04/17/2017 01:00 PM House RESOURCES

           HB 218-STATE VETERINARIAN;ANIMALS;PRODUCTS                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:56:34 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR  announced that  the final  order of business  would                                                              
be  HOUSE   BILL  NO.   218,  "An  Act   relating  to   the  state                                                              
veterinarian and to animals and animal products."                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:56:40 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR,  prime  sponsor,  explained  that  HB  218  is  an                                                              
attempt  to  strengthen  agriculture opportunities  in  Alaska  by                                                              
moving  the  position  of  state  veterinarian  from  its  current                                                              
location  within  the  Department  of  Environmental  Conservation                                                              
(DEC)  to  the Division  of  Agriculture,  Department  of  Natural                                                              
Resources (DNR).   Many states  have a Department  of Agriculture,                                                              
she  said,  but Alaska  doesn't  and  instead  has a  Division  of                                                              
Agriculture.    Typically,  state veterinarians  are  housed  with                                                              
agriculture  because  of  the  close  relationship  to  inspecting                                                              
livestock  and supporting  agriculture.   She noted that  Alaska's                                                              
state veterinarian  has responsibilities related to  livestock and                                                              
agriculture  as  well as  for  illnesses, shellfish  testing,  and                                                              
environmental health testing.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR pointed  out  that  moving the  state  veterinarian                                                              
position  from DEC's  environmental  lab and  integrating it  into                                                              
the Division  of Agriculture  is not as  simple as is  outlined in                                                              
the bill.   Bringing  forth  the bill  is the first  phase of  the                                                              
idea of  moving the  position, she explained,  and the  next phase                                                              
is  working together  on the  necessary structural  changes to  be                                                              
included.    Current  statute  specifically  places  some  of  the                                                              
responsibilities  for  the  state   veterinarian  under  DEC,  and                                                              
Legislative  Legal  Services,  Legislative   Affairs  Agency,  has                                                              
advised  that this  needs  to be  resolved.   If  the position  is                                                              
moved,  she continued,  the  more complex  part  will be  deciding                                                              
whether  to  reclassify  some  of  the  support  staff  under  the                                                              
veterinarian   and    whether   to   reclassify    some   of   the                                                              
responsibilities.   It will be necessary to resolve  who is housed                                                              
where,  who  is  responsible  for   what,  and  whether  it  means                                                              
different  positions,   she  said,  so  there  is   reason  to  be                                                              
thoughtful  and  do it  right.    For example,  shellfish  testing                                                              
might  stay  with  the  environmental   health  lab  while  things                                                              
related  to  livestock and  typical  agriculture  responsibilities                                                              
would go over to the Division of Agriculture.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:00:07 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  BIRCH inquired whether  it would  be DEC's  or the                                                              
Division  of Agriculture's  responsibility should  avian flu  come                                                              
to Alaska,  given that avian flu  would be an issue of  health and                                                              
well-being of the population.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR  replied  that health-related  illness  testing  is                                                              
currently the  responsibility of DEC.   She deferred  the question                                                              
to DEC.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CHRISTINA CARPENTER,  Director, Division of  Environmental Health,                                                              
Department  of Environmental  Conservation  (DEC), responded  that                                                              
DEC  has authority  over  a disease  outbreak  in  animals and  in                                                              
domestic  poultry.    She  said her  division's  Food  Safety  and                                                              
Sanitation  Program  coordinates   that  effort  with  the  Alaska                                                              
Department  of  Fish  and  Game  (ADF&G) and  the  U.S.  Fish  and                                                              
Wildlife   Service   (USFWS),    Department   of   the   Interior.                                                              
Coordination  across agencies  and  programs  is required  because                                                              
avian flu  could spread from  a domestic  flock to wild  flocks or                                                              
to the human population.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR  remarked she  is glad for  the question  because it                                                              
shows the problem of overlapping jurisdiction.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
2:02:21 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER  asked which agency  would take care  of a                                                              
problem involving raw milk sickness.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR  answered  it  would  be  DEC.    She  invited  Ms.                                                              
Carpenter to present DEC's statement on the bill.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MS.  CARPENTER  said  DEC is  very  supportive  of  Representative                                                              
Tarr's efforts  to grow  the agricultural  industry in  Alaska and                                                              
looks forward  to working on this  with DNR and others  during the                                                              
interim.  She  pointed out the importance of  recognizing that the                                                              
agricultural  and fishing  industries  are dependent  on the  work                                                              
that the  state is performing  as part  of the larger  food safety                                                              
and animal  health team within  DEC.  She  said DEC is  willing to                                                              
work together  to try to find  the resources that the  Division of                                                              
Agriculture needs  to implement its plans to  grow the agriculture                                                              
industry   in    Alaska,   while   continuing   to    meet   DEC's                                                              
responsibilities and demands.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:03:39 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  RAUSCHER inquired  whether DEC  has a position  on                                                              
the raw milk bill.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
MS.  CARPENTER replied  that her  division is  looking forward  to                                                              
continuing  the conversations  with  the stakeholders  during  the                                                              
interim.   The existing cow share  program has seemed to  work for                                                              
the individuals  who want to obtain raw  milk.  If it  needs to be                                                              
revisited, the division can be part of those discussions.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:05:04 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ARTHUR  KEYES, director,  Division  of Agriculture,  DNR,  pointed                                                              
out  that   74  percent  of   the  departments  or   divisions  of                                                              
agriculture  throughout  the U.S.  are  organized  with the  state                                                              
veterinarian   under  the   purview   of   those  departments   of                                                              
agriculture.   If given  the opportunity  to  be like those  other                                                              
departments of agriculture,  a state veterinarian  in his division                                                              
would  be  focused  on  agriculture,   including  animal  imports,                                                              
certifications,  licenses,  and  problems  and issues  with  meat,                                                              
fiber, and  dairy production.   He  said the greatest  opportunity                                                              
would  be  education   and  outreach,  specifically   to  farmers,                                                              
because   the  opportunities   for  the   farmers  to  learn   are                                                              
tremendous.   There would  also be work  with consumers  and other                                                              
issues would be  opportunities with getting animals  to market and                                                              
quarantine authority.   A recent  issue, he noted, is  wild sheep,                                                              
which  is an odd  issue in  that the  farmers are  looking to  the                                                              
Division  of Agriculture  for help.   However,  he explained,  the                                                              
Division  of Agriculture is  the odd  man out  in that  it doesn't                                                              
have  a voice  in the  conversation  because it  doesn't have  the                                                              
authority since the state veterinarian is housed in DEC.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MR. KEYES  stated that the  industries of animal  care, nutrition,                                                              
poultry, and livestock  have been growing and many  younger people                                                              
are coming in.   For example, he continued,  the Matanuska-Susitna                                                              
Coop is  a dynamic organization  that is putting  locally produced                                                              
eggs on  the grocery shelves.   That tells  him that  the industry                                                              
is  growing  and  there is  tremendous  opportunity,  and  if  his                                                              
division  had  a  state veterinarian  like  other  departments  of                                                              
agriculture  his division  would  be there  helping this  industry                                                              
grow.    A  state  veterinarian  housed  within  the  Division  of                                                              
Agriculture,   he  said,   would   focus   on  strengthening   the                                                              
agriculture  businesses  in Alaska  and increasing  Alaska's  food                                                              
security.   Agriculture is growing,  he reiterated,  animal import                                                              
numbers are up,  and the opportunity for the  industry to continue                                                              
growing is there.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
2:08:54 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  RAUSCHER requested  Mr.  Keyes to  expound on  the                                                              
sheep and goat issue that was mentioned.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MR. KEYES  qualified that he  is not an  expert on this  issue and                                                              
the issue  is outside the purview  of his division.   He explained                                                              
that the Wild  Sheep Foundation has put Proposition  90 before the                                                              
[Board of  Game].  This proposition  would have the Board  of Game                                                              
remove sheep  and goats from the  "clean list," a de facto  way of                                                              
making  it  so  sheep  and goats  cannot  be  imported  and  would                                                              
require fencing  of these  animals that is  not economical  from a                                                              
production  standpoint.    The agriculture  community  views  this                                                              
proposition  as  very  unpalatable,  he  said,  because  it  would                                                              
damage the  producers that  have sheep and  goats in Alaska.   The                                                              
state  veterinarian  is the  one  who  makes  the decision  as  to                                                              
whether sheep and  goats are still a livestock animal  and a clean                                                              
animal  that can  still  be raised  in  Alaska.   The  agriculture                                                              
community is looking  at the Division of Agriculture  because they                                                              
are viewing  this as an agriculture  issue, he continued,  but the                                                              
division  is in  the  very strange  situation  of  not having  the                                                              
voice to make a decision in this regard.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
2:11:08 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked what the clean issue is about.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR.  KEYES  responded  that domesticated  sheep  and  goats  could                                                              
carry  disease that  wild sheep  and  goats don't  have and  don't                                                              
have immunity  to.   When a wild  sheep or  goat comes  in contact                                                              
with a domesticated  animal carrying the disease,  the disease can                                                              
be transmitted to  the wild animal.  He offered  his understanding                                                              
that the prevalence  of the disease of concern is  suspected to be                                                              
incredibly low, especially  in Alaska.  The argument  he has heard                                                              
is that  the concern is  being blown out  of proportion.   He said                                                              
he  further  understands that  the  Wild  Sheep Foundation  is  an                                                              
outside group that is developing chapters within Alaska.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  RAUSCHER  inquired  whether  there have  been  any                                                              
cases in Alaska of the disease that is being talked about.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MR. KEYES  deferred to the state  veterinarian for an  answer, but                                                              
said  his understanding  is that  there  have been  no cases  that                                                              
warrant this kind of concern.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:13:20 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  JOSEPHSON  recalled that  between  1815  and the  1820's                                                              
there were  problems throughout  the Midwest with  people becoming                                                              
sick and sometimes  dying from consumption of bad milk.   He asked                                                              
whether Mr. Keyes  knows what that was about and  whether it is no                                                              
longer a concern.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MR. KEYES replied he cannot speak to that.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  TARR  interjected  that  some  problems  with  milk  are                                                              
attributed  to problems with  cleanliness.   Even with  provisions                                                              
[in legislation],  there would still be  a need for someone  to do                                                              
inspections, she  said.  The  farmers must  be relied upon  to not                                                              
milk  from a cow  that has  any kind  of sickness.   While  Alaska                                                              
doesn't yet  have a huge dairy  industry, she continued,  it is an                                                              
industry that  people want to see  expanded for the  production of                                                              
milk  and  cheeses.    People  were  very  disappointed  when  the                                                              
Matanuska  creamery  went  out   of  business  because  it  was  a                                                              
reduction in the  industry rather than an expansion.   She posited                                                              
that the bill might be something that would improve things.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:15:24 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. KEYES stated  that DEC is currently  doing a lot of  work that                                                              
wouldn't be  appropriate to agriculture.   He said DEC  is doing a                                                              
tremendous  amount of  important  work for  the  state, but  DEC's                                                              
mission is different than that of the Division of Agriculture.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR TARR  responded that  if things  were to be  re-organized                                                              
then  there  would need  to  be  a sorting  out  of who  has  what                                                              
responsibilities.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
2:16:32 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JOHANNA HERRON,  development specialist, Division  of Agriculture,                                                              
DNR, in response  to Co-Chair Tarr, said the  farmers markets open                                                              
at various  time throughout the  state, but some start  toward the                                                              
end  of  May.    She said  the  division  would  make  a  schedule                                                              
available as soon  as the information is received  from the market                                                              
managers.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
[HB 218 was held over.]