commissioner as provided in this section based on changes in the Consumer Price 27 Index for all urban consumers, Anchorage Metropolitan Area (Semi-Annual Average) 28 compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor, as 29 revised, rebased, or replaced by that bureau. The reference base index is the index for 30 January - June 1989, as revised or rebased by that bureau. The rental amount shall be 31 increased or decreased, as appropriate, by an amount equal to the change in the index 01 described in this subsection rounded to the nearest whole $5 unit. The commissioner 02 shall calculate the change in the rental amount each 10 years and, if the rental amount 03 must be revised, shall adopt a regulation establishing the revised rental amount. A 04 revised rental amount applies to a rental payment if the regulation establishing the 05 revised rental amount took effect at least 90 days before the date the rental payment 06 is due. 07 * Sec. 7. AS 38.05.255 is amended to read: 08  Sec. 38.05.255. Surface use of land or water. Surface uses of land or water 09 included within a mining property [PROPERTIES] by the owners, lessees, or 10 operators [OF THOSE PROPERTIES] shall be limited to those necessary for the 11 prospecting for, extraction of, or basic processing of minerals [MINERAL 12 DEPOSITS] and shall be subject to reasonable concurrent uses.  Leases [PERMITS] 13 for millsites, [AND] tailings disposal, and other mine related facilities may be issued 14 [GRANTED] by the director. The leases [PERMITS] shall be conditioned upon 15 payment of a reasonable annual rent [CHARGE] for the lease [USE] and restricted 16 to uses approved by the director [CONTINUANCE OF THE LIMITED USE]. 17 Timber from land open to mining without lease, except timberland, may be used by 18 a mining claimant or prospecting site locator for the mining or development of the 19 location or adjacent claims under common ownership. On other land, timber may be 20 acquired as provided in this chapter. Use of water shall be made in accordance with 21 AS 46.15. 22 * Sec. 8. AS 38.05.255 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 23  (b) A lease issued under this section is exempt from the provisions of 24 AS 38.05.075 - 38.05.080. 25 * Sec. 9. AS 38.05.265 is amended to read: 26  Sec. 38.05.265. Abandonment. Failure to properly record a certificate of 27 location or a statement of annual labor, [FILE WITH THE DIRECTOR WITHIN THE 28 TIME PRESCRIBED A LEASE APPLICATION,] pay any required annual rental, pay 29 any required production royalty, or keep location boundaries clearly marked as 30 required by AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.200, 38.05.207 - 38.05.245, 38.05.252 - 38.05.275, 31 [AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.275] and by regulations adopted under these sections constitutes 01 abandonment of all rights acquired under the mining claim, leasehold location, 02 [LEASE,] or site involved, and the claim, location, [LEASE,] or site is subject to 03 relocation by others. A locator or claimant of an abandoned location or a successor 04 in interest may not relocate the location until one year after abandonment. A statement 05 of annual labor that does not accurately set out the essential facts is void and of no 06 effect. If an annual rental or a royalty payment is deficient but is otherwise timely 07 paid, abandonment does not result if full payment is made within 08  (1) the period prescribed by a deficiency notice from the commissioner; 09 or 10  (2) 30 days after a final judgment establishing the amount due if the 11 deficiency amount due was contested. 12 * Sec. 10. AS 38.05.945(a) is amended to read: 13  (a) This section establishes the requirements for notice given by the department 14 for the following actions: 15  (1) classification or reclassification of state land under AS 38.05.300 16 and the closing of land to mineral leasing or entry under AS 38.05.185; 17  (2) zoning of land under applicable law; 18  (3) issuance of a 19  (A) preliminary written finding under AS 38.05.035(e)(5)(A) 20 regarding the sale, lease, or disposal of an interest in state land or resources for 21 oil and gas subject to AS 38.05.180(b); 22  (B) final written finding under AS 38.05.035(e)(5)(B) regarding 23 the sale, lease, or disposal of an interest in state land or resources for oil and 24 gas subject to AS 38.05.180(b); 25  (C) written finding for the sale, lease, or disposal of an interest 26 in state land or resources under AS 38.05.035(e)(6), except an oil or gas lease 27 sale described in AS 38.05.035(e)(6)(F) [AS 38.05.035(e)(6)(G)] for which the 28 director must provide opportunity for public comment under the provisions of 29 that subparagraph; 30  (4) a competitive disposal of an interest in state land or resources after 31 final decision under AS 38.05.035(e); 01  (5) a public hearing under AS 38.05.856(b); 02  (6) a preliminary finding under AS 38.05.035(e) and 38.05.855(c) 03 concerning sites for aquatic farms and related hatcheries; 04  (7) a decision under AS 38.05.132 - 38.05.134 regarding the sale, lease, 05 or disposal of an interest in state land or resources. 06 * Sec. 11. AS 38.05.207 and 38.05.945(g) are repealed. 07 * Sec. 12. TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS: REGULATIONS. Notwithstanding sec. 13 08 of this Act, the Department of Natural Resources may proceed to adopt regulations necessary 09 to implement the changes made by this Act. The regulations take effect under AS 44.62 10 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before July 1, 1997. 11 * Sec. 13. Except for sec. 12 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 1997. 12 * Sec. 14. Section 12 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).