Enrolled SB 88: Relating to standards for forest resources and practices; and providing for an effective date.
00Enrolled SB 88 01 Relating to standards for forest resources and practices; and providing for an effective date. 02 _______________ 03 * Section 1. AS 41.17.087(b) is amended to read: 04 (b) The state forester shall adopt regulations that specify the standards under 05 which a variation will be granted for harvesting timber within the riparian area of 06 (1) a low gradient Type I-A [A] water body with a width of five feet or 07 less; and 08 (2) other appropriate water body types. 09 * Sec. 2. AS 41.17.116 is repealed and reenacted to read: 10 Sec. 41.17.116. Riparian standards for private land. (a) Private forest land 11 adjacent to the following types of waters and located in Region I is subject to the 12 riparian protection standards established in this subsection: 13 (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 state forester with due deference to the 18 deputy commissioner. 19 (c) The state forester 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 state forester with the concurrence of the deputy 09 commissioner; 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 state forester with due 17 deference to the deputy commissioner; 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 state forester with due deference 25 to the deputy commissioner. 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 state forester 09 [COMMISSIONER] under AS 41.17.116(c) [AS 41.17.116(b)] on private land 10 in Region II [OUTSIDE THE COASTAL FOREST OF SPRUCE OR 11 HEMLOCK]; 12 (C) the area 100 feet from the shore or bank of an anadromous 13 or high value resident fish water body on state land managed by the department 14 and on other public land; 15 * Sec. 6. AS 41.17.950(19) is amended to read: 16 (19) "Type I-A [A] water body" means, in Region I, an anadromous 17 water body that [IS] 18 (A) is a stream or river of any size having an average gradient 19 of eight percent or less, with banks held in place by vegetation, channels that 20 are not incised, and a substrate composed of rubble, gravel, sand, or silt; 21 (B) consists of wetlands and lakes, including their outlets; and 22 (C) is an estuarine area delimited by the presence of salt- 23 tolerant vegetation; 24 * Sec. 7. AS 41.17.950(20) is amended to read: 25 (20) "Type I-B [B] water body" means, in Region I, an anadromous 26 water body that does not meet the definition of a Type I-A [A] water body; [AND] 27 * Sec. 8. AS 41.17.950(21) is amended to read: 28 (21) "Type I-C [C] water body" means, in Region I, a water body that 29 is not anadromous, that is a tributary to a Type I-A [A] or Type I-B [B] water body, 30 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 [D] water body" means, in Region I, a water body that 02 is not anadromous, that is tributary to a Type I-A [A] or Type I-B [B] water body, and 03 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," with respect to a water body, as used in the phrases 12 "glacial high value resident fish water body" and "glacial anadromous water body," 13 means that, under normal conditions, a water body receives significant surface flow 14 from a glacier; "glacial," with respect to a water body, includes a water body that 15 receives a mix of glacial water and water from other sources; 16 (25) "nonglacial," with respect to a water body, as used in the phrases 17 "nonglacial high value resident fish water body" and "nonglacial anadromous water 18 body," means that, under normal conditions, a water body does not receive significant 19 surface flow from a glacier; 20 (26) "ordinary high water mark" means the mark along the bank or 21 shore up to which the presence and action of the tidal or nontidal water are so common 22 and usual, and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to leave a natural line 23 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 Mountains and Saint Elias Mountains and east of a 28 line running from the crest of the Chugach Mountains to O'Malley Peak, then 29 southerly to Gull Rock, then southwesterly to the eastern junction of Skilak Lake Road 30 and the Sterling Highway, then southwesterly to the mouth of the Fox River, then 31 southwesterly through Kachemak Bay to Mt. Douglas, plus all land on the Alaska
01 Peninsula between Mt. Douglas and Cape Kumliun that is east of the crest of the 02 Aleutian Range, plus all islands in the Gulf of Alaska north of 56 degrees 23 minutes 03 North latitude; 04 (28) "Region II" means all land in the state south of the Nutzotin 05 Mountains and Mentasta Mountains, south of the Alaska Range, and east of the 06 Aleutian Range, except for the area within Region I and peninsular and island land 07 south of Cape Kumliun; 08 (29) "Region III" means all land in the state outside of Regions I and 09 II; 10 (30) "Type III-A water body" means, in Region III, a 11 (A) nonglacial high value resident fish water body greater than 12 three feet in width at the ordinary high water mark; 13 (B) nonglacial anadromous water body; or 14 (C) backwater slough; 15 (31) "Type III-B water body" means, in Region III, a glacial high value 16 resident fish water body or a glacial anadromous water body; "Type III-B water body" 17 does not include a glacial backwater slough; 18 (32) "Type III-C water body" means, in Region III, a nonglacial high 19 value resident fish water body that is less than or equal to three feet in width at the 20 ordinary high water mark and that does not contain anadromous fish. 21 * Sec. 11. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 22 read: 23 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. (a) To the extent that the regulations are not 24 inconsistent with the language and purposes of this Act, regulations relating to forest 25 resources and practices adopted by the Department of Natural Resources under AS 41.17 and 26 in effect before the effective date of secs. 1 - 10 of this Act remain in effect and may be 27 administered and enforced by the Department of Natural Resources. 28 (b) Notwithstanding sec. 13 of this Act, the Department of Natural Resources may 29 proceed to adopt regulations to implement this Act. The regulations take effect under 30 AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of the statutory 31 change.
01 * Sec. 12. Section 11(b) of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 02 * Sec. 13. Except as provided in sec. 12 of this Act, this Act takes effect September 1, 03 2003.