SCS CSHB 388(RES): "An Act revising laws relating to oil and gas leasing as related to land previously the subject of a written best interest finding; amending provisions setting out exceptions to sales, leases, or other disposals for which a revised written best interest finding is not required; encouraging annual offer of land for oil and gas leases if the land was the subject of a best interest finding; and modifying the statement of purpose in the Alaska Land Act as it applies to oil and gas leasing to provide for annual lease sales."
00SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 388(RES) 01 "An Act revising laws relating to oil and gas leasing as related to land 02 previously the subject of a written best interest finding; amending provisions 03 setting out exceptions to sales, leases, or other disposals for which a revised 04 written best interest finding is not required; encouraging annual offer of land for 05 oil and gas leases if the land was the subject of a best interest finding; and 06 modifying the statement of purpose in the Alaska Land Act as it applies to oil 07 and gas leasing to provide for annual lease sales." 08 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 * Section 1. AS 38.05.035(e) is amended to read: 10 (e) Upon a written finding that the interests of the state will be best served, the 11 director may, with the consent of the commissioner, approve contracts for the sale, lease, 12 or other disposal of available land, resources, property, or interests in them. In [, AND, 13 IN] addition to the conditions and limitations imposed by law, the director may impose 14 additional conditions or limitations in the contracts as the director determines, with the
01 consent of the commissioner, will best serve the interests of the state. The preparation 02 and issuance of the written finding by the director is subject to the following: 03 (1) with the consent of the commissioner and subject to the director's 04 discretion, for a specific proposed disposal of available land, resources, or property, or 05 of an interest in them, the director, in the written finding, 06 (A) shall establish the scope of the administrative review on 07 which the director's determination is based, and the scope of the written finding 08 supporting that determination; the scope of the review and finding may address 09 only reasonably foreseeable, significant effects of the uses proposed to be 10 authorized by the disposal; 11 (B) may limit the scope of an administrative review and finding 12 for a proposed disposal to 13 (i) applicable statutes and regulations; 14 (ii) the facts pertaining to the land, resources, or property, 15 or interest in them, that the director finds are material to the 16 determination and that are known to the director or knowledge of which 17 is made available to the director during the administrative review; and 18 (iii) issues that, based on the statutes and regulations 19 referred to in (i) of this subparagraph, on the facts as described in (ii) of 20 this subparagraph, and on the nature of the uses sought to be authorized, 21 the director finds are material to the determination of whether the 22 proposed disposal will best serve the interests of the state; and 23 (C) may, if the project for which the proposed disposal is sought 24 is a multiphased development, limit the scope of an administrative review and 25 finding for the proposed disposal to the applicable statutes and regulations, facts, 26 and issues identified in (B)(i) - (iii) of this paragraph that pertain solely to a 27 discrete phase of the project when 28 (i) the only uses to be authorized by the proposed disposal 29 are part of that discrete phase; 30 (ii) the department's approval is required before the next 31 phase of the project may proceed; and
01 (iii) the department describes its reasons for a decision to 02 phase and conditions its approval to ensure that any additional uses or 03 activities proposed for that or any later phase of the project will serve the 04 best interests of the state; 05 (2) the director shall discuss in the written finding prepared and issued 06 under this subsection the reasons that each of the following was not material to the 07 director's determination that the interests of the state will be best served: 08 (A) facts pertaining to the land, resources, or property, or an 09 interest in them other than those that the director finds material under (1)(B)(ii) 10 of this subsection; and 11 (B) issues based on the statutes and regulations referred to in 12 (1)(B)(i) of this subsection and on the facts described in (1)(B)(ii) of this 13 subsection; 14 (3) a written finding for an oil and gas lease sale under AS 38.05.180 is 15 subject to (g) of this section; 16 (4) a contract for the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an 17 interest in land is not legally binding on the state until the commissioner approves the 18 contract but if the appraised value is not greater than $50,000 in the case of the sale of 19 land or an interest in land, or $5,000 in the case of the annual rental of land or interest 20 in land, the director may execute the contract without the approval of the commissioner; 21 (5) public notice requirements relating to the sale, lease, or other disposal 22 of available land or an interest in land for oil and gas proposed to be scheduled in the 23 five-year oil and gas leasing program under AS 38.05.180(b), except for a sale under 24 (6)(G) of this subsection, are as follows: 25 (A) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 26 180 days before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an interest 27 in land, the director shall make available to the public a preliminary written 28 finding that states the scope of the review established under (1)(A) of this 29 subsection and includes the applicable statutes and regulations, the material facts 30 and issues in accordance with (1)(B) of this subsection, and information required 31 by (g) of this section, upon which the determination that the sale, lease, or other
01 disposal will serve the best interests of the state will be based; the director shall 02 provide opportunity for public comment on the preliminary written finding for 03 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 (6) before a public hearing, if held, or in any case not less than 21 days 14 before the sale, lease, or other disposal of available land, property, resources, or interests 15 in them other than a sale, lease, or other disposal of available land or an interest in land 16 for oil and gas under (5) of this subsection, the director shall make available to the 17 public a written finding that, in accordance with (1) of this subsection, sets out the 18 material facts and applicable statutes and regulations and any other information required 19 by statute or regulation to be considered upon which the determination that the sale, 20 lease, or other disposal will best serve the interests of the state was based; however, a 21 written finding is not required before the approval of 22 (A) a contract for a negotiated sale authorized under 23 AS 38.05.115; 24 (B) a lease of land for a shore fishery site under AS 38.05.082; 25 (C) a permit or other authorization revocable by the 26 commissioner; 27 (D) a mineral claim located under AS 38.05.195; 28 (E) a mineral lease issued under AS 38.05.205; 29 (F) a production license issued under AS 38.05.207; or 30 (G) an exempt oil and gas lease sale under AS 38.05.180(d) of 31 acreage subject to a best interest finding issued [OFFERED IN A SALE
01 THAT WAS HELD] within the previous 10 [FIVE] years [IF THE SALE WAS 02 SUBJECT TO A WRITTEN BEST INTEREST FINDING, UNLESS THE 03 COMMISSIONER DETERMINES THAT NEW INFORMATION HAS 04 BECOME AVAILABLE THAT JUSTIFIES A REVISION OF THE BEST 05 INTEREST FINDING;] or 06 [(H)] a reoffer oil and gas lease sale under AS 38.05.180(w) of 07 acreage subject to a best interest finding issued [OFFERED IN A SALE 08 THAT WAS HELD] within the previous 10 [FIVE] years [IF THE SALE WAS 09 SUBJECT TO A BEST INTEREST FINDING], unless the commissioner 10 determines that substantial new information has become available that justifies 11 a supplement to [REVISION OF] the most recent best interest finding for the 12 exempt oil and gas lease sale acreage and for the reoffer oil and gas lease 13 sale acreage; however, for each oil and gas lease sale described in this 14 subparagraph, the director shall call for comments from the public; the 15 director's call for public comments must provide opportunity for public 16 comment for a period of not less than 30 days; if the director determines 17 that a supplement to the most recent best interest finding for the acreage is 18 required under this subparagraph, 19 (i) the director shall issue the supplement to the best 20 interest finding not later than 90 days before the sale; 21 (ii) not later than 45 days before the sale, the director 22 shall issue a notice describing the interests to be offered, the location 23 and time of the sale, and the terms and conditions of the sale; and 24 (iii) the supplement has the status of a final written 25 best interest finding for purposes of AS 38.05.035(i) and (l); 26 (7) the director shall include in 27 (A) a preliminary written finding, if required, a summary of 28 agency and public comments, if any, obtained as a result of contacts with other 29 agencies concerning a proposed disposal or as a result of informal efforts 30 undertaken by the department to solicit public response to a proposed disposal, 31 and the department's preliminary responses to those comments; and
01 (B) the final written finding a summary of agency and public 02 comments received and the department's responses to those comments. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 38.05.180(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) The legislature finds that 05 (1) the people of Alaska have an interest in the development of the 06 state's oil and gas resources to 07 (A) maximize the economic and physical recovery of the 08 resources; 09 (B) maximize competition among parties seeking to explore and 10 develop the resources; 11 (C) maximize use of Alaska's human resources in the 12 development of the resources; 13 (2) it is in the best interests of the state 14 (A) to encourage an assessment of its oil and gas resources and 15 to allow the maximum flexibility in the methods of issuing leases to 16 (i) [(A)] recognize the many varied geographical regions 17 of the state and the different costs of exploring for oil and gas in these 18 regions; 19 (ii) [(B)] minimize the adverse impact of exploration, 20 development, production, and transportation activity; and 21 (B) to offer acreage for oil and gas leases, specifically 22 including 23 (i) state acreage that has been the subject of a best 24 interest finding at annual areawide lease sales; and 25 (ii) land in areas that, under (d) of this section, may 26 be leased without having been included in the leasing program 27 prepared and submitted under (b) of this section. 28 * Sec. 3. AS 38.05.180(d) is amended to read: 29 (d) The commissioner 30 (1) may annually offer oil and gas leases of the acreage described 31 in AS 38.05.035(e)(6)(G);
01 (2) may issue oil and gas leases in an area that has not been included 02 in a leasing program submitted, in accordance with (b) of this section, to the legislature 03 if the land to be leased 04 (A) [(1)] was previously subject to a valid state or federal oil 05 and gas lease; 06 (B) [(2)] is contiguous to land already under state, federal or 07 private lease and the commissioner makes a written finding, after hearing, that 08 leasing of the land would result in a substantial probability of early evaluation 09 and development of the land to be leased; 10 (C) [(3)] is adjacent to land owned or controlled by another 11 party on which a discovery of commercial quantities of oil or gas has been 12 made, and the commissioner finds, after hearing, that there is a reasonable 13 probability that the land to be leased contains oil or gas in communication with 14 the oil or gas discovered on the land of the other party; 15 (D) [(4)] is adjacent to land included in the federal five-year 16 Outer Continental Shelf leasing program under 43 U.S.C. 1344, and the 17 commissioner makes a written finding, after hearing, that coordinated or 18 simultaneous leasing with the federal government is in the public interest; or 19 (E) [(5)] is the subject of an oil and gas exploration license 20 issued under AS 38.05.131 - 38.05.134. 21 * Sec. 4. AS 38.05.180(w) is amended to read: 22 (w) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, land that was subject 23 to a best interest finding issued within the previous 10 years [WHICH HAS BEEN 24 OFFERED FOR LEASE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS FIVE YEARS AND WHICH 25 RECEIVED NO BIDS AT COMPETITIVE SALE OR FOR WHICH NO BID WAS 26 ACCEPTED] may be, at the discretion of the commissioner, immediately offered for 27 lease, under regulations adopted by the commissioner, upon terms appearing most 28 advantageous to the state; however, noncompetitive leasing is prohibited. The 29 commissioner shall establish a royalty determined to be in the public interest but not less 30 than 12 1/2 percent. A lease must provide for payment to the state of rental but need 31 not adhere to the rental schedule in (n) of this section nor to the 5,760-acres-per-lease
01 limitation in (m) of this section. The lease term may not exceed 10 years, except as 02 provided in (o) of this section. 03 * Sec. 5. AS 38.05.945(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) This section establishes the requirements for notice given by the department 05 for the following actions: 06 (1) classification or reclassification of state land under AS 38.05.300 and 07 the closing of land to mineral leasing or entry under AS 38.05.185; 08 (2) zoning of land under applicable law; 09 (3) issuance of a 10 (A) preliminary written finding under AS 38.05.035(e)(5)(A) 11 regarding the sale, lease, or disposal of an interest in state land or resources for 12 oil and gas subject to AS 38.05.180(b); 13 (B) final written finding under AS 38.05.035(e)(5)(B) regarding 14 the sale, lease, or disposal of an interest in state land or resources for oil and gas 15 subject to AS 38.05.180(b); 16 (C) written finding for the sale, lease, or disposal of an interest 17 in state land or resources under AS 38.05.035(e)(6), except an oil or gas lease 18 sale described in AS 38.05.035(e)(6)(G) for which the director must provide 19 opportunity for public comment under the provisions of that subparagraph; 20 (4) a competitive disposal of an interest in state land or resources after 21 final decision under AS 38.05.035(e); 22 (5) a public hearing under AS 38.05.856(b); 23 (6) a preliminary finding under AS 38.05.035(e) and 38.05.855(c) 24 concerning sites for aquatic farms and related hatcheries; 25 (7) a decision under AS 38.05.132 - 38.05.134 regarding the sale, lease, 26 or disposal of an interest in state land or resources.