02/04/2016 01:00 PM House TRANSPORTATION

        HCR 17-SUPPORT AVIATION INDUSTRY; USE STATE LAND                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:49:06 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR FOSTER announced that the  final order of business would                                                               
be HOUSE  CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.  17, Supporting  the aviation                                                               
industry;  and  urging  the governor  to  make  state-owned  land                                                               
available  to the  unmanned aircraft  systems (UAS)  industry for                                                               
the  management  and  operation  of  UAS  and  related  research,                                                               
manufacturing, testing, and training.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
2:49:40 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK  moved to adopt Amendment  1 [not labeled],                                                               
which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Page 1, Line 13:                                                                                                           
     Remove: "aviation"                                                                                                         
     Insert: "unmanned aircraft systems"                                                                                        
       Whereas the state anticipates 173 new jobs in the                                                                        
     aviation unmanned aircraft systems industry...                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     Page 1, Line 15:                                                                                                           
     Remove: "aviation"                                                                                                         
     Insert: "unmanned aircraft systems"                                                                                        
        Jobs indirectly created by the aviation unmanned                                                                  
     aircraft systems that...                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2, Line 1:                                                                                                            
     Insert at end of the paragraph:                                                                                            
     Related   earnings   into   the  state's   economy   as                                                                
     identified  in  the  May  2013  McDowell  Group  report                                                                
     prepared for  the Alaska  Center for  Unmanned Aircraft                                                                
     Systems Integration, University of Alaska Fairbanks.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:50:06 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR FOSTER objected for the purpose of discussion.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:50:15 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
GINGER  BLAISDELL, Staff,  Representative Shelley  Hughes, Alaska                                                               
State Legislature, Member,  Unmanned Aircraft Systems Legislative                                                               
Task Force, stated  that Amendment 1 has three  parts designed to                                                               
add some  clarification and was  brought to the attention  of the                                                               
committee  by  Representative  Claman.   She  stated  that  under                                                               
Amendment 1,  on page 1,  line 13,  the word "aviation"  would be                                                               
removed and  replaced with  "unmanned aircraft  systems", because                                                               
the  information provided  is  specific to  UAS  rather than  the                                                               
entire aviation industry.  She  stated that the same change would                                                               
be made  on page 1,  line 15.   She said on  page 2, line  1, the                                                               
change references  the source  of the information  as a  May 2013                                                               
McDowell  Group  report  prepared   for  the  Alaska  Center  for                                                               
Unmanned  Aircraft  Systems  Integration  at  the  University  of                                                               
Alaska Fairbanks,  as part of  an application  to be an  FAA test                                                               
site.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
2:51:36 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR FOSTER  removed his objection.   There being  no further                                                               
objection, Amendment 1 was adopted.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
2:51:52 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK  moved to adopt Amendment  2 [not labeled],                                                               
which read as follows [original punctuation provided]:                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     Page 2 ADD a new section following line 26:                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     COPIES  of  this  resolution  shall   be  sent  to  the                                                                    
     Honorable  Michael  P. Huerta,  Administrator,  Federal                                                                    
     Aviation   Administration;   Honorable   Bill   Walker,                                                                    
     Governor of  Alaska; Commissioners of all  Alaska State                                                                    
     Departments;   Executive   Directors   of   all   State                                                                    
     Corporations;  and  Brian  Wynne,  President  and  CEO,                                                                    
     Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:51:59 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR FOSTER objected for the purpose of discussion.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:52:05 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MS. BLAISDELL  stated that Amendment  2 adds a new  section, with                                                               
language identifying where  copies of HCR 17 are  to be provided.                                                               
She said  all state departments  are being encouraged to  look at                                                               
their   land  holdings   to  determine   whether  a   contractual                                                               
arrangement could be  made.  She indicated that  giving copies of                                                               
the concurrent  resolution to those  on the list would  serve the                                                               
purpose of publicizing that Alaska is open for business.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
2:52:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   NAGEAK  sought   clarification  regarding   what                                                               
qualifies as a state corporation.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
MS. BLAISDELL responded  that the intention is  to distribute the                                                               
proposed resolution  to all executive  directors of all  State of                                                               
Alaska  corporations, such  as the  Alaska Railroad  Corporation,                                                               
the  Alaska Housing  Finance Corporation,  and the  Alaska Mental                                                               
Health Trust.   All of the named entities have  land holdings and                                                               
may be interested in allowing  commercial UAS access.  She stated                                                               
that sending  a copy of  HCR 17  to all state  corporations would                                                               
involve distributing an extraordinary  number of copies, and many                                                               
corporations  would have  no involvement  with the  UAS industry.                                                               
She explained that specific UAS  companies are not listed because                                                               
not all  of them are known  to the [UAS Legislative  Task Force].                                                               
Alaska is trying  to attract business from both the  Lower 48 and                                                               
overseas, and  some of these  potential investors wish  to remain                                                               
anonymous.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK stated that  Amendment 2 should be reworded                                                               
to read "State of Alaska corporations."                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:55:35 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  FOSTER asked  if Representative  Nageak was  offering a                                                               
conceptual amendment to Amendment 2.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
2:55:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK replied yes.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
[The committee treated  Conceptual Amendment 1 to  Amendment 2 as                                                               
moved for adoption.]                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
2:55:53 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR HUGHES  offered that since  HCR 17  does not need  to be                                                               
distributed  to every  State of  Alaska corporation,  perhaps the                                                               
conceptual  amendment  to  the   amendment  should  be  rephrased                                                               
"relevant State of Alaska corporations."                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MS. BLAISDELL stated that she would  prefer to send HCR 17 to all                                                               
State of  Alaska corporations, because  she was not sure  who she                                                               
would specifically exclude.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE NAGEAK agreed with Ms. Blaisdell's assessment.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:56:34 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR FOSTER asked  if there was consensus  from the committee                                                               
for adopting Conceptual Amendment 1 to Amendment 2.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR HUGHES  stated that  as the sponsor,  she would  be fine                                                               
with the Conceptual Amendment.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
2:57:01 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  CLAMAN  offered  that  Amendment  2  should  read                                                               
"following line 28" versus "following line 26."                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
2:57:28 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR HUGHES clarified that "after  line 26" is correct, owing                                                               
to the work draft which, although not adopted, was provided.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR FOSTER requested clarification.                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MS. BLAISDELL explained that  under proposed Conceptual Amendment                                                               
1 to Amendment  2, the copies of the resolution  would be sent to                                                               
"State of Alaska Corporations".                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
[The committee treated  Conceptual Amendment 1 to  Amendment 2 as                                                               
adopted.]                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:58:42 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  FOSTER removed  his objection  to the  motion to  adopt                                                               
Amendment  2,   as  amended,  and  with   no  further  objection,                                                               
Amendment 2 was adopted.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
2:59:16 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES moved to report  HCR 17, as amended, out of                                                               
committee  with individual  recommendations and  the accompanying                                                               
fiscal  notes.   There  being  no  objection, CSHCR  17(TRA)  was                                                               
reported from the House Transportation Standing Committee.