Legislature(2023 - 2024)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/01/2024 01:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB161 | |
| SJR13 | |
| Presentation(s): Alaska Broadband Update | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 161 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | SJR 13 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SJR 13-AMEND ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT
1:49:53 PM
CHAIR DUNBAR reconvened the meeting and announced the
consideration of SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 13 Encouraging the
United States Congress and the President of the United States to
pass and sign legislation amending the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act to release certain land held in trust back to
affected Alaska Native village corporations.
1:50:23 PM
ARIELLE WIGGIN, Staff, Senator Forrest Dunbar, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, introduced SJR 13 on behalf of the
sponsor, stating this resolution recognizes a long-standing
issue and challenge for many communities across Alaska. With the
passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA),
several villages conveyed land to the State to be held in trust.
The expectation was that those lands would revert to villages as
they organized and assumed the responsibilities of municipal
governments. The State continues to hold these lands in trust,
and it has affected the ability of certain regions to develop.
Federal action is needed, and Alaska's congressional delegation
has proposed legislation to address this issue. SJR 13 supports
this legislation. She said that the invited testifiers will
provide more details on ANCSA and the federal legislation.
1:51:47 PM
CHAIR DUNBAR announced Mr. Mallot as an invited testifier.
1:52:08 PM
BEN MALLOT, Vice President, External Affairs, Alaska Federation
of Natives (AFN), Anchorage, Alaska, gave a brief history of
AFN. He said AFN membership includes 179 federally recognized
tribes, 154 village corporations, nine regional corporations,
and ten regional nonprofits. He said AFN supports SJR 13.
MR. MALLOT said that sec. 14(c)(3) of ANCSA required every
Alaska Native village corporation to convey a portion of the
lands it received in case a municipality or city was formed
around its community. He believed that only eight ANCSA villages
have been approved for municipalities.
MR. MALLOT said that AFN passed resolution 23-17 in 2023. This
resolution urges federal action to sunset the ANCSA 14(c)(3)
provision and restore Alaska Native Corporation (ANC) lands that
the State holds in the Municipal Land Trust (MLT) program. He
emphasized that SJR 13 has enormous support from 179 federally
recognized tribes, 154 village corporations, nine regional
corporations, and ten regional nonprofits.
1:54:22 PM
MR. MALLOT said Congress introduced two bills this Congress:
S.2615 and H.R.6489, titled the Alaska Native Village Municipal
Lands Restoration Act of 2023. He said these pieces of federal
legislation essentially sunset the ANCSA 14(c)(3) provision
enacted over 50 years ago. He expressed appreciation that SJR 13
encourages passage of this federal legislation and the
restoration of land back to Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs).
MR. MALLOT said MLT managed lands has created problems for many
ANCs as the it has been underfunded and overtasked for many
years. He said that AFN believes that restoring MLT held lands
would allow communities to make informed decisions about how to
best utilize their lands and resources.
MR. MALLOT said that AFN has supported this type of
congressional legislation for many sessions. He thanked the
chair and the governor for supporting the restoration of ANC
lands. The collaboration between the Native communities and the
State demonstrates to Congress that all parties are aligned.
This was a major hurdle to overcome and a step forward.
1:58:01 PM
SENATOR OLSON asked if any Native village corporations are
opposed to SJR 13.
MR. MALLOT replied that he has not heard of any that oppose the
sunset of ANCSA 14(c)(3). He pointed out that AFN passed this
resolution unanimously at its convention.
1:58:51 PM
SENATOR OLSON asked whether any cities that surround these lands
are in opposition.
MR. MALLOT replied there have been concerns surrounding conveyed
lands that are now cities. He expressed his belief that the work
of AFN and the Alaska delegation to sunset the ANCSA 14(c)(3)
provision and restore lands held by MLT is the first step in
addressing how to make these communities whole. A provision asks
for a resolution from the community, usually the village, so
both the village and tribe have opportunities to determine the
best use for the land. There are many details to consider, and
further steps may be needed to fully address the concerns of
communities that have already conveyed their land.
2:00:28 PM
GREGG RENKES, Senior Vice President, Government Relations,
Chenega Corporation, Washington, D.C., gave a brief over of the
Chenega Corporation, stating he serves as an alternate on the
Board of Directors for the Alaska Native Village Corporation
Association (ANVCA). ANVCA and its 176-member village
corporations uniformly support this legislation. Chenega
Corporation is an Alaska Native village corporation formed under
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). Chenega village
is located on Evans Island in Prince William Sound, about 65
miles from Whittier.
MR. RENKES stated that U.S. Senators Murkowski and Sullivan and
U.S. Representative Peltola introduced legislation in Congress.
This legislation garnered the support of the governor, the
Alaska Federation of Natives, and the Alaska Native Village
Corporation Association. He said that the legislature's support,
embodied in the passage of SJR 13, will help boost this
important federal legislation over the goal line.
MR. RENKES gave a brief update on the status of the
congressional legislation. He stated that the Senate bill,
S. 2615, had a hearing and was favorably reported out of the
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on December 14.
The House bill still needs to attract the interest of the House
Natural Resources Committee and receive a hearing date. The
Alaska legislatures support and governors support of SJR 13
will help Alaska's congressional delegation push this process
along. He said the hope is to see federal legislation become law
by the end of the 118th Congress.
2:02:38 PM
MR. RENKES said that the federal legislation addresses a loose
end left behind by ANCSA. He stated that no legislation is
perfect, and ANCSA has been amended many times over the last 50
years to improve its impact and address unintended consequences.
This is one of those cases where unintended consequences of the
Act, only visible with the passage of time, need to be
addressed. Section 14(c)(3) of ANCSA required every Native
village corporation formed under the Act to turn a portion of
the lands it received over to the State of Alaska to be held in
trust for the eventual creation of a municipal government. Many
village corporations, but less than half, turned land over to
the State as required, and in a few cases, that land became
municipal lands when municipalities were formed.
MR. RENKES said that in the vast majority of villages, the land
is still being managed, in apparent perpetuity, by the State
Municipal Land Trust. Decades after the passage of ANCSA and
many years after these village corporations turned over land, no
municipalities have been formed, and none are in sight. The
State has administered this federal program for nearly 50 years,
and only eight ANCSA villages formed a new municipality, the
last in 1995. The crafters of ANCSA did not envision perpetual
management of these lands in a State trust; the provision should
have included an expiration date, but it didn't. It is time to
return these lands to those village corporations so they can own
and manage the lands for the benefit of their community members
and Native shareholders as ANCSA intended.
2:04:25 PM
MR. RENKES said that the Municipal Land Trust holds
approximately 11,550 acres. These acres are nearly impossible to
develop due to restrictions imposed by the State's fiduciary
responsibility to a future, but yet unknown municipality. The
Act requires these lands to be:
"improved land on which the Native village is located and as
much additional land as is necessary for community expansion,
and appropriate rights-of-way for public use, and other
foreseeable community needs." (ANSCA 14(c)(3))
MR. RENKES said the lands are in villages where housing and
other community infrastructure should be built. These lands are
what villages need to have available, but they are tied up and
largely blocked from Native community development. This is
expected to continue in perpetuity unless the trust
responsibilities the federal government imposed on the State are
eliminated in federal statute.
2:05:20 PM
MR. RENKES said that once ANCSA became law, the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) pushed to settle ANSCA 14(c)(3). In the early
1980s, some communities transferred deeds in the momentum of
that federal effort to implement the law. The State received the
bulk of the land held in trust during that push. He said that 83
statewide village communities still have their lands tied up in
the Municipal Land Trust program.
MR. RENKES said that some village corporations defied the law
and never transferred land to the Municipal Land Trust. Other
than the early push by BLM, there was no enforcement mechanism
at the State level to require participation. However, a cloud on
title remains on lands held by village corporations that failed
to participate. Any development use of this land requires the
State's written disclaimer of interest. This extends the
negative impact of ANCSA 14(c)(3) beyond the 83 communities with
lands held in the Municipal Land Trust.
2:06:32 PM
MR. RENKES said that his village, Chenega, currently has
approximately 385 acres of land within the Municipal Land Trust
(MLT). The State holds most of the core lands in the Chenega
village in trust. The topography and wetlands in Chenega
severely limit available developable lands, making the lack of
developable land a severe problem. When looking at future
development sites, many buildable areas fall within lands held
by the State trust. Even the village cemetery is held in trust
by the State. This undermines Chenega's right to self-
determination and self-governance. While some of this land is
subject to MLT lease agreements to accommodate public
facilities, these leases are subject to fees. They are
cumbersome to update or amend to accommodate community needs.
Chenega should control these settlement lands, not the State of
Alaska. Most critically, the Municipal Land Trust program
prevents Chenega from improving the community. Chenega needs
housing, particularly workforce housing, economic opportunity
for village residents, and jobs.
2:07:41 PM
MR. RENKES said the Alaska congressional delegation introduced
legislation that includes the following elements:
• If a village corporation conveyed all required land to the
State, then the property conveyed to the State in trust
reverts to the village corporation.
• If a village corporation conveyed only a portion of required
lands to the State in trust, then those lands revert to the
village corporation, and the village corporation is relieved
of any further requirement to convey the remaining lands.
• If the village corporation has not conveyed lands to the State
in trust, the conveyance requirement is eliminated.
• Reversion of the lands to the village corporations is subject
to all valid and existing rights created by the Municipal Land
Trust, and the village corporations assume all obligations of
the State with regard to those valid existing rights.
2:08:32 PM
MR. RENKES concluded his comments by stating that he cannot
express how important it is to have State support for this
federal legislation.
2:09:18 PM
CHAIR DUNBAR asked about the village corporation's plans for the
land should the federal legislation pass.
2:09:52 PM
MR. RENKES gave a brief history of Chenega before answering. He
said Chenega is one of the oldest villages in Prince William
Sound and was on the first Russian census. The first Russian
governor of Alaska was Lord Baranov. He married a woman from
Chenega, and she was the initial first lady. He outlined
Chenega's rich history:
• The village was destroyed in the 1964 earthquake by a series
of tsunamis that hit the village seconds apart, completely
wiping out the village and killing one-third of the
population.
• It took 20 years to repopulate the village.
• By 1984, a village site was selected.
• By 1987, some Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) housing was built. People moved back into the village.
• In 1989, the Exxon Valdez Oil spill completely decimated the
village food source, and people had to leave.
• The village had to repopulate again.
2:10:48 PM
MR. RENKES said Chenega has faced adversity through natural and
human-made disasters. Yet, the village continues to persevere.
The people are working hard to preserve their culture, language,
and history and provide economic opportunities in the community
so the village can continue repopulating.
MR. RENKES said that while the village has a platted northern
subdivision complete with roads and utilities to the site, one-
third of the land is owned by the Municipal Land Trust (MLT).
MLT has denied the village's requests for that land because the
State is holding it in trust for a future municipality. The
village cannot use the land for a private housing development
until MLT conveys it. If the village obtains the land, it will
build out the northern subdivision with much-needed housing,
particularly workforce housing. He explained that one of the
challenges is Chenega's remote location. It is 65 miles by water
to the closest community, Whittier. This makes it difficult to
attract workers to the village without providing them with
housing.
2:12:01 PM
MR. RENKES said that a housing plan is at the top of the village
corporation's list for these lands should the federal
legislation pass. Another important issue is the village bulk
fuel system, which is in dire need of work. The village wants to
get fuel down to the dock to provide boat refueling, which could
expand recreational and commercial fishing opportunities in
Prince William Sound. He explained that by the time a boat gets
to Chenega from Whittier, it needs fuel to return. This would
provide some economic opportunity for the community, but it is
not possible without obtaining the MLT lands. Housing and fuel
infrastructure are just two projects that would bring essential
economic opportunity. The village corporation would undertake
these two projects first.
2:13:16 PM
CHAIR DUNBAR held SJR 13 in committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 161 - FN DCCED; Community and Regional Affairs.pdf |
SCRA 2/1/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SB 161 |
| SJR 13 Testimony Delivered 11-8-2023.pdf |
SCRA 2/1/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SJR 13 |
| SJR 13 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SCRA 2/1/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SJR 13 |
| SJR 13 Support 2023 AFN Resolution.pdf |
SCRA 2/1/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SJR 13 |
| SJR 13 Version A.pdf |
SCRA 2/1/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SJR 13 |
| AK GOV Letter re AMLT.pdf |
SCRA 2/1/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SJR 13 |
| SJR 13 DCCED_DCRA MLT Presentation to SCRA 2023-04-20.pdf |
SCRA 2/1/2024 1:30:00 PM |
SJR 13 |
| Senate Community & Regional Affairs Alaska Broadband Office Presentation 2.1.2024.pdf |
SCRA 2/1/2024 1:30:00 PM |
Alaska Broadband Office - DCCED |