00 HOUSE BILL NO. 173 01 "An Act relating to the small operator surface coal mining assistance program 02 under the Alaska Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and to exploration 03 incentive credits for locatable or leasable minerals or coal deposits." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 27.21.100(b) is amended to read: 06  (b) Copies of records, permits, inspection materials, data obtained under 07 AS 27.21.120, or other information obtained under this chapter by the commissioner 08 relating to a surface coal mining and reclamation operation, other than information that 09 is confidential under (c) of this section, must be made immediately and conveniently 10 available to the public at the district office of the department closest to the location of 11 the surface coal mining and reclamation operation. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 27.21.120 is amended to read: 13  Sec. 27.21.120. Small operator assistance.  (a) The provisions of this 14 section apply when [IF] the commissioner finds that the probable total annual 01 production of all of the surface coal mining operations of an applicant or, if the 02 applicant is a subsidiary of another corporation, [OF] the applicant's parent corporation 03 and its subsidiaries [,] will not exceed 300,000 [100,000] tons. 04  (b) At [, THE COMMISSIONER SHALL, AT] the written request of an 05 [THE] applicant, the commissioner shall 06   (1) determine, for each applicant or applicant's parent corporation 07 and subsidiaries, as appropriate, the data that may be necessary in order to 08  (A) evaluate the probable hydrologic consequences of the 09 applicant's surface mining and reclamation operations in the proposed 10 permit area and adjacent areas; 11  (B) evaluate the results of test borings on core samplings for 12 the proposed permit area; 13  (C) develop cross-section maps and plans, if required; 14  (D) fulfill archeological and historic information required by 15 AS 44.37.040(3); 16  (E) fulfill all requirements that are imposed on the applicant 17 or the applicant's parent corporation and subsidiaries if, under a 18 regulation adopted under authority of this chapter, the applicant or 19 applicant's parent corporation is required to complete a preblasting survey 20 of nearby dwellings or structures and to prepare a report of the survey; 21 and 22  (F) fulfill requirements applicable to collecting site-specific 23 resources information, producing protection and enhancement plans for 24 fish and wildlife habitats and for subsistence uses of the permit area and 25 adjacent areas, and preparing information and plans for any other 26 environmental values; and 27  (2) to the maximum extent possible with money appropriated, 28 engage, at no cost to the applicant, a qualified laboratory to collect, analyze, and 29 report the results of the data for the tasks set out in (1)(A) - (F) of this subsection 30 [PREPARE A DETERMINATION OF PROBABLE HYDROLOGIC 31 CONSEQUENCES OF THE APPLICANT'S PROPOSED OPERATION AND A 01 STATEMENT OF TEST BORING OR CORE SAMPLINGS IF THESE ARE 02 REQUIRED BY REGULATIONS ADOPTED UNDER AS 27.21.110]. 03 * Sec. 3. AS 27.21.120 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 04  (c) The collection and analysis of data under (b)(2) of this section may proceed 05 concurrently with the applicant's development of a reclamation plan. 06 * Sec. 4. AS 27.30.020 is amended to read: 07  Sec. 27.30.020. Procedure for requesting and taking the credit. To obtain 08 the credit authorized by this chapter, 09  (1) a person shall submit a request for the credit as follows: 10  (A) the person may [SHALL] submit a request and a statement 11 of expenditures 12   (i) whenever the amount of credit certified in the 13 request totals at least $250,000 and the period covered is at least 14 one year; or 15  (ii) when the person is ready to take the entire 16 balance of the credit, regardless of the total amount of the credit 17 [FOR THE PREVIOUS CALENDAR YEAR NOT LATER THAN 60 DAYS 18 AFTER THE CLOSE OF THAT CALENDAR YEAR]; 19  (B) the request must be on a form provided by the 20 department and 21  (i) describe the work accomplished during each [THE 22 PREVIOUS] year of the period covered by the request, the number 23 of employees, and the names and number of consultants; [AND] 24  (ii) provide a detailed list or ledger of expenditures of 25 the accomplishments described in (i) of this subparagraph and a list of 26 exploration activity data that [IN THE FUTURE] will be provided 27 [MADE AVAILABLE] to the department [COMMISSIONER UNDER 28 (2)(a) OF THIS SECTION]; and 29  (iii) provide a statement by a certified public 30 accountant that expenditures are supported by receipts for all 31 activities eligible for the credit under AS 27.30.010(a) for each 01 calendar year that these expenditures for a single mining operation 02 equal or exceed $40,000; 03  (C) the person submitting the request is not required to transmit 04 copies of receipts with the request, but the statement of expenditures is subject 05 to audit in the discretion of the commissioner; 06  (D) if the commissioner determines to audit the statement of 07 expenditures, the commissioner may require the person submitting the request 08 to justify claims of expenditures with receipts and other reliable information; 09  (E) the commissioner shall respond to the request within six 10 months of the date of submission of the request [BY SEPTEMBER 30] by 11 certifying or not certifying the person's expenditures; if the commissioner 12  (i) does not certify all of the expenditures, the 13 commissioner shall state the reasons for denial of certification of the 14 expenditures not certified and give the person making the request an 15 opportunity to correct any problems or to provide additional 16 information; 17  (ii) certifies expenditures, the commissioner shall specify 18 the exploration activity data requirements [FOR THAT YEAR] that 19 must be presented to the department at the time of the taking of the 20 credit; 21  (F) if the commissioner neither certifies nor denies certification 22 of expenditures within six months of the date of submission of the request 23 [BY SEPTEMBER 30], the expenditures are certified as submitted; 24  (2) the person whose expenditures have been certified under (1) of this 25 subsection may thereafter request the taking of the credit for the certified expenditures 26 as follows: 27  (A) the person shall deliver to the commissioner the exploration 28 activity data identified by the commissioner under (1)(E)(ii) of this section [,] 29 and shall request the commissioner's approval of the taking of the credit; 30  (B) the commissioner shall approve or disapprove the taking of 31 the credit within 60 days [SIX MONTHS] after receipt of the request for 01 taking of the credit; if the 02  (i) exploration activity data complies with the 03 requirements identified by the commissioner under (1)(E)(ii) of this 04 section, the commissioner shall approve the taking of the credit and 05 shall, within 30 days, notify the Department of Revenue that the 06 taking of the credit has been approved; 07  (ii) request is disapproved, the commissioner shall state 08 the reasons for disapproval and offer the person seeking to take the 09 credit an opportunity to correct any problems or to provide additional 10 exploration activity data or other information; 11  (C) if the commissioner neither approves nor disapproves the 12 request to take the credit within 60 days [SIX MONTHS] after submission of 13 the request, the taking of the credit is approved; the commissioner shall, 14 within 30 days, notify the Department of Revenue that the taking of the 15 credit has been approved under this subparagraph. 16 * Sec. 5. AS 27.30 is amended by adding a new section to read: 17  Sec. 27.30.025 Conditional certification. (a) A person may submit a request 18 for conditional certification for the credit when 19  (1) the person has conducted or intends to conduct exploration activities 20 using an innovative technique; 21  (2) there exists a substantial question regarding the nature of the 22 exploration data that will be delivered to the department; or 23  (3) the person contemplates assigning a credit under AS 27.30.060 and 24 there exists a substantial question regarding whether the expenditures will be certified. 25  (b) A person shall submit a request for conditional certification on a form 26 provided by the department. 27  (c) The commissioner shall respond to the request within six months from the 28 date of the submission of the request for conditional certification by issuing a letter 29 stating that 30  (1) under the specific facts and circumstances proposed by the person, 31 the proposed expenditures and data appear eligible for a credit; 01  (2) there is not adequate information to determine whether the proposed 02 expenditures and data appear to be eligible for a credit; or 03  (3) the expenditures and data as presented do not appear to be eligible 04 for a credit. 05  (d) Approval of conditional certification under (c)(1) of this section does not 06 relieve a person from obtaining certification of the credit under AS 27.30.020. 07 * Sec. 6. AS 27.30.030(c) is amended to read: 08  (c) The person may not apply the credit under this section if the application[, 09 WHEN ADDED TO CREDITS PREVIOUSLY APPLIED UNDER THIS SECTION,] 10 would exceed the total amount of the credits approved under AS 27.30.020(2). 11 * Sec. 7. AS 27.30 is amended by adding a new section to read: 12  Sec. 27.30.095. Fees. The commissioner may charge a fee for the direct costs 13 incurred by the department and the Department of Revenue for evaluating or auditing 14 an application to certify the credit authorized under AS 27.30.010, including the cost 15 of contractors selected by the commissioner to assist in the evaluation or audit. The 16 fee may not exceed 17  (1) $500 for each application covering one or more years if the amount 18 claimed in the application is $1,000,000 or less; 19  (2) $1,000 for each application covering one or more years if the 20 amount claimed is more than $1,000,000.