Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
02/03/2023 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Division of Mining, Land and Water Overview, Selections and Mining | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 3, 2023
1:01 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Tom McKay, Chair
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative Stanley Wright
Representative Jennie Armstrong
Representative Maxine Dibert
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative George Rauscher, Vice Chair
Representative Josiah Patkotak
Representative Kevin McCabe
Representative Donna Mears
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): DIVISION OF MINING~ LAND AND WATER OVERVIEW~
SELECTIONS AND MINING
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
COMMISSIONER DESIGNEE JOHN BOYLE
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the presentation
of the Division of Mining Land and Water Overview, Selections
and Mining.
CHRISTY COLLES, Director
Division of Mining Land and Water
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave the presentation of the Division of
Mining Land and Water Overview, Selections and Mining.
STEPHEN BUCKLEY, Mining Section Chief
Central Office
Division of Mining Land and Water
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions during the presentation
of the Division of Mining Land and Water Overview, Selections
and Mining.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:01:22 PM
CHAIR TOM MCKAY called the House Resources Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:01 p.m. Representatives Saddler, Wright,
Armstrong, Dibert, and McKay were present at the call to order.
^PRESENTATION(S): Division of Mining, Land and Water Overview,
Selections and Mining
PRESENTATION(S): Division of Mining, Land and Water Overview,
Selections and Mining
1:02:30 PM
CHAIR MCKAY announced that the only order of business would be a
presentation of the Division of Mining Land and Water Overview,
Selections and Mining.
1:03:04 PM
COMMISSIONER DESIGNEE JOHN BOYLE, Department of Natural
Resources, praised the division and its director, Ms. Christy
Colles.
1:05:54 PM
CHRISTY COLLES, Director, Division of Minding Land and Water
(DMLW), Department of Natural Resources (DNR), gave the
presentation of the Division of Mining Land and Water Overview,
Selections and Mining. She began a PowerPoint presentation
[hard copy included in the committee packet], on slide 2, to the
mission statement of the division, which read as follows
[original punctuation provided]:
Provide for the appropriate use and management of
Alaska's state-owned land and water, aiming toward
maximum use consistent with the public interest
MS. COLLES discussed what the division manages, as shown on
slide 3, as follows [original punctuation provided]:
Multiple Use Management of State Lands
• DMLW manages 100+ million acres state-owned land, 65
million acres of tides lands and 34 thousand miles of
coastline making them available on a sustained-yield
basis for a variety of multiple beneficial uses
• DMLW does not manage TLO, Parks or lands acquired by
other agencies for specific purposes
• DMLW's responsibilities include
• Land acquisition
• Mining, land, and water use authorizations
• Area and Management plan development
• Land sales and conveyances
• Land stewardship
• DMLW has jurisdiction over the appropriation of the
State's water resources, accounting for approximately
40% of the nation's stock of fresh water
1:08:11 PM
MS. COLLES provided the division's organization chart, on slide
4, which shows: Ms. Colles, as director, oversees
Administrative Support Services, Water & Dam Safety, and Mining;
Kris Hess, as deputy director, oversees Appraisals, Surveys,
Program Support and Internet Technology (IT) Services, Public
Access Assertion Defense, Resource Assessment and Development,
and Realty Services; and the currently vacant position of Chief
of Operations oversees Land Conveyances, Regional Land Offices
in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau, Contract Initiation Revenue
and Recovery, and Statewide Abatement of Impaired Lands.
1:10:49 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Representative Armstrong, offered
examples of how the division's work overlaps with that of other
departments, primarily the Department of Transportation & Public
Facilities, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, and the
Department of Environmental Conservation.
1:14:49 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Representative Saddler, confirmed
that it would be DMLW's Realty [Services] that would work with
the University of Alaska (UA) regarding a bill related to land
conveyances.
1:17:28 PM
MS. COLLES returned to the PowerPoint, to slide 5, regarding the
state land entitlement selection and conveyance process, which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
• Federal hierarchy of land conveyances:
Homesteads, Native Allotments (1906 Act, Aguilar
Settlement, 2002 Vietnam Veteran's Allotment Act, 2019
Dingell Act Veteran's Allotments)
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA)
Corporations
State of Alaska
• Process
State filed selection on vacant, unappropriated, and
unreserved lands or filed a future selection
"topfiling" (ANILCA Sec. 906(e))
State selections and topfiling published in
newspapers (completed in 1995)
State requests conveyance of high priority lands
BLM adjudicates selection and issues appealable
decision finding lands available for conveyance
BLM issues Tentative Approval (TA) for unsurveyed
lands
BLM surveys TA lands
BLM issues confirmatory patent
1:21:28 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Representative Saddler, said the
state is making great strides in using drone survey as a cost-
saving measure. In response to another question, she described
the diversity of land selection issues.
1:23:56 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Chair McKay, explained that "patent"
is a final document with legal description of lands; the patent
is received from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
MS. COLLES returned to the PowerPoint presentation, to slide 6,
"Remaining Entitlement," which provides a breakdown in the
categories of grant; statehood 6(a) community grant (CG) and
National forest community grant (NFCG); statehood 6(b) general
grant selection (GS); other, including territorial grants,
school grant, land exchanges; and the totals. Under "grant" are
listed: total entitlement, patent, tentative approval, selected,
"topfiled," University of Alaska Fiscal Foundation Grant Act,
and remaining entitlement. She said currently there is
approximately $4.8 million left under "total."
1:26:11 PM
MS. COLLES directed attention to slide 7, regarding the
University of Alaska Fiscal Foundation Grant Act, which read as
follow [original punctuation provided]:
• Provides for up to an additional 360,000 acres of
land for University of Alaska (UA)
• List of 500,000 acres of land to be submitted to BLM
by 2026
• State and UA mutually agrees on list of lands for
submittal
• State will concurrently provide conditional
relinquishment of selections to BLM
• BLM will convey available lands using existing
Statehood Act conveyance process
• UA would like to submit 100,000 acres of lands to
BLM by fall 2023
• UA has begun submitting lists of proposed lands to
Realty Services in ~100,000-acre groups
MS. COLLES, in response to a question from Representative
Saddler, explained that certain land features, such as private
land or a water body, may be "meandered out" taken out of the
equation of what will be given to the university.
1:28:32 PM
MS. COLLES moved on to slide 8, "Mining Section Overview," which
read as follows [original punctuation provided]:
• Mineral Property Management
• Manage 41,000+ mining claims for mineral exploration
and development
• 87 Offshore and 48 Mining Leases
• APMA (Application for Permits to Mine in Alaska)
• 643 APMA's for hard rock exploration and placer
mining
• Approval of Plans of Operations for Upland,
Offshore, & Millsite Leases
• Large Mines
• Oversees statewide reclamation requirements and
large mines
• Coal Permitting & Compliance
• 36 Coal Leases
• Abandoned Mine Lands
• Regulates reclamation and removes hazards from past
mining operations
MS. COLLES displayed a map on slide 9, which depicts the areas
of mining operation, permitting, and exploration.
1:31:57 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Representative Armstrong, said she
could provide a write-up describing the timelines for these
operations. In response to a question from Representative
Saddler regarding the dearth of mines in the large, mineral-rich
state of Alaska, deferred to Commissioner Designee Boyle.
1:33:17 PM
COMMISSIONER DESIGNEE BOYLE answered that the economics of
infrastructure is expensive and difficult to achieve in Alaska.
He emphasized that the resource areas are remote to established
infrastructure. Further, he said there is significant
permitting and regulatory uncertainty for development, and he
gave Pebble Mine as an example of how federal regulations have
halted development.
1:36:01 PM
COMMISSIONER DESIGNEE BOYLE, in response to Representative
Armstrong, confirmed that he has seen interest in exploration
for minerals to be used for renewable energy technology. A team
of geologists do "minerals mapping" by drilling for core
samples. Many of the areas are remote and "mired in
uncertainty." He mentioned Pebble as the biggest source of
copper in the state, and he acknowledged "the challenges there"
and emotion evoked in surrounding communities.
1:38:43 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Representative Dibert, offered to
provide more detail regarding the permitting of Manh Choh,
[south-east of Fairbanks].
MS. COLLES returned to the PowerPoint, to slide 10 "2022
Production & Exploration Forecast," which offers greater detail
of mineral sources and mining activity in Alaska, and which was
provided by the Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.
There are seven metal mines, one coal mine, about 140 placer
gold mines, and 32 exploration projects. The 2022 production
estimate is: 700,000 ounces of gold; 16.6 million ounces of
silver; 620,000 tons of zinc; and 108,000 tons of lead. She
offered further statistics, as shown on the slide, and noted
corrections needed to be made to the slide, in that zinc and
lead should be shown as tons, not metric tons, and the ~925,300
listed for Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc. should be increased by
100,000.
1:42:07 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Chair McKay, said mining is not
always on state land, and she deferred to Mr. Stephen Buckley to
answer what the total value of extraction is and how much of
that would go to the State of Alaska.
1:42:57 PM
STEPHEN BUCKLEY, Mining Section Chief, Central Office, Division
of Mining Land and Water, Department of Natural Resources,
informed Chair McKay that about $800,000 in royalties go to the
state from the hard rock mines. He noted that Red Dog Mine is
on NANA [Regional Corporation] land, and Forth Knox is on
[Alaska] Mental Health Trust [Authority] land. He added, "Over
$1.5 goes to that outfit." He said both Kensington and Greens
Creek mines are on federal land. He indicated that
approximately $20 million comes in from coal mining annually.
1:45:06 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Representative Armstrong, confirmed
that of the mines listed on slide 9, some are on state land, and
some are on federal land. She said she could provide
information to the committee breaking that information down.
MS. COLLES returned to the PowerPoint, to slide 11, "West
Susitna Mining Projects," which shows multiple areas of
exploration; most are hard rock, while one is coal. The road to
these areas runs about 100 miles out of the Matanuska-Susitna
("Mat-Su") Borough. She talked about the challenge of going
through federal, state, and local processes to develop a road.
1:47:33 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Representative Wright, said the time
it takes for the permitting process can vary. She drew
attention to slide 12, "Ambler Mining District," and pointed out
that that access road has been in process for decades, with some
pull-back from the federal government.
1:48:50 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Representative Saddler, confirmed the
portion of land that is state-owned on slide 12, and she
confirmed a concern of the state regarding 404 permitting and
the federal government. She added her understanding that the
state would be "pushing back on the federal government for the
recent decision on Pebble Mine." She said the federal
government making those types of decisions hinders the State of
Alaska's ability to move forward.
1:50:15 PM
COMMISSIONER DESIGNEE BOYLE allowed that there could be public
input and discussion to be had in making decisions, but
specified that it is the precedent that is "troubling to the
state."
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said he believes the federal government's
recent expansion of the definition of the waters of the United
States "broadens the potential affectability of the 404
permitting process immensely."
1:51:47 PM
MS. COLLES returned to slide 12 and noted the great potential
[to mine] metals in the area, and the division has issued
exploration permits for the various projects in the Ambler
Mining District. She added further details regarding the
efforts to get a road in the area. In response to Chair McKay,
she said at this point the Ambler Road will be private; however,
there will be crossings, as required by the federal government.
She offered her understanding that the West Cu Road would be
public.
1:54:44 PM
MS. COLLES, in response to Representative Wright, offered an
update regarding a cemetery in Fairbanks, Alaska. In response
to Representative Saddler, she spoke about efforts of the
division to improve employee retention.
1:56:59 PM
CHAIR MCKAY acknowledged Representative Armstrong's accurate
statement regarding energy transition to renewable resources
requiring "a tremendous amount of mining and minerals." He then
thanked Ms. Colles for her presentation.
1:57:34 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources meeting was adjourned at 1:57 pm.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HRES DNR Overview, Selections and Mining Presentation 2.3.23.pdf |
HRES 2/3/2023 1:00:00 PM |