CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 104(FIN) "An Act relating to the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act; providing inducements for the construction of a natural gas pipeline and shippers that commit to use that pipeline; establishing the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act matching contribution fund; providing for an Alaska Gasline Inducement Act coordinator; making conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date." This was the 20th hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance Committee. 6:24:56 PM Co-Chair Hoffman move to adopt the Finance committee substitute Version 25-GS1060\T, Bullock, dated May 10, 2007, as the working document. Without objection, the Version "T" committee substitute was ADOPTED as the working document. 6:25:24 PM Chapter 90. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. STEVE PORTER, Staff to Senator Bert Stedman, discussed the changes the Version "T" committee substitute would make to provisions of Chapter 90, added to AS 43 by Section 1 of the bill. Article 2. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act License. Section 43.90.110. Natural gas pipeline project construction inducement. Mr. Porter stated that the first change in Version "T", as compared to the previous Finance committee substitute Version 25-GS1060\N, was in Article 2, Section 43.90.110 subsection (a)(1). The words "in the form of reimbursements" was added following "contributions" on page 2, line 17. 6:26:25 PM MARCIA DAVIS, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Revenue, informed the Committee that this "technical" change would strengthen language pertaining to the $500 million grant reimbursement monies provided by the State to the licensee. It would require "adequate support and identification of the costs before monies are provided for that particular expenditure". Requesting "reimbursement monies for an expenditure that does not meet the qualifications as a qualified expenditure" would be a violation. 6:28:36 PM Mr. Porter noted that the word "match" was replaced with "reimburse" in two sections of Section 43.90.110: page 2 line 24 of subsection (a)(1)(A) and page 2 line 29 of subsection (a)(1)(B). This change would further clarify provisions relating to qualified expenditures. Mr. Porter also noted that the language "pursuing firm transportation commitments in a binding open season, to securing financing for the project, or" was inserted following the phrase "reasonably related to" in subsection (a)(1)(C), page 3 line 4 of this section, in order "to expand" the activities "the licensee could actually perform during" the five year period immediately following receipt of the license. 6:29:56 PM Senator Dyson asked whether changing from a matching situation to a reimbursement scenario, as specified by the revisions to Section 43.90.110, subsections (a)(1)(A) and (B), would have "the affect of cutting in half the amount of money for the work that would be done during this period." (1) subject to appropriation, state matching contributions in the form of reimbursements in a total amount not to exceed $500,000,000, paid to the licensee during the five-year period immediately following the date the license is awarded;… Ms. Davis identified "the actual language change" as being in subsection (a)(1), page 2 lines 17 through 19. She read the language and expressed the following. …the actual matching percentage is still in play. So, if they say, I want a match prior to open season of 40 percent, it would be a reimbursement up to the 40 percent. So the percentage level of match is still in play. The only thing that the addition of the word reimburse does is affect the timing, so that the State isn't paying the match at the initial outlay of cash by that licensee but rather its after they've outlaid, provided the documentary support, then we provide the reimbursement that's still subject to those caps of percentages. Senator Dyson appreciated the clarification. 6:31:31 PM Section 43.90.130. Application requirements. Mr. Porter next directed attention to paragraph (1) of Section 43.90.130, page 3 beginning on line 26. The phrase "the applicant shall file with the commissioners the number of copies of the application, and any amended application, required by the commissioners; at the same time the copies of the application or an amended application are filed with the commissioners, the applicant shall provide six copies of the application or amended application to the presiding officer of each chamber of the legislature" was added following "request for applications" in paragraph (1), page 3 line 31. 6:32:21 PM Section 43.90.160. Notice, review, and comment. (c) After the commissioners determine that the applications are complete under AS 43.90.140, …. Mr. Porter advised that the change in subsection (c) of this section was to pluralize "the application is complete" to read "the applications are complete", as reflected on page 12 line 3. Ms. Davis noted that this language had been pluralized in previous versions of the bill. Changing it from the singular to the plural recognized that all license applications would be received at one time rather than at staggered times. 6:34:07 PM Section 43.90.170. Application evaluation and ranking. (b) When evaluating the net present value of anticipated cash flow to the state from the applicant's project proposal, the commissioners shall use an undiscounted value and, at a minimum, discount rates of two, five, six, and eight percent, and consider Mr. Porter stated that the discount rate of six percent was added to subsection (b) page 12 line 20. 6:34:49 PM Section 43.90.200. Certification by regulatory authority and project sanction. (a) A licensee that is awarded a certificate of public convenience and necessity from a regulatory agency with jurisdiction over the project shall accept the certificate on or before the date the order granting the certificate is no longer subject to judicial review. 6:35:43 PM Mr. Porter stated that, as a clarifying measure, the words "on or before the date" were added following the first reference to "the certificate" in subsection (a) page 15 line 4. The words "or earlier at the licensee's discretion" were deleted following "judicial review" at the end of the subsection, page 15 line 5. Mr. Porter informed the Committee that the term "amended certificate" was utilized throughout the previous version of the bill. That term is deleted entirely from Version "T" by changing the definition of certificate to include "both certificate and language sufficient to cover amended certificate as well." Further discussion on this change would be forthcoming. (f) In this section, "effective date of the certificate of public convenience and necessity" means the earlier of the date the order granting the certificate is not longer subject to judicial review or the date the licensee accepts the certificate. Mr. Porter advised that two changes were made to subsection (f) of this section. The words "the earlier of" were inserted following "means" on page 16 line 3 and the words "or the date the licensee accepts the certificate" were added following "review" on line 4. 6:37:30 PM (e) The transfer and assignments under (d) of this section as a result of failure to comply with (a) or (b) of this section are at no cost to the state or the state's designee. A transfer under (c) of this section shall be subject to the state's payment to the licensee of the net amount of expenditures incurred and paid by the licensee that are qualified expenditures for the purposes of AS 43.90.110. Ms. Davis advised that the phrase "is at the licensee's net cost" were deleted and replaced with "shall be subject to the state's payment to the licensee of the net amount of expenditures incurred and paid by the licensee that are qualified expenditures" following "A transfer under (c) of this section" on page 15 line 30. 6:38:17 PM Section 43.90.210. Amendment of or modification to the project plan. Subject to the approval of the commissioners, a licensee may amend or modify its project plan if the amendments or modifications improve the net present value of the project to the state, are necessary because of an order or requirement by a regulatory agency with jurisdiction over the project or by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, or the amendment or modification is necessary because of changed circumstances outside the licensee's control and not reasonably foreseeable before the license was issued. An amendment or modification approved under this section must be consistent with the requirements of AS 43.90.130 and, except for an amendment or modification required because of an order or requirement of a regulatory agency with jurisdiction over the project or by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, may not substantially diminish the value of the project to the state or the project's likelihood of success. Mr. Porter informed that the words "an order issued" were deleted following "jurisdiction over the project or" on page 16 lines 9 and 15 of this section. Ms Davis advised that the phrase "net present" was also deleted following "may not substantially diminish the" on line 16. This phrase was inadvertently included in the previous version of the bill as the result of a technical drafting error. 6:39:33 PM Section 43.90.220. Records, reports, conditions, and audit requirements. (2) receive all relevant notices when and as issued and information when and as sent to the governing body or bodies and equity holders; Mr. Porter stated that the words "when and as" were inserted in subsection (d)(2), page 17 line 4, of this section. 6:40:03 PM Section 43.90.240. Abandonment of project. (b) If the commissioners and the licensee do not agree that the project is uneconomic, the disagreement shall be settled by arbitration administered by….. Mr. Porter stated that the phrase "or the licensee find that the project is uneconomic and the other parties disagree" was deleted and replaced with "and the licensee do not agree" following "commissioners" on page 18 line 26 of subsection (b) of this section in order to clarify that "commissioners and licensees don't make findings, they disagree". 6:40:51 PM Article 3. Resource Inducements. Section 43.90.300. Qualification for resource inducements. Mr. Porter stated that the word "inducement" was pluralized to "inducements" on page 20, line 27 of the section title. Section 43.90.310. Royalty inducement. (c) To claim the inducement under (b) of this section, a lessee or other person qualified under AS 43.90.300 shall agree, on an application form provided by the Department of Natural Resources, that the lessee or other person, and the lessee's or other person's affiliates, successors, assigns, and agents will not protest or appeal a filing by the licensee to roll in expansion costs of the mainline up to a level that is required in AS 43.90.130(7) if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission does not have a rebuttable presumption in effect that rolled-in treatment applies to the cost of the expansion of the project. The agreement not to protest may not preclude the lessee or other person, or the lessee's or other person's affiliates, successors, assigns, and agents from protesting a filing to roll in mainline expansion costs that licensee is not required to propose and support under AS 43.90.130(7). Section 43.90.320. Gas production tax exemption. (c) The person claiming the exemption under this section shall agree that the person, and the person's affiliates, successors, assigns, and agents will not protest or appeal a filing by the licensee to roll in mainline expansion costs up to the level that the licensee is required to propose an support under AS 43.90.130(7) if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission does not have a rebuttable presumption in effect that rolled-in treatment applies to the cost of the expansion of the project. The agreement required under this subsection may not preclude the person, or the person's affiliates, successors, assigns, and agents, from protesting a filing to roll in mainline expansion costs that licensee is not required to propose and support under AS 43.90.130(7). Section 43.90.330. Inducement vouchers. (d) A person that receives a voucher under this section and a gas producer that receives resource inducements under a voucher shall agree that the person and the gas producer and their respective affiliates, successors, assigns, or agents will not protest or appeal a filing by the licensee to roll-in mainline expansion costs up to the level that the licensee is required to propose and support under AS 43.90.130(7) if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission does not have a rebuttable presumption in effect that rolled-in treatment applies to the cost of the expansion of the project. The agreement required under this subsection may not preclude the person or gas producer or their respective affiliates, successors, assigns, or agents from protesting a filing to roll-in mainline expansion costs that the licensee is not required to propose and support under AS 43.90.130(7). Mr. Porter stated that the clause "if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission does not have a rebuttable presumption in effect that rolled-in treatment applies to the cost of the expansion of the project." has been inserted following the first reference to "AS 43.90.130(7)" in three subsections of the bill: Section 43.90.310. Royalty inducement., subsection (c), page 23 line 8; Section 43.90.320. Gas production tax exemption., subsection (c), page 24, line 9; and Section 43.90.330. Inducement vouchers., subsection (d), page 25 line 9. Article 4. Miscellaneous Provisions. Section 43.90.400. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act matching contribution fund; disbursements; audits. (c) The commissioners shall adopt regulations that provide for application to receive matching contributions in the form of reimbursements for qualified expenditures as provided under AS 43.90.110, and …… Mr. Porter stated that the phase "in the form of reimbursements" was inserted following "contributions" in subsection (c) page 25 line 30 of Section 43.90.400. 6:43:14 PM Section 43.90.440. Licensed project assurances. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the state grants a licensee assurances that the licensee has exclusive enjoyment of the inducements provided under this chapter before the commencement of commercial operations…. Mr. Porter pointed out that the word "operation" in Section 43.90.440, subsection (a) page 26 line 22 was pluralized to "operations" in this version of the bill. 6:43:32 PM Article 5. General Provisions. Section 43.90.900. Definitions. (4)"certificate of public convenience and necessity" and "certificate" mean a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, and a certificate of public convenience of necessity issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under 15 U.S.C. 719 et seq. (Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Act of 1976) that is amended to comply with the terms of the license; Mr. Porter stated that, as mentioned earlier, the definitions of "certificate of public convenience and necessity" and "certificate" were changed to accommodate the deletion of the term "amended certificate" from this version of the bill. This definition is depicted in paragraph (4), page 28 line 31 through page 29 line 5, of Section 43.90.900. 6:44:55 PM (17) "open season" means the process that complies with 18 C.F.R. Part 157, Subpart B (Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects) or similar procedures for soliciting commitments for pipeline capacity under the regulations, policies, rules or precedent of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska; Mr. Porter also advised that the language "or similar procedures for soliciting commitments for pipeline capacity under the regulations, policies, rules or precedent of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska" was added to the definition of "open season", as depicted in paragraph (17) of the Definitions section, page 30 line 9. 6:45:35 PM This concluded the overview of the changes included in the Version "T" committee substitute. AT EASE 6:46:34 PM / 6:50:31 PM Amendment #1: This amendment inserts "lobbying costs," following "overhead costs," in Section 43.90.110(a)(1)(C), page 3 line 10, of Article 2. Chapter 90. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act License., added to AS 43 by Section 1. Co-Chair Stedman moved and objected for discussion. Co-Chair Stedman explained that this amendment would disqualify lobbying costs from being a qualified expenditure, as defined in this subsection. 6:51:03 PM PATRICK GALVIN, Commissioner, Department of Revenue, communicated that the Department did not object to the amendment. Co-Chair Stedman removed his objection. 6:52:26 PM There being no further objection, Amendment #1 was ADOPTED. Amendment #2: This amendment increases the "five-year" time period specified in Section 43.90.110(a)(1), page 2 line 19, of Article 2. Chapter 90. Alaska Gasline Inducement Act License., added to AS 43 by Section 1, to a "seven-year" time period. Co-Chair Stedman moved and objected for discussion. 6:53:26 PM Commissioner Galvin advised that subsection (a)(1) addressed the time period in which qualified expenditures would be matched by the State. The amendment would increase that time period to seven years after the issuance of the license. Commissioner Galvin spoke as follows. In response to testimony and information provided by potential applicants, its been requested to provide more flexibility in terms of both the time line and in the ability of applicants to potentially have costs associated with the actual FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] determination timeframe, if there's additional costs while FERC may be considering an application and also providing potentially more time between an open season and when the beginning … engineering and other field work would be undertaken to pursue the FERC certificate that this would provide more flexibility for applicants and potentially increase our pool of applicants by providing this flexibility. 6:54:42 PM Senator Huggins stated he would "counter-intuitively" support the amendment in spite of his concern that it might have "the potential net effect of expanding the timeline." 6:55:13 PM Co-Chair Stedman maintained his objection to the amendment. A roll call was taken on the motion. IN FAVOR: Senator Olson, Senator Huggins, Senator Thomas, Senator Dyson, Senator Elton and Co-Chair Hoffman OPPOSED: Co-Chair Stedman The motion PASSED (6-1) Amendment #2 was ADOPTED. 6:56:07 PM Amendment #3: This amendment deletes "80" and inserts "90" in AS 43.90.110(a)(1)(B), page 2 line 30. The language would read, in part, as follows. (B) after the close of the first binding open season, the state shall reimburse the licensee's qualified expenditures at the level specified in the license; however, the state's matching contribution may not exceed 90 percent of the qualified expenditures … Co-Chair Stedman moved and objected for discussion. 6:56:46 PM Commissioner Galvin explained that this amendment pertained to the timeframe in which an applicant could establish the level of the State's matching contribution rate after the initial open season. The adoption of this amendment would increase that level to no more than 90 percent of the qualified expenditures. Commissioner Galvin continued as follows. Again, it is something that the applicant will establish in their proposal. This provides more flexibility for applicants to potentially put more of the weight on the State. It is being responsive to primarily concerns raised by TransCanada in terms of recognizing the risk sharing after an open season and concern with regard to the fact that its primarily the State's desire and in the State's interest to have the project continue to move forward, whereas the company may see a different risk profile, and allowing for the State to take on more of that weight may again encourage more applications, which is the ultimate goal, and recognizing, also, that the State's cap on expenditures remains at $500 million. Commissioner Galvin considered "it appropriate to be responsive to the desire for flexibility in that area with the primary desire to increase the potential pool of applicants." 6:58:24 PM Co-Chair Stedman thought that changes, such as the one proposed in this amendment, have been made to "attract more midstream participants" such as potential pipeline builders like TransCanada and Enbridge. 6:59:57 PM Commissioner Galvin expressed that, over the past few weeks, numerous changes have been made "to the bill to attract additional applicants" in an effort "to eliminate potential barriers" identified by producers and others. Concerns raised by TransCanada and others about such things as upstream activities have been addressed. More changes would be anticipated in the endeavor to make the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) "more flexible for all potential participants." 7:00:34 PM Senator Huggins appreciated the Commissioner's "candor" and hoped that the actions taken in the bill "would attract more applicants." Nonetheless, he would be voting against the amendment because he was uncomfortable being told by a company that, the in order to get them to apply, the State must increase its matching contribution level to 90 percent. 7:01:14 PM Commissioner Galvin clarified that "neither TransCanada nor any other applicant has stated if this changed from 80 to 90 that they would come." The overall effort is to make AGIA "more attractive" and "to be responsive to our applicant pool." The issue addressed in this amendment "was identified as an area of concern." Senator Huggins appreciated the clarification. Nonetheless, "when it comes to dollars and cents, I have a little different value system. So I'm a no vote." A roll call was taken on the motion. IN FAVOR: Senator Olson, Senator Thomas, Senator Dyson, Senator Elton and Co-Chair Hoffman OPPOSED: Senator Huggins and Co-Chair Stedman The motion PASSED (5-2) Amendment #3 was ADOPTED. 7:03:01 PM Amendment #4: This amendment deletes "and" following "AS 43.90.130(9);" on page 12 line 31 of Article 2, Section 43.90.170(b)(5) of Chapter 90, added to AS 43 by Section 1, and adds a new paragraph that reads as follows. (6) economic value resulting from payments required to be made to the state under the terms of the proposal; Co-Chair Stedman moved and objected for discussion. 7:03:40 PM Commissioner Galvin stated that this amendment would allow the State to consider a variety of applicant payment options. Further clarifying remarks were provided as follows. If an applicant were to propose, as part of their proposal, making payments to the State, either in the form of a passive equity interest, where the payment would be made as part of some profit sharing or payments based upon the revenues generated by the project, or, as the port authority has indicated, they would create a profit sharing opportunity for the State, or if the applicant were to propose some sort of repayment in a form of just a set payment as opposed to something based upon revenues. All of those would be something that could be considered and evaluated as part of the net present value economic evaluation criteria. And, we believe that this is the most responsive way to capture some of those areas of interest and also to provide flexibility from the applicants. But, make it clear that within the bill the requirement that any State contribution will reduce the rate base and thereby reduce the tariff remains: that this is not a substitute where the State contribution will become the loan and will end up being paid by the shippers when they make their tariff payments. This would be something that would be offered by the licensee out of their proceeds from the project and would be offered as a way of making their proposal more attractive and more likely to potentially succeed in the competitive bidding process. 7:06:03 PM In response to a concern voiced by Senator Elton, Co-Chair Stedman stated that any language issues associated with inserting this new paragraph into the bill would be addressed by the bill's drafters. 7:06:41 PM Senator Olson asked whether the net affect of the amendment would be to provide an opportunity "to have an increased bottom line for the State." Commissioner Galvin responded in the affirmative. "This would anticipate that if the licensee were to propose making these payments it would result in an increased bottom line for the State. We would get more value out of the project." 7:07:08 PM Senator Huggins complimented the Commissioner on developing amendment language that would provide an opportunity for the State to further benefit from the project. Co-Chair Stedman removed his objection. There being no further objection, Amendment #4 was ADOPTED. 7:07:53 PM Amendment #5: This amendment inserts the word "maximum" following "the" in Article 2, Section 43.90.130. Application requirements, subparagraph (15) on page 9 line 21 of Chapter 90, added to AS 43 by Section 1. The language would read, in part, as follows. (15) to the maximum extent permitted by law, commit to… Co-Chair Stedman moved Amendment #5. There being no objection, Amendment #5 was ADOPTED. 7:09:22 PM Commissioner Galvin addressed another area of concern in the bill; specifically language added to paragraph (1) of Article 2, Section 43.90.130. Application requirements., page 3 line 30 through page 4, line 4 that reads, in part, as follows. …the applicant shall file with the commissioners the number of copies of the application, and any amended application, required by the commissioners; at the same time the copies of the application or an amended application are filed with the commissioners, the applicant shall provide six copies of the application or amended application to the presiding officer of each chamber of the legislature; Commissioner Galvin was particularly concerned about the language requiring the applicant to provide copies of their application to the presiding officer of each chamber of the legislature. The concern is that this action could compromise the integrity of the process. It is imperative that there be "no opportunity for one of the applicants, who that point still has the opportunity to amend their application, to have access to information provided by a competing applicant." Commissioner Galvin declared that the commissioners must be able to keep the applications "secure" and "within their control". Co-Chair Stedman advised that forthcoming Amendment #6 might address this concern. AT EASE 7:11:54 PM / 7:24:26 PM Amendment #6: This amendment deletes the ";" following "legislature" on page 4 line 4 of subsection (1) of Article 2, Section 43.90.130 of Chapter 90 added to AS 43 by Section 1 and inserts new language as follows. in a sealed envelope, and such envelope shall not be opened and the contents distributed until the receipt by the presiding officers of each chamber of notice, that the commissioners have determined the applications are complete under AS 43.90.140 and the presiding officer may open the envelop after signing a confidentiality agreement under AS 43.90.160(c). Co-Chair Stedman moved and objected for discussion. Co-Chair Stedman thought this language would address the confidentially concern arising from providing copies of the applications to the presiding officer of each chamber of the Legislature. 7:25:26 PM Commissioner Galvin advised that the issue "still causes us concern." He elaborated as follows. …the Executive Branch is still responsible for implementing the laws. And, as part of that, we are responsible for implementing the AGIA process. And, that process has safeguards with regard to both the flow of the applications and the retention of the confidential materials. What this does, is it goes outside of the process and additional language that, as far as I'm aware, is unprecedented anywhere else in State procedure, to have the information provided simultaneously to the Executive Branch and to the presiding officers. Now, there's no limitation in here on, once the presiding officers open these, whether they are bound to not distribute the confidential information as is provided in other sections with regard to the commissioners. It states that the commissioners can only provide the information to others once those others within the Legislature have signed a confidentially agreements provided by the commissioners. This does not have those safeguards built into it. It's coming in from a completely different angle. I cannot understand the motivations given that this information will basically be available to the Legislature at the exact same time under this as under this other provision, as the existing provision. 7:27:22 PM Commissioner Galvin advised that the Department of Law recommends the existing bill language and has "established that it's got the safeguards necessary to ensure that the integrity of the process remains. This is not worked out in that regard and there are potential loopholes that I can already see." Commissioner Galvin noted that, in addition to the question of confidentiality, the inclusion of an amended application in the requirement is troublesome because "no where in the bill do we talk about them being able to submit an amended application." Commissioner Galvin pointed out that the application process currently involves the submittal of an application, with additional information to be provided as requested by the commissioners. "That information would then be made public, as well as the correspondence, when the applications are deemed complete. This just is basically additional process that's being tacked on here late in the day without us being able to work through the various pitfalls that may be associated with this additional process that, again, I'm not aware of anywhere else" in the bill. Commissioner Galvin urged the Committee to return to the language in the original version of the bill as it would provide the Legislature "full access to the information once its been complete, full access to the confidential information, and ensures that there isn't any question after the fact about the integrity of the information flow." AT EASE 7:29:28 PM / 7:30:07 PM Without objection, Co-Chair Stedman WITHDREW Amendment #6. Conceptual Amendment #8: This amendment deletes "the applicant shall file with the commissioners the number of copies of the application, and any amended application, required by the commissioners; at the same time the copies of the application or an amended application are files with the commissioners, the applicant shall provide six copies of the application or amended application to the presiding officer of each chamber of the legislature" following "applications;" on page 3 line 30 through page 4 line 4 of paragraph (1) of Article 2, Section 43.90.130. Application requirements. in Chapter 90 added to AS 43 by Section 1 Co-Chair Stedman moved and objected for further discussion. 7:32:34 PM No discussion forthcoming, Co-Chair Stedman removed his objection. There being no further objection, Conceptual Amendment #8 was ADOPTED. 7:33:18 PM Amendment #7: This amendment inserts "an amendment to" following "and" in paragraph (4), page 29, line 2 of Section 1, Article 5, Section 43.90.900. Definitions, of Chapter 90 added to AS 43 by Section 1. The amendment also deletes "that is amended to comply with the terms of the license" following "(Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Act of 1976)" on page 29, line 4 of that same paragraph. The changes proposed in the amendment would read as follows. (4) "certificate of public convenience and necessity" and "certificate" mean a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, and an amendment to a certificate of public convenience of necessity issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under 15 U.S.C. 719 et seq. (Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Act of 1976); Co-Chair Stedman moved and objected for discussion. 7:33:27 PM Commissioner Galvin explained that, as mentioned earlier, the term "or amended certificate" accompanied all references made to a FERC certificate in previous bill versions. A "global change" was made in this committee substitute in that the term "or amended certificate" was omitted, and the concept of that term was added to the definition of "certificate". Commissioner Galvin communicated, however, that the Department has determined that the manner in which the amended certificate is referenced in that definition could "be clarified further". This is the purpose of the amendment. In response to a question from Co-Chair Stedman, Commissioner Galvin affirmed that the Department supported the amendment. Co-Chair Stedman removed his objection. There being no other objection, Amendment #7 was ADOPTED. No further amendments were offered. AT EASE 7:35:33 PM / 7:36:56 PM 7:37:24 PM Senator Dyson was pleased with the Committee's bill and with the cooperation provided by the Administration in the endeavor. While he would have welcomed having the bill reviewed by Legislative consultants, he was sympathetic to the time constraint placed on Committee actions. 7:38:21 PM Co-Chair Stedman appreciated Senator Dyson's remarks. The amount of time he, Co-Chair Hoffman, and Senator Huggins spent "working through the details" of the bill, with the assistance of the Administration, is evidenced by the limited number and nature of the amendments offered today. 7:39:06 PM Co-Chair Hoffman moved to report the Version 25-GS1060\T committee substitute, as amended, from Committee with individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal notes. 7:39:27 PM There being no objection, CS SB104(FIN) was REPORTED from Committee with six previous fiscal notes: zero fiscal note #2 from the Division of Oil & Gas, Department of Natural Resources; $2,226,000 fiscal note #3 from the Department of Revenue; zero fiscal note #4 from the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development; zero fiscal note #5 from the Department of Administration; $302,100 fiscal note #6, from the Division of Oil & Gas, Department of Natural Resources; and $6,500,000 capital expenditure fiscal note #7 from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.