HB 131: "An Act relating to standards for forest resources and practices; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 131 01 "An Act relating to standards for forest resources and practices; and providing for an 02 effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 41.17.087(b) is amended to read: 05 (b) The commissioner shall adopt regulations that specify the standards under 06 which a variation will be granted for harvesting timber within the riparian area of 07 (1) a low gradient Type I-A [TYPE A] water body with a width of five 08 feet or less; and 09 (2) other appropriate water body types. 10 * Sec. 2. AS 41.17.116 is repealed and reenacted to read: 11 Sec. 41.17.116. Riparian standards for private land. (a) Private forest land 12 adjacent to the following types of waters and located in Region I is subject to the 13 riparian protection standards established in this subsection: 14 (1) along a Type I-A water body,
01 (A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break 02 of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with 03 slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; 04 and 05 (B) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of 06 the water body; 07 (2) along a Type I-B water body, 08 (A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break 09 of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with 10 slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; 11 and 12 (B) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 66 feet of 13 the water body or to the break of the slope, whichever area is smaller; 14 (3) along a Type I-C water body, 15 (A) operations within 100 feet of the water body or to the break 16 of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with 17 slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; 18 and 19 (B) the operator shall, where prudent, retain low value timber 20 within 25 feet of the water body or to the limit of the area described in (A) of 21 this paragraph, whichever area is greater, where the width of the water body is 22 (i) greater than 13 feet at the ordinary high water mark; 23 or 24 (ii) greater than eight feet at the ordinary high water 25 mark if the channel is incised; 26 (4) along a Type I-D water body, 27 (A) operations within 50 feet of the water body or to the break 28 of the slope, whichever area is smaller, shall be conducted in compliance with 29 slope stability standards established in regulations adopted under this chapter; 30 and 31 (B) the operator shall, where prudent, retain low value timber
01 within 25 feet of the water body or to the limit of the area described in (A) of 02 this paragraph, whichever area is greater, where the width of the water body is 03 (i) greater than 13 feet at the ordinary high water mark; 04 or 05 (ii) greater than eight feet at the ordinary high water 06 mark if the channel is incised. 07 (b) Private forest land adjacent to the following types of waters and located in 08 Region III is subject to the riparian protection standards established in this subsection: 09 (1) along a Type III-A water body, harvest of timber may not be 10 undertaken within 66 feet of the water body; 11 (2) along a Type III-B water body, harvest of timber may not be 12 undertaken within 33 feet of the water body; between 33 feet and 66 feet from the 13 water body, up to 50 percent of standing white spruce trees having at least a nine-inch 14 diameter at breast height may be harvested without requiring a variation; 15 (3) along a Type III-C water body, harvest of timber within 100 feet of 16 the water body must be located and designed primarily to protect fish habitat and 17 surface water quality as determined by the department with due deference to the 18 Department of Fish and Game. 19 (c) The commissioner shall adopt regulations for private land in Region II that 20 designate the areas that are subject to riparian protection standards, and the restrictions 21 on timber harvesting operations within those areas that are necessary for their 22 protection under the management goals established in AS 41.17.115. 23 (d) In this section, 24 (1) "low value timber" means timber that the owner or operator 25 determines, at the time of harvest, to be uneconomic to harvest and market; 26 (2) "prudent" means that the requirement can be met using reasonably 27 available means or technology, that complying with the requirement is not likely to 28 create significant impairment of the productivity of the land and water, and that the 29 cost of achieving the requirement is not out of proportion to the benefits that can 30 reasonably be expected to be achieved in the particular situation. 31 * Sec. 3. AS 41.17.118(a) is repealed and reenacted to read:
01 (a) The riparian standards for state land are as follows: 02 (1) on state forest land managed by the department that is located in 03 Region III, 04 (A) along a Type III-A water body, harvest of timber may not 05 be undertaken within 100 feet of the water body, except that between 66 feet 06 and 100 feet from the water body harvest of timber may be undertaken where 07 consistent with the maintenance of important fish and wildlife habitat as 08 determined by the department with the concurrence of the Department of Fish 09 and Game; 10 (B) along a Type III-B water body, harvest of timber may not 11 be undertaken within 50 feet of the water body; between 50 feet and 100 feet 12 from the water body, up to 50 percent of standing white spruce trees having at 13 least a nine-inch diameter at breast height may be harvested; 14 (C) along a Type III-C water body, harvest of timber within 15 100 feet of the water body must be consistent with the maintenance of 16 important fish and wildlife habitat as determined by the department with due 17 deference to the Department of Fish and Game. 18 (2) on state forest land managed by the department that is in Region I 19 or Region II, 20 (A) harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 100 feet 21 immediately adjacent to an anadromous or high value resident fish water body; 22 (B) between 100 and 300 feet from the water body, harvest of 23 timber may occur but must be consistent with the maintenance of important 24 fish and wildlife habitat as determined by the department with due deference to 25 the Department of Fish and Game. 26 * Sec. 4. AS 41.17.119 is repealed and reenacted to read: 27 Sec. 41.17.119. Minimum riparian standards for other public land. The 28 riparian standards for other public land are as follows: 29 (1) in Regions I and II, harvest of timber may not be undertaken within 30 100 feet of an anadromous or high value resident fish water body; 31 (2) in Region III, the standards are the same as for state land under
01 AS 41.17.118 and regulations adopted under this chapter. 02 * Sec. 5. AS 41.17.950(13) is amended to read: 03 (13) "riparian area" means 04 (A) the areas subject to riparian protection standards 05 [SPECIFIED] in AS 41.17.116(a) and (b) on private land in Regions I and III 06 [THE COASTAL FOREST OF SPRUCE OR HEMLOCK]; 07 (B) the areas subject to riparian protection standards 08 [SPECIFIED] in regulations adopted by the commissioner under 09 AS 41.17.116(c) [AS 41.17.116(b)] on private land in Region II [OUTSIDE 10 THE COASTAL FOREST OF SPRUCE OR HEMLOCK]; 11 (C) the area 100 feet from the shore or bank of [OR] an 12 anadromous or high value resident fish water body on state land managed by 13 the department and on other public land; 14 * Sec. 6. AS 41.17.950(19) is amended to read: 15 (19) "Type I-A [TYPE A] water body" means in Region I, an 16 anadromous water body that is 17 (A) a stream or river of any size having an average gradient of 18 eight percent or less, with banks held in place by vegetation, channels that are 19 not incised, and a substrate composed of rubble, gravel, sand, or silt; 20 (B) wetlands and lakes, including their outlets; [AND] 21 (C) an estuarine area delimited by the presence of salt-tolerant 22 vegetation; 23 * Sec. 7. AS 41.17.950(20) is amended to read: 24 (20) "Type I-B [TYPE B] water body" means in Region I, an 25 anadromous water body that does not meet the definition of a Type I-A [TYPE A] 26 water body; [AND] 27 * Sec. 8. AS 41.17.950(21) is amended to read: 28 (21) "Type I-C [TYPE C] water body" means in Region I, a water 29 body that is not anadromous, that is a tributary to a Type I-A [TYPE A] or Type I-B 30 [TYPE B] water body, and that has a gradient of 12 percent or less; 31 * Sec. 9. AS 41.17.950(22) is amended to read:
01 (22) "Type I-D [TYPE D] water body" means in Region I, a water 02 body that is not anadromous, that is tributary to a Type I-A [TYPE A] or Type I-B 03 [TYPE B] water body, and that has a gradient greater than 12 percent. 04 * Sec. 10. AS 41.17.950 is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 05 (23) "backwater slough" means a water body that 06 (A) has sluggish flow, is warm in summer, and is typically only 07 connected to the main stem or a side channel at one end of the water body; 08 (B) carries river current only under high water conditions; and 09 (C) may have only a seasonal connection to the main stem or 10 side channel; 11 (24) "glacial water body," as used in the phrases "glacial high value 12 resident fish water body" and "glacial anadromous water body," means a water body 13 that, under normal conditions, receives significant surface flow from a glacier; "glacial 14 water body" includes water bodies that receive a mix of glacial water and water from 15 other sources; 16 (25) "non-glacial water body," as used in the phrases "non-glacial high 17 value resident fish water body" and "non-glacial anadromous water body," means a 18 water body that, under normal conditions, does not receive significant surface flow 19 from a glacier; 20 (26) "ordinary high water mark" or "OHWM" means the mark along 21 the bank or shore up to which the presence and action of the tidal or nontidal water are 22 so common and usual, and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to leave a natural 23 line impressed on the bank or shore and indicated by erosion, shelving, changes in soil 24 characteristics, destruction of terrestrial vegetation, or other distinctive physical 25 characteristics; 26 (27) "Region I" means all land in Southeast Alaska, plus all land that is 27 south of the crest of the Chugach and St. Elias Mountains and east of a line running 28 from the crest of the Chugach Mountains to O'Malley Peak, then southerly to Gull 29 Rock, then southwesterly to the eastern junction of Skilak Lake Road and the Sterling 30 Highway, then southwesterly to the mouth of the Fox River, then southwesterly 31 through Kachemak Bay to Mt. Douglas, plus all land on the Alaska Peninsula between
01 Mt. Douglas and Cape Kumliun that is east of the crest of the Aleutian Range, plus all 02 islands in the Gulf of Alaska north of 56° 23" North latitude; 03 (28) "Region II" means all land in the state south of the Nutzotin and 04 Mentasta Mountains, south of the Alaska Range, and east of the Aleutian Range, 05 except for the area within Region I and peninsular and island land south of Cape 06 Kumliun; 07 (29) "Region III" means all land in the state outside of Regions I and 08 II; 09 (30) "Type III-A water body" means in Region III, a 10 (A) non-glacial high value resident fish water body greater than 11 three feet in width at the ordinary high water mark; 12 (B) non-glacial anadromous water body; or 13 (C) backwater slough; 14 (31) "Type III-B water body" means in Region III, a glacial high value 15 resident fish water body or a glacial anadromous water body; "Type III-B water body" 16 does not include glacial backwater sloughs; 17 (32) "Type III-C water body" means in Region III, a non-glacial high 18 value resident fish water body that is less than or equal to three feet in width at the 19 ordinary high water mark (OHWM) and that does not contain anadromous fish. 20 * Sec. 11. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 21 read: 22 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. (a) To the extent that the regulations are not 23 inconsistent with the language and purposes of this Act, regulations relating to forest 24 resources and practices adopted by the Department of Natural Resources under AS 41.17 and 25 in effect before the effective date of secs. 1 - 10 of this Act remain in effect and may be 26 administered and enforced by the Department of Natural Resources. 27 (b) Notwithstanding sec. 13 of this Act, the Department of Natural Resources may 28 proceed to adopt regulations to implement this Act. The regulations take effect under 29 AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of the statutory 30 change. 31 * Sec. 12. Section 11(b) of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).
01 * Sec. 13. Except as provided in sec. 12 of this Act, this Act takes effect September 1, 02 2001.