2003-03-12                     Senate Journal                      Page 0474
Dear President Therriault:                                                                          
                                                                                                    
Under the authority of art. III, sec. 18, of the Alaska Constitution, I am                          
transmitting a bill to reform and streamline the Alaska Coastal                                     
Management Program (ACMP). This legislation is premised upon the                                    
statutory changes contained in Executive Order 106, which I presented                               
to you on February 12, 2003. Executive Order 106 would transfer                                     
responsibility for the ACMP program from the division of                                            
governmental coordination in the office of management and budget to                                 
the Department of Natural Resources.                                                                
                                                                                                    
The Alaska Coastal Management Program was first enacted in 1977 in                                  
order to participate in the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of                                  
1972. The federal program is voluntary, and encourages states to adopt                              
coastal programs by providing federal funds and the opportunity for                                 
federal consistency review. Federal consistency review enables the                                  
state to apply its authorities to projects located on federal land and the                          
federal outer continental shelf where otherwise it would be preempted                               
by federal law.                                                                                     
                                                                                                    
The goal of this legislation is to create a new coastal management                                  
program that retains the benefits of the federal act but eliminates the                             
duplication and complexity built into the present ACMP. This bill                                   
would achieve this goal by choosing the simplest of the three                                       
management techniques allowed by the federal act. The bill provides                                 
certainty and predictability to the ACMP process by clarifying the                                  
standards and responsibilities for program implementation.                                          
                                                                                                    
The central streamlining concept of the bill is the reliance on existing                            
state statutes and regulations as the enforceable policies of the ACMP.                             
The current duplicative consistency review process in AS 46.40.096                                  
and 6 AAC 50 is eliminated by simply relying on the issuance of                                     
current state permits by the resource agencies as the means of                                      
determining whether an activity is consistent with the ACMP.                                        
                                                                                                    
The bill would eliminate district coastal management enforceable                                    
policies but retains a local role in three ways. First, AS 29                                       
municipalities would retain their existing land use authorities to                                  
regulate private activity within their jurisdiction. Second, the bill                               
authorizes the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), as the