Legislature(2005 - 2006)BUTROVICH 205
04/27/2005 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HCR7 | |
| Confirmation Hearings || Board of Fisheries | |
| Board of Game | |
| Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | HB 71 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HCR 7 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 27, 2005
3:37 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Thomas Wagoner, Chair
Senator Ralph Seekins, Vice Chair
Senator Ben Stevens
Senator Fred Dyson
Senator Bert Stedman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Kim Elton
Senator Gretchen Guess
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
Board of Fisheries - Rupert Andrews, John Jensen, Melvan Morris
Board of Game - Carl Morgan, Ron Somerville, Ted Spraker
Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (ACFEC) - Peter
Froehlich
CONFIRMATIONS FORWARDED
CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 7(RES)
Urging the governor to direct the division of oil and gas,
Department of Natural Resources, to undertake a comprehensive
review of the subject of Cook Inlet oil and gas platform
abandonment for the purpose of developing new oil and gas
platform abandonment regulations and their adoption and
implementation.
MOVED CSHCR 7(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 71(FIN)
"An Act extending and amending the requirements applicable to
the credit that may be claimed for certain oil and gas
exploration expenses incurred in Cook Inlet against oil and gas
properties production (severance) taxes, and amending the credit
against those taxes for certain exploration expenditures from
leases or properties in the state; and providing for an
effective date."
SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HCR 7
SHORT TITLE: COOK INLET OIL & GAS PLATFORM ABANDONMENT
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) OLSON
04/07/05 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/07/05 (H) RES
04/18/05 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 124
04/18/05 (H) Moved CSHCR 7(RES) Out of Committee
04/18/05 (H) MINUTE(RES)
04/19/05 (H) RES RPT CS(RES) 8DP
04/19/05 (H) DP: OLSON, KAPSNER, GATTO, SEATON,
ELKINS, CRAWFORD, RAMRAS, SAMUELS
04/22/05 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
04/22/05 (H) VERSION: CSHCR 7(RES)
04/25/05 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
04/25/05 (S) RES
04/27/05 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE KURT OLSON
Alaska State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HCR 7.
RUPERT ANDREWS
Nominee to the Board of Fisheries
JOHN JENSEN
Nominee to the Board of Fisheries
MELVAN MORRIS
Nominee to the Board of Fisheries
CARL CROME
Petersburg AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Jensen's and Mr. Morris'
nomination to the Board of Fisheries.
REUBEN HANKE
Kenai AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Andrews', Mr. Jensen's and Mr.
Morris' nomination to the Board of Fisheries.
RICKY GEASE, Executive Director
Kenai River Sportfishing Association
Kenai AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported Mr. Andrews', Mr. Jensen's and Mr.
Morris' nomination to the Board of Fisheries.
CARL MORGAN
Nominee to the Board of Game
TED SPRAKER
Nominee to the Board of Game
RON SOMERVILLE
Nominee to the Board of Game
ACTION NARRATIVE
CHAIR THOMAS WAGONER called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:37:59 PM. Present were Senators
Stedman, Dyson and Chair Wagoner. Senator Ben Stevens joined the
committee at 3:41.
CSHCR 7(RES)-COOK INLET OIL & GAS PLATFORM ABANDONMENT
CHAIR THOMAS WAGONER announced CSHCR 7(RES) to be up for
consideration.
REPRESENTATIVE KURT OLSON, sponsor, explained that currently
most of the platforms are at least 40 years old and four of the
16 have been lighthoused already. During a recent Resources
meeting in Kenai, industry representatives showed an interest in
having regulations reviewed and updated to define abandonment
requirements and their ultimate liability. In 1996 the Alaska
Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) proposed
implementation of revised regulations, but the attorney general
decided the issue fell under the purview of the Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) rather than the AOGCC. Defined
regulations would also be of value to independent companies that
will assume operations of several of these platforms.
Environmental groups, industry, DNR, DEC and AOGCC and several
federal agencies are interested in the review that would take
place.
3:40:41 PM
SENATOR DYSON asked if there was any major criticism of his
resolution.
REPRESENTATIVE OLSON replied no.
CHAIR WAGONER commented that oil companies endorse this
resolution because they want to know what their liability is in
removing platforms and negotiating with independents.
3:41:21 PM At ease 3:44:27 PM
SENATOR BEN STEVENS joined the committee.
3:44:49 PM
SENATOR DYSON moved to pass CSHCR 7(RES) from committee with
individual recommendations and zero fiscal note. There were no
objections and it was so ordered.
^CONFIRMATION HEARINGS
^BOARD OF FISHERIES
RUPERT ANDREWS, nominee to the Board of Fisheries, said serving
on the board is an extraordinary way to serve the people of
Alaska.
3:48:19 PM
SENATOR DYSON said he didn't see the National Rifle Association
(NRA) mentioned in his resume'.
MR. ANDREWS responded that it's mentioned in his biography that
he was the NRA's first field representative in 1954 and served
through 1991. He complimented the ADF&G personnel for their good
work.
3:50:39 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked what has been the most significant
accomplishment for the Board of Fisheries over the three years
he has served on it.
MR. ANDREWS replied that he feels good about every vote he ever
made on the board and it's hard to pick one. Conservation issues
come first. When the board liberalized the False Pass and
Shumigan Islands in area M it was a highlight because of the
complicated politics involved. The Bay was looking at having a
37-million fish harvest and the concern was that they would be
intercepted at False Pass.
3:53:24 PM
SENATOR BEN STEVENS asked what would be the board's most
important decision during his reappointment.
MR. ANDREWS replied that the state just lost the Chignik Co-op
Fishery case in the Supreme Court in which the Board of
Fisheries lost its authority to regulate co-ops. He felt it was
critical to get the authority back in order to move forward on
restructuring the salmon fisheries.
He said that people can't make a living in the coastal
communities in Alaska anymore and communities are disappearing.
The price of salmon, which is the major fishery, has gone down
and further depressed the industry. He related that the Chignik
sockeye is the best product out there because they are processed
within minutes after they are caught. However, it now takes only
15 boats catch what it used to take 100 boats to catch. That
brings him to the point that it is an overcapitalized industry
and a way needs to be found to reduce that while at the same
time increasing the quality of the product and thus the income
to more Alaskan fishermen.
3:57:26 PM
CHAIR WAGONER said he was surprised because as chairman of the
Resources Committee he had only one person contact his office
about the Chignik fishery decision and he was in Iowa. He asked
if the board had any more contact than that.
MR. ANDREWS replied that the board has had a lot of contact from
families in Chignik. "I'm going to tell you flat right now.
There's 50 families going to go under this year unless something
happens. We're going to try to correct it with emergency
regulations."
3:58:14 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS said he had quite a few people contact him about
it. He said the legislature gives the board the authority it
operates under. Protection of the resource is number one, then
value enhancement and how that can protect the health of the
industry.
4:01:39 PM
JOHN JENSEN, nominee to the Board of Fisheries, said his last
three years on it have been an intense learning experience. He
is a firm supporter of sustainable fisheries.
4:02:55 PM
SENATOR BEN STEVENS asked what is going to be the board's
biggest challenge in the future.
MR. JENSEN replied the salmon restructuring in Chignik and
groundfish rationalization.
4:04:09 PM
CHAIR WAGONER asked what he thought about changing from three-
year cycles to four-year cycles. "At least that way the area
biologists could come in with some rational approach as to what
data they have gained over the four years of the cycle of the
fish."
MR. JENSEN answered that the change could be good.
4:05:27 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if a way could be found to allocate fish
from commercial fishermen for upstream use by Interior
fishermen.
MR. JENSEN replied that according to the constitution everyone
is entitled to a fair chance to get the fish.
4:06:28 PM
CHAIR WAGONER said the Kenai River has a very viable dip net
fishery, but he has found that about 3,000 people per year
refuse to remit their dip net information to the department. So,
it doesn't have the exact biological information it is trying to
gather.
The law says when people refuse to participate by remitting
their permit, they are subject to a $200 fine. Over the last
five years that would have amounted to over $4 million to the
state treasury, which could be used in furthering fish studies.
He asked Mr. Jensen if those fines should be enforced and should
there be an additional $5 or $10 fee for personal use dip net
fisheries.
MR. JENSEN answered that participants already pay a fee through
their sportfishing license and he thought it was okay to have a
fee for management of a personal use fishery.
He understood that if you don't turn in your harvest data for
one season, you wouldn't get a permit for the following season.
CHAIR WAGONER said that was supposed to happen, but by not
levying the $200 fine, there is no follow-up as to wether those
people received a permit the following year or not.
4:09:19 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if he supported a fee for people who fish
in other fisheries to put food on the table for their families.
MR. JENSEN said he didn't have a good answer for that question.
4:10:08 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN asked how long it takes for someone to become a
fully functioning board member.
4:10:45 PM
MR. JENSEN replied that there is a big learning curve and it
takes a while because of unique problems in unique areas among
many different user groups.
4:11:56 PM
SENATOR BEN STEVENS asked if his boat is the same F/V Johnny L
that Billy Fitzgerald burned up at Middle Bluff.
MR. JENSEN replied that he hadn't seen the boat for some time
and didn't know what happened to it, but that is one of the
places it used to fish.
CHAIR WAGONER thanked Mr. Jensen for his service.
4:12:52 PM
MELVAN MORRIS, nominee to the Board of Fisheries, said his first
term was a very rewarding experience and he looks forward to
serving a second time. He said he would try to make good
decisions on the many important issues coming before the board
in the next cycle.
4:15:43 PM
CHAIR WAGONER said Mr. Morris was conflicted out in a lot votes
during this year's hearings and asked him how important it would
be to pass laws, similar to last year's, on conflicts of
interest for board members.
MR. MORRIS replied that he has a small business and in reality
has no conflict of interest, but he always took the conservative
approach. He should be able to participate, because he has
unique insights and would support a bill like that.
4:18:42 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked what he thought the goals of the board
would be in the near future.
MR. MORRIS replied that the Gulf groundfish rationalization
issue is important, although it is still not in a crisis
situation.
4:23:01 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if he thought the board should become
professional.
MR. MORRIS replied if the board became professional, serving on
it might become less of a labor of love and more of an
opportunity to generate earnings. A person has to be open-minded
and committed to the public process - not have a credentialed
agenda.
4:25:49 PM
CARL CROME, Petersburg commercial fisherman, supported both John
Jensen and Mel Morris. He supported legislation that would allow
conflicted board members to be able to vote.
4:29:40 PM
REUBEN HANKE, Kenai, supported all three from personal
professional experience.
4:30:38 PM
CHAIR WAGONER asked him his view on the conflicting issue.
MR. HANKE replied if people are allowed to have seats on boards
who have vested interests, there might be problems. "Right now I
think we have a pretty good system."
4:32:12 PM
RICKY GEASE, Executive Director, Kenai River Sportfishing
Association, said he was confident in all three candidates'
ability to analyze and synthesize the data that comes before
them and their ability to make sound decisions.
4:33:23 PM
SENATOR DYSON moved to forward all three names to the full body.
There were no objections and it was so ordered.
4:33:38 PM At ease 4:35:27 PM
^BOARD OF GAME
CARL MORGAN, nominee to the Board of Game, gave a brief
statement of his background.
4:37:44 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if he was still on the federal advisory
board and if he thought that conflicted with being on the Board
of Game in terms of allocation issues.
MR. MORGAN replied that he sits on an advisory board only and he
would resign his seat if a conflict were found.
4:38:45 PM
TED SPRAKER, nominee to the Board of Game, said he had a career
with ADF&G and he doesn't want to see it end. That is why he
wants to continue on the board. He hopes to help restore
depressed game populations and improve the state's regulatory
process. He thought the board currently has a lot of unfinished
business as far as management of predators and prey across the
state, even though five new programs are on the books right now.
More information needs to be gathered so that programs in other
areas can go forward. He also said they were trying to adjust
the Tier 2 hunts in Unit 13 to protect the resource while better
serving Alaskans.
4:42:47 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked how many board members are former
department employees.
MR. SPRAKER replied himself and Mr. Somerville.
4:43:34 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if he has a tendency to protect his alma
mater.
MR. SPRAKER replied that his vote and record stand for his
actions. He is concerned with protecting the resource and
turning the declining game populations around. If he goes
against the department in doing that, that's too bad.
4:46:04 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked why the board rescinded its action on
same-day airborne on bears in the Tok area this last year.
MR. SPRAKER replied there was a lot of controversy about
starting same-day hunting of brown bears in Unit 12 and portions
of 20E. At first most of the board supported it. It rescinded
its action because it may have moved too fast in that direction.
One of the board's main concerns is with maintaining strong
support from the Governor, the legislature and a majority of the
public on the decisions it makes - assuming they are
biologically sound. He elaborated:
Changing our mind on that decision? I guess I'd rather
look at that as postponing that decision. I'm not
trying to sidestep the issue at all. We've also
increased the bag limit to two bears; we've dropped
the tag in the area. We've allowed for the first time
baiting of brown bears in the area. And in my opinion,
I think we've put a lot of pressure on brown bears in
the area and if those don't work, we'll be back in two
years to look at it again. Then we'll be on really
strong ground to take a very aggressive step in going
to same-day airborne, because that's something that we
haven't had in the state since 1974. It's going to be
a step that's going to be looked at from a lot of
different segments of the public. There will be a lot
of animosity against hunters and against the board, I
think for taking that step unless we go through all
these different smaller steps first.
4:49:06 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if that decision had an outside influence.
MR. SPRAKER replied that the Governor advised the board that it
might be moving too fast and he agreed.
CHAIR WAGONER thanked him for his service.
4:51:35 PM
RON SOMERVILLE, nominee to the Board of Game, gave a brief
statement about why he wanted to continue serving - for some of
the same reasons that Mr. Spraker stated. He has lived in Alaska
all of his life and worked for the department of 24 years and
for the legislature and the governor. His interest is the
resource and most of his career was dedicated to that.
He was interested in working with the board again because it has
been proactive and he thought game management needed some
serious changes. Because of the urban-rural divide it has
created, people have not paid attention to the things that most
matter - like animal husbandry.
In the last eight years I think you've seen management
become observers rather than documenting what's been
going on and not really participating in the process
of managing and I'd like to see us change that.
The subsistence law is a new concept based on exclusive use and
people are working with the idea of identifying specific areas
for subsistence use. It's a fairly simple concept and fits
within the confines and objectives of the state's subsistence
laws. He also favored helping the state retain authority over
the federal government on important issues.
MR. SOMERVILLE said another area of concern of his is the
tremendous disconnect between the Board of Game, the legislature
and the department. "A lot of it has to do with just getting
people together and honestly dealing with the issues,
disagreeing when it's appropriate, but making sure that there
are communications."
4:57:04 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked how long he has served on the board
already.
MR. SOMERVILLE replied two years, but he has been an observer
for 24 years.
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if he feels the board's budget within the
department's budget is adequate for it to function properly.
MR. SOMERVILLE replied no. He explained that people prefer to
deal with the federal board because it is deals with issues
every year and the board deals with issues only on a three-year
cycle unless an appeal is made for an out-of-cycle
considerations.
We get a lot of out-of-cycle requests. I'm just
illustrating something to you - why is this
disconnect, again, occurring? Part of it has to do
with money. The Board of Fish cut back on number of
days; the Board of Game - we had a four-day meeting
here last fall in Juneau - two days dedicated to
public testimony. We didn't have time to finish our
official business. We had two days to do that and it's
just not enough time.
The other things is, in dealing with things like
subsistence, for instance, and trying to fix this Tier
2 thing in Unit 13, which I think we'll be successful
in doing. It takes a tremendous amount of time to
overcome the record. Our attorneys keep telling us
when those things were set into motion a tremendous
amount of information went on the record and in order
to survive litigation, you have to somehow counter why
is the board changing this record....
5:00:51 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS asked if he thought the board process is immune
from the public process.
5:01:14 PM
MR. SOMERVILLE replied:
First I think that we're not immune to the - I can
honestly say having worked on both sides of the table
- and I've heard many people from other states say the
same thing - Alaska's board regulatory process is the
most democratic of any state in the union - bar none.
But he said the process can be improved.
SENATOR SEEKINS said he thought the legislature could provide
more adequate funding in terms of consideration of the time the
members have to deliberate and to expand the hearing process.
MR. SOMERVILLE added that he is the one who took the call from
the governor's office on Units 12 and 20E. They talked about
allowing the use of aircraft to land and taking an animal within
300 yards or so from the plane - taking same-day air borne,
which was allowed in Alaska up to the late 60s. At first the
governor's office felt that would be okay, but he was later
informed otherwise. He didn't want to get into a pissing match
with the governor's office and felt that the department had
already come a long ways. So, he made the motion to rescind the
board's action. He concluded:
I want to assure you that we're committed to reducing
predators in that area until those prey populations,
as your instructions are in the intensive management
law, have told us to do. The board will do that. In
this case, there was some political discussion. I take
the responsibility.
5:04:13 PM
SENATOR SEEKINS said it was noticed that one of the "no" votes
to rescind was not renominated for confirmation to the Board of
Game and asked if that kind of perception of political
interference has a chilling effect on future board decisions.
MR. SOMERVILLE replied that he didn't think so - at least not
this board. He thought it was in their best interests to work
with the governor otherwise he would have voted the other way.
CHAIR WAGONER thanked him for his service.
5:06:05 PM
SENATOR DYSON moved to forward all the names to the full body.
There were no objections and it was so ordered.
5:06:24 PM At ease 5:07:30 PM
^COMMERCIAL FISHERIES ENTRY COMMISSION
PETER FROEHLICH, nominee to the Commercial Fisheries Entry
Commission (CFEC), said he is excited to start a new career.
It is completing a circle for me - I actually earned
my way through law school commercial fishing. Shortly
after becoming an attorney, I worked for the attorney
general's office in this building in '78. It took me a
couple of years to get around to fisheries issues
assignments and I represented the Commercial Fisheries
Entry Commission for several years and later worked on
their regulations along with other agencies.... I've
always been interested in fishing, fishing in general,
commercial fishing in particular, fisheries
regulation. The limited entry setup we have, which
took a constitutional amendment to accomplish is
pretty unique. It is a model that's been looked to by
other nations...and works pretty well.
He said the Carlson fee differential issue is still floating
around and there are a lot of appeals by applicants who were
around in the '70s and he hoped he could help get some of those
resolved. He said he has experience with dispute resolution in
trial court and is looking forward to a change of pace and
subject matter.
MR. FROEHLICH said he also thought the Chignik issue, which has
to do with salmon restructuring and balancing efficiency of
harvest versus the common use principle, is one of the most
important issues that face the board today. It ties in with
buyback and reducing units of gear. "I think that kind of stuff
- that's where we're headed." State control out to the three-
mile limit is also an issue that the commission will be involved
in.
CHAIR WAGONER thanked him for volunteering to serve on the
board.
5:14:18 PM
SENATOR DYSON moved to forward Mr. Froehlich's name to the full
body. There were no objections and it was so ordered.
CHAIR WAGONER adjourned the meeting at 5:14:49 PM.
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