HOUSE BILL 408 "An Act establishing the Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission." REPRESENTATIVE JOHN DAVIES, SPONSOR, reported that the bill would create a seismic hazard safety commission. The commission would be a catalyst advisory body that would bring together various groups in Alaska to prepare for earthquakes. He noted that Alaska was subject to earthquakes and had experienced three of the ten largest earthquakes in the world, including the earthquake in 1964. After the 1964 earthquake, many other states in the Western U.S. had created seismic safety commissions, but Alaska had not. He added that nearly every state in the nation participated in some kind of seismic safety planning. He pointed out that there were typically 40,000 to 50,000 deaths when there was a large earthquake somewhere else in the world of magnitude 5 or 6, but in the U.S., there were few casualties because of building codes. The bill would prevent the loss of lives during earthquakes in the most cost-effective way. Senator Pearce referred to work done by the statewide Emergency Planning Commission and noted that seismic emergencies were part of the statewide plan in statute. Representative Davies responded that the planning commission dealt with response and not mitigation, which was true in all the Western states. He stressed that there was very little overlap between the two activities. Mitigation related to building codes and [end of tape]. [SFC 98-167, Side B] Senator Phillips MOVED to REPORT CSHB 408(FIN) out of committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. There was an OBJECTION to the motion. A roll call was taken on the motion. IN FAVOR: Adams, Phillips, Donley, Sharp OPPOSED: Pearce, Torgerson Senator Parnell was absent from the vote. The motion PASSED (4/2). CSHB 408(FIN) was REPORTED out of committee with no recommendation and a fiscal note from the Office of the Governor.