Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
02/08/2023 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview(s): Alaska Permitting Process | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 8, 2023
1:29 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Tom McKay, Chair
Representative George Rauscher, Vice Chair
Representative Kevin McCabe
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative Stanley Wright
Representative Jennie Armstrong
Representative Donna Mears
Representative Maxine Dibert
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Josiah Patkotak
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW(S): ALASKA PERMITTING PROCESS
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
ASHLEE ADOKO, Acting Executive Director
Office of Project Management & Permitting
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the overview of Alaska's
permitting process.
JOHN CROWTHER, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Natural Resources
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Participated in the overview of Alaska's
permitting process.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:29:41 PM
CHAIR TOM MCKAY called the House Resources Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:29 p.m. Representatives Rauscher, McCabe,
Saddler, Wright, Armstrong, Mears, Dibert, and McKay were
present at the call to order.
^OVERVIEW(S): ALASKA PERMITTING PROCESS
OVERVIEW(S): ALASKA PERMITTING PROCESS
1:30:45 PM
CHAIR MCKAY announced that the only order of business would be
the Alaska Permitting Process Overview.
1:32:23 PM
ASHLEE ADOKO, Acting Executive Director, Office of Project
Management & Permitting (OPMP), Department of Natural Resources
(DNR), began the Alaska Permitting Process overview via
PowerPoint [hardcopy included in the committee packet].
Following the introduction on slide 1, she showed slides 2-3,
which gave examples of mines in Alaska currently operating under
some form of permitting from DNR. Slides 4 and 5 gave an
example of an onshore and offshore oil and gas development that
are operating under a lease permitted by DNR. She moved to
slide 6, which described how a proposed project or development's
required authorizations are to be determined, and on to slide 7,
which explained the different levels of project resource
management authority in Alaska.
1:37:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked whether the Office of History &
Archaeology could stop or delay a project.
JOHN CROWTHER, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Natural
Resources, answered that the Office of History & Archaeology
(OHA) and the [federal] State Historic Preservation Office
(SHPO) fulfill both the state and federal role of protecting
historic properties and cultural artifacts. In response to a
follow-up question, he confirmed that DNR does work with the
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) on a
variety of public projects and emphasized that compliance and
cooperation with OHA and SHPO is required by law.
1:39:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked what projects are being impacted
by the SHPO.
MR. CROWTHER offered to provide further information after the
meeting.
1:41:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked why the Municipality of Anchorage
doesn't have local land management authority.
MS. ADOKO answered that the list he is referencing is an
incomplete list and said that the Municipality of Anchorage has
local land management authority.
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked what OHA and SHPO define as a
cultural or historical artifact.
1:42:19 PM
MR. CROWTHER responded that DNR would do a work-up about
existing regulations and guidance surrounding OHA and SHPO.
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked how much money it costs the state
to chase artifacts.
MR. CROWTHER answered that DNR would follow up with more
information following the committee meeting.
1:44:02 PM
CHAIR MCKAY requested a further meeting on the topic of
archaeology.
MS. ADOKO resumed the overview on slide 12, which gave a general
list of major state, federal, and local agencies that would take
part in a project's planning. She moved to slide 13, which
explained the potential required authorizations that a project
might have to receive before it may move forward.
1:45:50 PM
CHAIR MCKAY asked why the Willow Project was delayed.
MR. CROWTHER explained that the proposed Willow Project is in
the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska (NPR-A) and said that
its initial environmental impact statement (EIS) required a
supplemental EIS due to local community concerns. He emphasized
that the project is "in its final days of initiation" and said
that DNR is expecting to see a decision made in the coming
weeks.
1:49:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked what the term "authorization and
regulatory oversight" meant.
MS. ADOKO answered that an authorization is the document that
allows the entity to proceed with the activities described in
said document.
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked how current regulation and
requirements of authorization came to be law.
MR. CROWTHER replied that state statutes are created by the
legislature and enacted by the departments with which the
legislature interacts.
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked what the basis for the amount of
regulation in Alaska is.
MR. CROWTHER explained the obligations that the Alaska State
Constitution outlines and described how those obligations
influence regulatory evolution and growth.
1:54:55 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked if it would be plausible to create
legislation to go around federal regulation.
MR. CROWTHER replied that there has been an effort by DNR to
address the problem of duplicity between state and federal
statutes.
CHAIR MCKAY explained a brief history of federal regulations
that have affected the development of Alaska's resources.
1:58:43 PM
MS. ADOKO continued the overview on slides 15-16, which
displayed a map of the Fort Knox mine in Alaska and gave an
overview of its history of authorizations and permits.
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE asked what the current statutory structure
is as it relates to the Alaska Railroad Corporation's (ARRC's)
right-of-way entitlement.
MR. CROWTHER answered that DNR doesn't control the ARRC's land.
MS. ADOKO continued through slide 20, which detailed a number of
funding sources DNR may utilize for certain projects, and slide
21, which gave background to the steps an entity wishing to
acquire an authorization must take in order to obtain one.
2:04:49 PM
MS. ADOKO moved to slide 22, which described timeline and
situational challenges faced by developments in Alaska.
2:06:51 PM
MR. CROWTHER gave specific explanation for each mine mentioned
in the overview and explained their permitting process. He
touched on the Pikka and Willow projects and their expected
development timelines and explained that their parent companies
are actively involved with DNR to advance their permitting
process.
MS. ADOKO, in response to Representative Dibert, gave the
committee an update on the status of the Manh Choh project.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked whether the permitting process
might take away time with which the company could be developing
the resources under its lease.
MR. CROWTHER confirmed that the permitting process might detract
from a project's lease time.
2:13:54 PM
MS. ADOKO resumed the overview on slide 25, which gave an
overview of timelines set in law by federal grants and gave a
list of certain federal grants in which this set timeline law
applies.
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked whether the state or federal
government has more authority in how the National Historic
Preservation Act (NHPA) is applied to projects.
MR. CROWTHER, in response, described how the federal and state
governments interact with and enforce NHPA as it relates to
resource development projects.
2:17:00 PM
CHAIR MCKAY asked whether the State of Alaska is trying to
remove the primacy clause of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
MR. CROWTHER answered that Alaska is actively trying to change
who has the authority to make decisions under Section 404 of the
Act.
MS. ADOKO continued through slides 26-28. Slide 26 described
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and NHPA and
explained how they interact with both state and federal agencies
in relation to a resource development project. Slide 27
explained the different levels of review that a project might
face under NEPA laws and slide 28 gave an overview of the
multitude of challenges that a project might face under NEPA or
NHPA.
2:21:19 PM
MR. CROWTHER skipped to slide 31, which described how DNR is
making efforts to streamline the permitting/authorization
process for resource development projects in Alaska. He gave
specific examples of certain advances in that effort.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked why a large resource development
project would not want to utilize the services of [OPMP].
MR. CROWTHER explained the services that OPMP provides and the
resources it uses within the agency to provide services.
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked why the permitting process for a
gravel extraction operation takes as long as it currently does.
MR. CROWTHER answered that he would follow-up with
Representative Rauscher with that information later.
2:25:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DIBERT asked for an online list of agencies with
which DNR collaborates.
MS. ADOKO replied by giving a directory on the DNR website to
reach a list of projects that DNR is involved with and explained
where within that directory Representative Dibert may find the
list of agencies that the DNR works with in relation to resource
development projects.
2:29:26 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 2:29 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HRES OPMP Alaska Permitting Process Presentation 2.8.23.pdf |
HRES 2/8/2023 1:00:00 PM |