02/02/2017 03:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB39 | |
| SB9 | |
| SB39 | |
| SB28 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 9 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 39 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 28 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 2, 2017
3:39 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Click Bishop, Chair
Senator Anna MacKinnon
Senator Berta Gardner
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Bert Stedman
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 9
"An Act relating to military facility zones."
- MOVED CSSB 9(CRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 39
"An Act adopting the Municipal Property Assessed Clean Energy
Act; authorizing municipalities to establish programs to impose
assessments for energy improvements in regions designated by
municipalities; imposing fees; and providing for an effective
date."
- MOVED CSSB 39(CRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 28
"An Act relating to the general grant land entitlement for the
Petersburg Borough; and providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 9
SHORT TITLE: MILITARY FACILITY ZONES
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) COGHILL
01/09/17 (S) PREFILE RELEASED 1/9/17
01/18/17 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/18/17 (S) CRA, FIN
01/31/17 (S) CRA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
01/31/17 (S) Heard & Held
01/31/17 (S) MINUTE(CRA)
02/02/17 (S) CRA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
BILL: SB 39
SHORT TITLE: MUNI ENERGY IMPROVEMNT ASSESSMNTS/BONDS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) COGHILL
01/25/17 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/25/17 (S) CRA
01/31/17 (S) CRA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
01/31/17 (S) Heard & Held
01/31/17 (S) MINUTE(CRA)
02/01/17 (S) FIN REFERRAL ADDED AFTER CRA
02/02/17 (S) CRA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
BILL: SB 28
SHORT TITLE: MUNICIPAL LAND SELECTIONS: PETERSBURG
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) STEDMAN
01/20/17 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/20/17 (S) CRA
02/02/17 (S) CRA AT 3:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR COGHILL
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SB 9 and SB 39.
CHAD HUTCHISON, staff
Senator John Coghill
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on SB 9 on behalf of
the sponsor.
RYNNIEVA MOSS, staff
Senator John Coghill
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 39 for the sponsor.
MELISSA KOOKESH, staff
Senator Bert Stedman
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 28 on behalf of the sponsor.
DAVID SCOTT, staff
Senator Bert Stedman
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on SB 28 on behalf of the
sponsor.
MARK JENSEN, Mayor
Borough of Petersburg
Petersburg, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 28.
MARTY PARSONS, Deputy Director
Division of Mining, Land and Water
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 28.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:39:34 PM
CHAIR CLICK BISHOP called the Senate Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:39 p.m. Present
at the call to order were Senators MacKinnon, Gardner, and Chair
Bishop.
SB 39-MUNI ENERGY IMPROVEMNT ASSESSMNTS/BONDS
3:40:14 PM
CHAIR BISHOP announced SB 39 to be up for consideration.
SENATOR JOHN COGHILL, sponsor of SB 39, Alaska State
Legislature, said the two issues before them today are important
to help move the economy along. SB 39 is the Commercial Property
Assessed Clean Energy Act that allows a municipality to do a
bonding with the bill payments attached to municipal payments.
Municipalities can contract with banks under that bonding and
the debt goes with the real estate rather than the owner. It is
a voluntary program that was set up for fuel change-out programs
in Fairbanks, but it can be used all over Alaska. He explained
that Fairbanks is under pressure for exceeding air quality
particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and getting natural gas is important
for that reason.
He said that right now the fuels cost about the same, but the
penalties for not complying combined with the health advantages
of natural gas will make change-outs to natural gas a necessity.
This issue was brought to him by the Alaska Energy Authority and
it is not a new idea. It went through the legislature last
session but just didn't get through.
CHAIR BISHOP set SB 39 aside until later in the meeting.
SB 9-MILITARY FACILITY ZONES
CHAIR BISHOP announced the consideration of SB 9.
3:41:12 PM
CHAD HUTCHISON, staff to Senator Coghill, Alaska State
Legislature, sponsor or SB 9, said the Department of Military &
Veterans Affairs (DMVA) proposed an amendment to SB 9. The
sponsor coordinated with the interested parties and found no
opposition.
3:41:31 PM
At ease
3:41:41 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON moved to adopt Amendment 1.
30-LS0183\A.2
Shutts
2/1/17
AMENDMENT 1
OFFERED IN THE SENATE
TO: SB 9
Page 2, following line 25:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 2. AS 26.30.020 is amended by adding a new
subsection to read:
(d) In considering the factors under (c) of this
section, the Department of Military and Veterans'
Affairs may rely on the information provided by a
municipality and may not be held liable for civil
damages resulting from a military facility zone
designation that is based on inaccurate or incomplete
information provided by a municipality."
CHAIR BISHOP objected for an explanation.
MR. HUTCHISON said this language adds a second layer of
protection against civil liability for the DMVA if there is
incomplete or incorrect information provided in the application
as they make these military facility zone designations. He said
that the state and the department both already enjoy a certain
degree of civil liability [protection] right now under sovereign
immunity, which occurs whenever there is any discretionary
decision made by a state department.
3:43:42 PM
SENATOR GARDNER said she didn't have a good idea about what kind
of damages might occur, but she had reached out to the municipal
attorney in the City of Anchorage and he had no problem with
this amendment, nor did she.
CHAIR BISHOP removed his objected.
SENATOR MACKINNON moved to report SB 9, as amended, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached zero
fiscal note.
CHAIR BISHOP found no objection, and CSSB 9(CRA) moved from the
Senate Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee.
SB 39-MUNI ENERGY IMPROVEMNT ASSESSMNTS/BONDS
3:46:06 PM
CHAIR BISHOP announced SB 39 to be back up for consideration.
3:46:38 PM
RYNNIEVA MOSS, staff to Senator Coghill, Alaska State
Legislature, sponsor of SB 39, explained that SB 39 has an
amendment that was prepared after consulting with the Alaska
Energy Authority (AEA) and the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
SENATOR MACKINNON moved Amendment 1.
30-LS0330\D.1
Shutts
1/31/17
AMENDMENT 1
OFFERED IN THE SENATE
TO: SB 39
Page 7, lines 25 - 30:
Delete all material and insert:
"Sec. 29.55.120. Review required. The record
owner of eligible property shall obtain from an
independent third party the following:
(1) for each proposed qualified project,
(A) a review of the energy or
emissions baseline conditions, as appropriate; and
(B) the projected reduction in energy
costs, energy consumption or demand, or emissions
affecting local air quality, as appropriate; and
(2) for each completed qualified project,
verification that the qualified project was properly
completed and is operating as intended."
Page 9, following line 22:
Insert a new paragraph to read:
"(4) reduction of emissions affecting local
air quality;"
Renumber the following paragraphs accordingly.
Page 10, line 16:
Delete "decrease energy consumption or demand,
including"
Insert "reduce energy consumption or demand,
energy costs, or emissions affecting local air
quality, and includes"
CHAIR BISHOP objected for explanation purposes.
MS. MOSS explained that the amendment has two purposes. The
first is to clarify on page 7, line 25, that the third party
doing an independent assessment does an evaluation at the end of
the project, too. The other half of this amendment and the other
two amendments are just adds to the list of qualifications that
a project will result in the reduction of emissions affecting
local air quality. This is because at the current price of oil
it's quite possible that converting from oil to natural gas at
this time could result in little or no savings, but it would
improve the air quality.
CHAIR BISHOP removed his objection.
SENATOR MACKINNON moved to report SB 39, as amended, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached zero
fiscal note.
CHAIR BISHOP found no objection, and CSSB 39(CRA) moved from the
Senate Community and Regional Affairs Standing Committee.
3:48:59 PM
At ease
SB 28-MUNICIPAL LAND SELECTIONS: PETERSBURG
3:50:34 PM
CHAIR BISHOP announced SB 28 to be up for consideration.
MELISSA KOOKESH, staff to Senator Bert Stedman, Alaska State
Legislature, sponsor of SB 28, testified that this measure would
give the Petersburg Borough an opportunity to grow, generate
revenue, and increase economic development from nearby lands.
For several months Senator Stedman's office and representatives
from the Petersburg Borough have reviewed the bill with the
Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and discussed
where the borough selections would occur, and they have no
objection to the bill.
She reviewed the bill: Section 1 adds subparagraph (16) to AS
29.65.010(a) that sets the general land grant entitlement for
the Petersburg Borough at 14,666 acres. This is an increase of
12,770 acres from its current level of entitlement.
Section 2 of the bill is a conforming amendment to allow the
borough time to make its new additional selections. Section 3 is
also a conforming amendment to allow the land selection process
at DNR to apply to the new Petersburg land selection.
3:52:43 PM
Section 4 is an immediate effective date.
3:53:12 PM
SENATOR GARDNER asked how the original allocation is calculated
and where the 14,666 acre figure comes from.
3:53:32 PM
DAVID SCOTT, staff to Senator Bert Stedman, sponsor of SB 28,
Alaska State Legislature, answered that DNR and the Borough of
Petersburg came up with the number.
SENATOR GARDNER added that she was thinking if Petersburg gets
to increase their allocation, will the other 15 beneficiaries
say they weren't treated fairly and need to increase theirs,
too.
3:54:36 PM
MARK JENSEN, Mayor, Borough of Petersburg, Petersburg, Alaska,
supported SB 28. He explained the way they arrived at this
number is that it is an equal percentage of land that the other
15 boroughs that have already formed ahead of them have
received. So Petersburg is just trying to get up to par with the
other boroughs that have received additional land.
He explained that when the borough was formed in 2013, they were
allowed to select 10 percent of their area, which was 18-plus
thousand acres. Since they already had 400 and some acres in the
city limits they were allowed to select 1440 more acres. They
are now asking for the other 14,666 acres just to get up to par
with the volume as the other boroughs did.
SENATOR MACKINNON asked DNR why she didn't see a fiscal note,
because she assumed the land is coming from the State of Alaska
selections. Where was the value determination of what would be
moving as far as gravel rights, use of public facilities or
whatever the borough would like to use the land for?
3:57:07 PM
MARTY PARSONS, Deputy Director, Division of Mining, Land and
Water, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Anchorage, Alaska,
said the department submitted a zero fiscal note.
SENATOR MACKINNON asked if he was telling her that land is
valued at zero.
MR. PARSONS answered no; the land is not valued at zero. He was
saying the fiscal note is what it would cost the division to
process the additional land.
SENATOR MACKINNON said the fiscal note has a spot for listing
the capital value of the property. She understands there is a
zero fiscal note for operations for the state, but considering
the $3 billion deficit, there should be a value associated with
the acreage in that transfer.
MR. PARSONS said that is correct, but the state does not
necessarily inventory its land on an acre by acre basis. The
value is indeterminate, although there is gravel and timber on
it.
3:59:34 PM
SENATOR MACKINNON said she knows that Petersburg needs resources
and assets at their disposal to help their community, but saying
the value of the land is indeterminate is not a satisfactory
answer. A value needs to be established on the property. If they
haven't done it before, it needs to be done now.
4:00:26 PM
MR. PARSONS said he could pull those numbers together.
4:00:52 PM
CHAIR BISHOP asked if the DNR maintains an overriding royalty on
top of what the borough can charge a contractor for using sand
and gravel.
MR. PARSONS answered no. Once those lands are conveyed, the
municipality is given management authority and it's theirs to
sell the material and land and reap the benefits.
4:01:46 PM
At ease
4:02:04 PM
CHAIR BISHOP said that request was in to DNR and he opened
public testimony.
4:02:40 PM
MR. JENSEN added that they worked with the DNR after borough
formation on the original 1,400 acres and they have been working
with them on the additional parcels and he has not heard any
opposition.
4:03:43 PM
CHAIR BISHOP closed public testimony on SB 28 and held the bill
in committee.
4:03:59 PM
CHAIR BISHOP adjourned the Senate Community and Regional Affairs
Committee meeting at 4:03 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| PEDC_sb28.pdf |
SCRA 2/2/2017 3:30:00 PM |
SB 28 |
| SB 28 Hearing Request Packet.pdf |
SCRA 2/2/2017 3:30:00 PM |
SB 28 |
| PSG boro land graphic.pdf |
SCRA 2/2/2017 3:30:00 PM |