03/27/1997 03:35 PM Senate STA

                                                                               
                SB 42 ALASKA RR BUDGET AND LAND                              
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN GREEN  called the Senate State Affairs Committee to order           
 at 3:35 p.m. and brought up SB 42 as the first order of business              
 before the committee.                                                         
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE TERRY MARTIN , Vice Chairman of the Legislative               
 Budget & Audit Committee, said SB 42 was introduced on behalf of              
 that committee.  He explained the legislation will put the Alaska             
 Railroad under the Executive Budget Act, which will give the                  
 Legislature more oversight over the corporation.  The legislation             
 will also transfer land not needed for rail operations to the                 
 Department of Natural Resources.                                              
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN GREEN  directed attention to a proposed State Affairs CS,           
 which she said splits out the land portion contained in the                   
 original bill.   REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN  added that the land issue is          
 going to take a lot of time, and the Senate Resources Chair wants             
 to specifically work on that issue, so removing the land provision            
 eases that problem.                                                           
                                                                               
  SENATOR WARD  moved the adoption of CSSB 42(STA).  Hearing no                
 objection, it was so ordered.                                                 
                                                                               
 Number 100                                                                    
                                                                               
  BILL CUMMINGS , an assistant attorney general in the Department of           
 Law, agreed that separating the Executive Budget portion from the             
 land portion of the bill is a good idea because the land's portion            
 is a lot more complicated due to the environmental liabilities                
 that attach to it.  He advised that The Department of Law has been            
 working with the Department of Environmental Conservation and they            
 have come up with approximately 40 very polluted sites that are on            
 railroad land.  The way the bill was originally written the title             
 would vest to that land immediately in the state of Alaska upon the           
 effective date of the bill.  By vesting title, it opens the state             
 treasury to claims for cleaning up the pollution.  Right now the              
 claims are born strictly by the railroad and the railroad's revenue           
 stream.                                                                       
                                                                               
 Mr. Cummings related that the department believes that if the land            
 portion were to be left in with the Executive Budget portion of the           
 bill, it would necessitate the hiring of three more lawyers to                
 handle the environmental litigation.  He added that there are ways            
 to deal with transferring the land to the state where the state               
 would not be liable for cleaning up the sites.                                
                                                                               
 Number 170                                                                    
                                                                               
 There being no further testimony on CSSB 42(STA), CHAIRMAN GREEN              
 stated she would entertain a motion.                                          
                                                                               
  SENATOR WARD  moved CSSB 42(STA) and the accompanying fiscal notes           
 be passed out of committee with individual recommendations.                   
 Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.