SENATE RESOURCES COMMITTEE January 24, 1994 3:30 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Mike Miller, Chairman Senator Loren Leman, Vice Chairman Senator Steve Frank Senator Drue Pearce Senator Al Adams Senator Dave Donley Senator Fred Zharoff MEMBERS ABSENT None COMMITTEE CALENDAR SENATE BILL NO. 238 "An Act establishing a procedure for review of proposed projects under the Alaska coastal management program, and relating to petitions for compliance with and enforcement of district coastal management programs under that program and to the disposition of those petitions." SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 40 Urging the Congress to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 with respect to the financial responsibility requirements for offshore exploration and production facilities. SCHEDULED, BUT NOT HEARD THIS DAY. CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 59(MLV) "An Act making a special appropriation to the Department of Natural Resources for refunds to certain veterans who purchased state land and for reimbursement to the University of Alaska for the veterans' land discount applied to land transferred to the University of Alaska; and providing for an effective date." SCHEDULED, BUT NOT HEARD THIS DAY. PREVIOUS ACTION SB 238 - No previous action to record. SJR 40 - No previous action to record. HB 59 - No previous action to record. WITNESS REGISTER Linda Freed 710 Mill Bay Rd. Kodiak, Alaska 99615 POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 238. Steve Porter Arco P.O. Box 100360 Anchorage, Alaska 99510-0360 POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 238. Paul Rusanowski, Direction Division of Governmental Coordination P.O. Box 110030 Juneau, Alaska 99811-0020 POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 238. Beth Kerttula, Assistant Attorney General Department of Law P.O. Box 110300 Juneau, Alaska 99811-0300 POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SB 238. ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 94-2, SIDE A Number 001 CHAIRMAN MILLER called the Resources Committee meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. and announced SB 238 (COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES) S) to be up for consideration. He announced that there was a 4:00 p.m. briefing they had to attend so he would reschedule the other bills. SENATOR ADAMS said he was prepared to move SJR 40. SENATOR PEARCE, sponsor of SB 238, said it clarifies when and how certain parties can petition the Coastal Policy Council during an Alaska Coastal Management Program Consistency Review. It will ensure that complaints are heard and addressed in a timely manner. It will ensure that citizens, state agencies, and affected projects have a voice in the development policies of our state's coastal areas. SENATOR ADAMS said that this is a good piece of legislation, but the title is broad enough to slip a couple of bills into it and he asked if she intended to keep this language. SENATOR PEARCE answered that other people might want to make changes, although this is what she wanted drafted. Number 112 LINDA FREED, Community Development Director for the Kodiak Borough, said SB 238, from a district perspective, provides a good approach to development of good coastal development policy. It established an appropriate level of review for consistency determinations. Number 136 STEVE PORTER, Arco, said he had participated in a number of the working sessions with Linda Freed and this is a consensus bill. They are comfortable with the direction the bill is taking. There is one additional amendment he requested. In Section 46.40.096 (e) establishing a reasonable time limit, he wanted 30 days mentioned specifically as a reasonable time frame. Number 170 PAUL RUSANOWSKI, Director, Division of Governmental Coordination, emphasized that SB 238 represents several years of work and consensus building amongst various constituents within the Coastal Zone Management Program. He explained that it fixes a legal problem, defined in an Attorney General's opinion from a year ago, in which Commissioners had been statutorily defined to participate in elevations and in the Coastal Policy Council. They cannot render a decision in both situations when the same project is involved, he said. SB 238 redrafts the elevation and petition process so that petitions concerning policy issues of the Coastal Zone Management Program, district plans, or the state programs remain unchanged from the present process. Instead of allowing a project to go through elevation and then to petition, they allow a project review to go through elevations. Then it would proceed to court if there were differences of opinion. It would not go to the Coastal Policy Council. In lieu of the petition process on projects, they are providing a mechanism whereby an applicant will have an opportunity to have their comments heard before the Council. MR. RUSANOWSKI said he has no problem with defining a reasonable period of time as 30 days. They did not have time to arrive at a consensus position on it prior to drafting this bill. Number 227 BETH KERTTULA, Assistant Attorney General, said the bill does solve the very major due process problem. SENATOR ADAMS asked if Arco agreed with the "reasonable period of time?" MS. KERTTULA said they had no problem. SENATOR ADAMS asked what she thought about the title. MS. KERTTULA said the title has to describe basically what it describes. She said there is a possibility it could be tightened. Number 291 TOM LOHMAN, Barrow, said he supported SB 238 and offered to answer questions. SENATOR MILLER thanked everyone for their testimony. he assigned SB 238 to a subcommittee consisting of Senator Pearce, Chairman, Senator Miller, and Senator Donley. He adjourned the meeting at 3:50 p.m.