04/07/1995 03:43 PM Senate RES

        HB 169 DEPT. NAT RES. IS LEAD AGENCY FOR MINING                       
                                                                              
 SENATOR LEMAN announced HB 169 to be up for consideration.                    
                                                                               
 ROD MOURANT, Legislative Aide to Representative Pete Kott, said               
 this is recommendation #5 of the Alaska Minerals Commission Report            
 1995.  It designates the Department of Natural Resources as the               
 coordinating lead agency in all regulatory matters relating to                
 mineral exploration, extraction, and development.                             
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR asked if he had reviewed his proposed amendment.               
 MR. MOURANT said that was correct and Representative Kott fully               
 supports the amendment.                                                       
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR moved to adopt amendment #1 and asked for unanimous            
 consent.                                                                      
                                                                               
 Number 413                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR LINCOLN objected so she could understand the bill better              
 and wanted to hear DNR's position on this.                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR LEMAN said he thought it meant that DNR would make the                
 final determination, but other departments would participate in the           
 decision.                                                                     
                                                                               
 JULES TILESTON, Director, Division of Mining, emphasized that they            
 like the uniform approach that HB 169 has, but their interpretation           
 of coordination, as it is currently being used in the Fort Knox and           
 the Illinois Creek, is not that they have authority to direct, but            
 that it is a cooperative effort between the applicant and all of              
 the permitting agencies including local governments and native                
 corporations.                                                                 
                                                                               
 He said that in their view, coordination did not mean that DNR                
 takes on the permitting or regulatory authorities of other                    
 entities.  On March 22 they suggested clarification language which            
 comes from the reclamation law which simply reads: "This chapter              
 does not alter or diminish the authority of another state agency or           
 state corporation, or the University of Alaska, or a municipality             
 under its laws or regulations."  This has worked without difficulty           
 and DNR does not seek to have final determination authority over              
 another agency's, or another government's, existing regulatory                
 authority over mining or mineral resource development activities.             
                                                                               
 SENATOR LEMAN asked him if that is how he interprets this                     
 amendment.  He answered that that is what he thought.                         
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR said he believed exactly the opposite of that.  The            
 buck has to stop someplace.  DNR should have the final authority              
 after consulting with those agencies and entities that should be              
 bringing that information to them. Giving complete veto power to              
 all the agencies forces people seeking permits to go through the              
 same process that the Kensington and the A-J are currently caught             
 up in right now.  He thought that the bill wouldn't really do                 
 anything different without the amendment.                                     
                                                                               
 MR. TILESTON said that right now there is no consistent approach to           
 mining and he viewed the bill, in any of the versions, as a message           
 that there needs to be a uniform approach which isn't currently               
 happening.  Under the amendment, in reality the commissioner of DNR           
 would be the one who would have to defend whatever issue affected             
 a mining venture.                                                             
                                                                               
 Number 287                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR LINCOLN said she appreciated Senator Taylor's comments, but           
 she objects to the amendment, because she thought they were going             
 from one extreme to another.  Giving DNR the final say on                     
 everything is too dangerous when they earlier made a change saying            
 "may advise."                                                                 
                                                                               
 SENATOR LEMAN said he tended to agree with Senator Taylor in that             
 there needed to be some ultimate point at which someone takes                 
 charge and he would fully expect that DNR would do that and would             
 not change things, like water quality standards, on its own.                  
                                                                               
 SENATOR LINCOLN maintained her objections.  The roll was taken as             
 follows:  Senators Lincoln and Hoffman voted no; Senators Leman               
 Pearce, Halford, and Taylor voted yes; and the amendment was                  
 adopted.                                                                      
                                                                               
 Number 221                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR moved CSSB 169 (RES) from committee with individual            
 recommendations.  There were no objections and it was so ordered.             
                                                                               
 SENATOR LINCOLN asked if DNR had looked at the fiscal note with the           
 new amendment.  SENATOR LEMAN indicated that would be taken care              
 of.