CSSB 308(RES): "An Act modifying administrative procedures and decisions by state agencies that relate to uses and dispositions of state land, property, and resources, and to the interests within them, and that relate to uses and activities involving land, property, and resources, and to the interests within them, that are subject to the coastal management program when the use or activity is to be authorized or developed in phases; and providing for an effective date."
00CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 308(RES) 01 "An Act modifying administrative procedures and decisions by state agencies that 02 relate to uses and dispositions of state land, property, and resources, and to the 03 interests within them, and that relate to uses and activities involving land, 04 property, and resources, and to the interests within them, that are subject to the 05 coastal management program when the use or activity is to be authorized or 06 developed in phases; and providing for an effective date." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. AS 38.05.035(e) is amended to read: 09 (e) Upon a written finding that the interests of the state will be best served, 10 the director may, with the consent of the commissioner, approve contracts for the sale, 11 lease, or other disposal of available land, resources, property, or interests in them, and, 12 in addition to the conditions and limitations imposed by law, may impose additional 13 conditions or limitations in the contracts as the director determines, with the consent 14 of the commissioner, will best serve the interests of the state. A written finding of
01 the director is subject to the following: 02 (1) with the consent of the commissioner and subject to the 03 director's discretion, for a specific proposed disposal of available land, resources, 04 or property, or of an interest in them, the director, in the written finding, 05 (A) shall establish the scope of the administrative review on 06 which the director's determination is based, and the scope of the written 07 finding supporting that determination; the scope of the review and finding 08 may address only reasonably foreseeable, significant, direct effects of the 09 uses proposed to be authorized by the disposal; 10 (B) may limit the scope of an administrative review and 11 finding for a proposed disposal 12 (i) to the applicable statutes and regulations and the 13 facts pertaining to the land, resources, or property, or interest in 14 them, that the director finds are material to the determination and 15 that are known to the director or knowledge of which is made 16 available to the director during the administrative review; and 17 (ii) to issues that, based on the statutes and 18 regulations and facts as described in (i) of this subparagraph and 19 on the nature of the uses sought to be authorized, the director finds 20 are material to the determination of whether the proposed disposal 21 will best serve the interests of the state; and 22 (C) may, if the project for which the proposed disposal is 23 sought is a multiphased development, limit the scope of an administrative 24 review and finding for the proposed disposal to the applicable statutes and 25 regulations, facts, and issues identified in (B)(i) and (ii) of this paragraph 26 that pertain solely to a discrete phase of the project when the only uses to 27 be authorized by the proposed disposal are part of that discrete phase, the 28 department's approval is required before the next phase of the project 29 may proceed, and the department conditions its approval to ensure that 30 any additional uses or activities proposed for that or any later phase of the 31 project will serve the best interests of the state;
01 (2) a [A] written finding for an oil and gas lease sale under 02 AS 38.05.180 is subject to (g) of this section; 03 (3) a [. A] contract for the sale, lease, or other disposal of available 04 land or an interest in land is not legally binding on the state until the commissioner 05 approves the contract but if the appraised value is not greater than $50,000 in the case 06 of the sale of land or an interest in land, or $5,000 in the case of the annual rental of 07 land or interest in land, the director may execute the contract without the approval of 08 the commissioner; 09 (4) before [. BEFORE] a public hearing, if held, or in any case no less 10 than 21 days before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land, property, 11 resources, or interests in them, the director shall make available to the public a written 12 finding that, in accordance with (1) of this subsection, sets out the material facts and 13 applicable law upon which the determination that the sale, lease, or other disposal will 14 best serve the interests of the state was based; however, a [. A] written finding is not 15 required before the approval of 16 (A) [(1)] a contract for a negotiated sale authorized under 17 AS 38.05.115; 18 (B) [(2)] a lease of land for a shore fishery site under 19 AS 38.05.082; 20 (C) [(3)] a permit or other authorization revocable by the 21 commissioner; 22 (D) [(4)] a mineral claim located under AS 38.05.195; 23 (E) [(5)] a mineral lease issued under AS 38.05.205; 24 (F) [(6)] a production license issued under AS 38.05.207; 25 (G) [(7)] an exempt oil and gas sale under AS 38.05.180(d) of 26 acreage offered in a sale that was held within the previous five years if the sale 27 was subject to a written best interest finding, unless the commissioner 28 determines that new information has become available that justifies a revision 29 of the best interest finding; or 30 (H) [(8)] a lease sale under AS 38.05.180(w) of acreage offered 31 in a sale that was held within the previous five years if the sale was subject to
01 a best interest finding, unless the commissioner determines that new 02 information has become available that justifies a revision of the best interest 03 finding. 04 * Sec. 2. AS 38.05.035(g) is amended to read: 05 (g) When the director prepares a written finding required under (e) of this 06 section for an oil and gas lease sale scheduled under AS 38.05.180, the director shall 07 consider and discuss in the finding 08 (1) facts that are known to the director at the time of preparation of the 09 finding and that are 10 (A) material to [THE FOLLOWING MATTERS OR TO] issues 11 that were raised during the period allowed for receipt of public comment, 12 whether or not material to a matter set out in (B) of this paragraph, and 13 within the scope of the administrative review established by the director 14 under (e)(1) of this section; or 15 (B) material to the following matters: 16 (i) [; (A)] property descriptions and locations; 17 (ii) [(B)] the petroleum potential of the sale area, in 18 general terms; 19 (iii) [(C)] fish and wildlife species and their habitats 20 within [IN] the lease sale area; 21 (iv) [(D)] the current and projected uses in the area, 22 including uses and value of fish and wildlife; 23 (v) [(E)] the governmental powers to regulate oil and 24 gas exploration, development, production, and transportation; 25 (vi) [(F)] the reasonably foreseeable cumulative effects 26 of oil and gas exploration, development, production, and transportation 27 on the sale area, including effects on subsistence uses, fish and wildlife 28 habitat and populations and their uses, and historic and cultural 29 resources; 30 (vii) [(G)] lease stipulations and mitigation measures, 31 including any measures to prevent and mitigate releases of oil and
01 hazardous substances, to be included in the leases, and a discussion of 02 the protections offered by these measures; 03 (viii) [(H)] the method or methods most likely to be 04 used to transport oil or gas from the lease sale area, and the advantages, 05 disadvantages, and relative risks of each; 06 (ix) [(I)] the reasonably foreseeable fiscal effects of the 07 lease sale and the subsequent activity on the state and affected 08 municipalities and communities, including the explicit and implicit 09 subsidies associated with the lease sale, if any; 10 (x) [(J)] the reasonably foreseeable effects of oil and gas 11 exploration, development, production, and transportation on 12 municipalities and communities within or adjacent to the lease sale area; 13 and 14 (xi) [(K)] the bidding method or methods adopted by the 15 commissioner under AS 38.05.180; 16 (2) a summary of agency and public comments received and the 17 department's responses to those comments; and 18 (3) the basis for the director's determination that, on balance, leasing 19 the area would be in the state's best interest. 20 * Sec. 3. AS 46.40 is amended by adding a new section to read: 21 Sec. 46.40.094. CONSISTENCY DETERMINATIONS FOR USES AND 22 ACTIVITIES. (a) When a use or activity is authorized or developed in discrete 23 phases, and each phase will require decisions relating to a permit, lease, or 24 authorization for that particular phase, the agency responsible for the consistency 25 determination for the particular phase 26 (1) may, in its discretion, limit the consistency review to that particular 27 phase if, but only if, 28 (A) the agency or another state agency must carry out a 29 subsequent consistency review and make a consistency determination before a 30 later phase may proceed; and 31 (B) the agency responsible conditions its consistency
01 determination for that phase on a requirement that a use or activity authorized 02 in a subsequent phase be consistent with the Alaska coastal management 03 program; and 04 (2) shall, when the consistency review is limited under (1) of this 05 subsection, conduct the consistency review for the particular phase and make the 06 consistency determination based on 07 (A) applicable statutes and regulations; 08 (B) the facts pertaining to a use or activity proposed for that 09 phase that are 10 (i) known to the state agency responsible or made a part 11 of the record during the consistency review; and 12 (ii) material to the consistency determination; and 13 (C) the reasonably foreseeable, significant, direct effects of the 14 use or activity proposed for that phase. 15 (b) In this section, 16 (1) "agency responsible for the consistency determination" means 17 (A) the office of management and budget, for a consistency 18 determination required to be made under AS 44.19.145(a)(11); and 19 (B) the commissioner of the resource agency that coordinates 20 a consistency review for a proposed use or activity, or for a proposed phase of 21 a use or activity, when required by this chapter for which a permit, lease, or 22 authorization is required to be approved or issued only by that resource agency; 23 (2) "resource agency" has the meaning given in AS 44.19.152. 24 * Sec. 4. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).