HB 119: "An Act relating to the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 119 01 "An Act relating to the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve; and providing for an effective 02 date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 38.05.142 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 38.05.142. Legislative approval required for certain large-scale mines. 06 (a) In addition to permits and authorizations otherwise required by law, a final 07 authorization must be obtained from the legislature for a large-scale metallic sulfide 08 mining operation located within the watershed of the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve 09 designated in AS 38.05.140(f). This authorization shall take the form of a duly enacted 10 law finding that the proposed large-scale metallic sulfide mining operation will not 11 constitute danger to the fisheries [FISHERY] within the Bristol Bay Fisheries 12 Reserve. 13 (b) The commissioner shall [MAY] adopt regulations under AS 44.62 to 14 implement this section.
01 (c) In this section, 02 (1) "fisheries" means subsistence, personal use, sport, or 03 commercial fisheries as those fisheries are defined in AS 16.05.940; 04 (2) "large-scale metallic sulfide mining operation" means a specific 05 mining proposal to extract metals, including gold and copper, from sulfide-bearing 06 rock and that would directly disturb 640 or more acres of land; 07 (3) "permits and authorizations" means permits, decisions, 08 amendments to permits or decisions, extensions, renewals, compliance orders by 09 consent, or authorizations necessary for or related to a large-scale metallic sulfide 10 mining operation within the watershed of the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve, 11 including one that approves a dam, plan of operation, bond, or reclamation plan 12 related to the large-scale metallic sulfide mining operation. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 38.05.142 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 14 (d) Before a final authorization may be obtained from the legislature for a 15 large-scale metallic sulfide mining operation located within the watershed of the 16 Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve, 17 (1) the commissioner, the commissioner of fish and game, and the 18 commissioner of environmental conservation must each make an independent finding 19 that an applicant has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that a large-scale metallic 20 sulfide mining operation located within the watershed of the Bristol Bay Fisheries 21 Reserve will not constitute a danger to the fisheries; 22 (2) the commissioner must submit a report to the legislature that 23 contains the three independent determinations made by the commissioner, the 24 commissioner of fish and game, and the commissioner of environmental conservation 25 under this subsection; and 26 (3) any judicial review of permits and authorizations must be 27 completed. 28 (e) If, after an applicant receives final authorization under (a) of this section, 29 the applicant receives a permit or authorization that is significantly different than one 30 previously granted to the applicant, the large-scale metallic sulfide mining operation 31 may not be undertaken until the commissioner, the commissioner of fish and game,
01 and the commissioner of environmental conservation each make a revised independent 02 determination that an applicant has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that a large- 03 scale metallic sulfide mining operation located within the watershed of the Bristol Bay 04 Fisheries Reserve will not constitute a danger to the fisheries. The commissioner shall 05 submit a revised report to the legislature regarding the three revised independent 06 determinations. 07 (f) The commissioner shall deliver a report or revised report under (d) or (e) of 08 this section to the senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of representatives 09 and notify the legislature that the report is available. The commissioner shall 10 (1) prepare the report or revise a report using an interagency public 11 process, in cooperation with the commissioners of fish and game and environmental 12 conservation; 13 (2) provide an opportunity for public comment before the report or 14 revised report is submitted to the legislature; and 15 (3) subject the report to peer review. 16 (g) The commissioner shall inform the governor, the president of the senate, 17 and the speaker of the house of representatives of any incident that may create a 18 danger to the fisheries within the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve. 19 * Sec. 3. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).