03/21/2002 01:37 PM Senate L&C

           SB 317-NAT'L FOREST INCOME AND REGS OF DCED                                                                      
                                                                                                                              
CHAIRMAN BEN STEVENS called the Senate  Labor & Commerce Committee                                                            
meeting to  order at 1:37 p.m. and  announced SB 317 to  be up for                                                              
consideration.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR TAYLOR, sponsor of SB 317,  said that Senators Larry Craig                                                              
from Idaho  and Ron  Wyden from Oregon  introduced legislation  in                                                              
Congress  a   few  years  ago   that  Southeast   Alaska  strongly                                                              
supported.  They passed a  bill that  basically provided  that for                                                              
each of the  communities impacted by the Forest  Receipts Program,                                                              
which  was  a bill  passed  in  the  early  part of  this  century                                                              
providing  that  25% of  all  receipts  that  came into  the  U.S.                                                              
government from  the sale of timber  on national forests  would be                                                              
conveyed back to the counties and  in our instances, the boroughs,                                                              
who  are  affected  by those  forest  receipts,  basically,  those                                                              
proceeds were to  go towards education or roads  with the decision                                                              
being  made  by  the local  counties  and  boroughs.  The  Clinton                                                              
administration  cancelled the long-term  timber sale  contracts on                                                              
the Tongass and  our communities were suddenly  not receiving very                                                              
much money off of timber receipts. No timber was being sold.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
To  correct  that  problem,  communities   dependent  upon  forest                                                              
receipts for their schools and their  roads were going broke. That                                                              
is  why  Senators  Wyden and  Craig  introduced  legislation  that                                                              
basically said  that whatever  your highest  and best three  years                                                              
were of forest receipts, the federal  government would pay that to                                                              
the counties  and boroughs for a  period of seven years.  When the                                                              
legislation  passed, Alaska actually  got 85%  of the highest  and                                                              
best three  year average. Fifteen  percent was given over  so that                                                              
environmental  concerns  could be  addressed.  He  noted that  the                                                              
Forest Service  is still  trying to figure  out how to  spend that                                                              
15% here.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR TAYLOR  said the  only reason  this legislation  is before                                                              
them is that the Department of Community  and Economic Development                                                              
did not have  sufficient statutory authority to  actually make the                                                              
conveyance of the money. "This bill  is nothing more than clean up                                                              
language  that  will  enable  the   Department  of  Community  and                                                              
Economic Development to disburse these timber receipts."                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SB 317  gives the  department the  authority to adopt  regulations                                                              
necessary to  implement the  revised federal  program in  a manner                                                              
consistent with  federal law. It also provides  general regulation                                                              
adoption authority  for the department to carry  out its statutory                                                              
functions  created  by the  merger  of  the former  Department  of                                                              
Commerce  and Economic  Development and  the former Department  of                                                              
Community and Regional Affairs.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  AUSTERMAN  moved  to  pass SB  317  from  committee  with                                                              
individual recommendations  with the  attached fiscal  note. There                                                              
were no objections and it was so ordered.