HJR 18-LIMIT DECLARATION OF NATL. MONUMENTS  3:30:58 PM CHAIR GIESSEL announced the consideration of HJR 18 [CSHJR 18(RES) was before the committee]. SENATOR COSTELLO moved to adopt SCS HJR 18( ), version 29- LS0707\N, as the working document. CHAIR GIESSEL objected for discussion purposes. JEFF TURNER, staff to Representative Millett, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, explained that HJR 18 urges the United States Congress to pass the Improved National Monument Designation Process Act. Sponsored by U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and co-sponsored by Senator Dan Sullivan, SB 437 creates new requirements and limits the authority of the president to create or expand existing monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Passed under the administration of President Teddy Roosevelt, it grants the president of the United States the power to create national monuments that protect and preserve important land marks in environmentally sensitive areas using the smallest area necessary to conserve and protect the monument. 3:32:50 PM SENATOR MICCICHE joined the committee. MR. TURNER continued that while this act has been used wisely for decades to preserve some of America's most pristine and important areas, a lot has changed. There are more demands on public lands than ever and state and local economies need to be taken into consideration. Tourism, hunting, commercial and sport fishing, and natural resource development all take place on public lands. The time has come to make the process for creating national monuments more comprehensive. 3:32:59 PM He said SB 437 makes three significant changes to the Antiquities Act. First, it requires specific authorization by an act of Congress to designate a national monument. Second, it requires approval by the state legislature and, for marine national monuments, it requires approval by each state legislature within 100 miles of the proposed monument. And third, it must conform to the National Environmental Policy Act. These commonsense changes will bring the act into the 21st Century. Why is the improved National Monument Designation Process Act so important and why is it important to Alaska? Right now there are 142 national monuments nationwide; 10 of them were created and 2 more were expanded since the current administration in Washington, D.C., started its second term in January 2013. They were all created without the approval of Congress or the states where the monuments were created. The last one in Alaska was created by President Carter in 1978. Senator Murkowski filed this legislation because she is concerned about the potential for new national monuments in Alaska that are going to restrict or outright prohibit critical economic activity. Two possible sites, in particular, are the Aleutian Islands and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. President Obama will be in Alaska this summer and no one knows if he will announce the creation of a new national monument, but the two senators are worried that will happen and filed SB 437 and Representative Millett filed HJR 18 to support it. MR. TURNER referred to an article from the Fairbanks Daily News Miner January 25 in which Senator Murkowski said that nothing will happen in congress and she was worried the president would use the authority of the Antiquities Act and put the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) in permanent wilderness status and lock it up. This month the White House transmitted to Congress its formal request to designate the Coastal Plain of ANWR as wilderness. The proposal is very unlikely to pass congress, so the stage is set for the president to use the Antiquities Act and lock up the most promising on-shore oil and gas prospect in the entire country and starve the TransAlaska Pipeline (TAPS) from oil. They are not seeking to stop creation of new national monuments, but to make the process better. 3:33:48 PM SENATOR STOLTZE joined the committee. 3:36:11 PM RANDY RUARO, Staff to Senator Stedman, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, said that Senator Stedman had proposed on page 2, lines 10-15 and lines 24-26, to insert language that reminds the federal government that there is already in statute the "no more clauses" of Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act (ANILCA) that were intended to prevent unilateral exercise of federal authority to designate more wilderness areas or parks in Alaska. His language supplements the intent of the resolution well, which is to add clarity and boundaries to the exercise of executive authority. CHAIR GIESSEL asked Mr. Turner if the change was acceptable to the sponsor. MR. TURNER answered yes. CHAIR GIESSEL removed her objection and the Senate CS for CSHJR 18, version N, was adopted. SENATOR STEDMAN noted that a couple of the national monument proclamations had been abolished: one in Lake Lewis and Clark, Montana, and another one the Shoshone cabins in Wyoming. So, apparently, it can be done. MR. TURNER commented that national monuments had been abolished in the past for a couple of reasons: one is a national monument that later on was determined to not be that historically significant; another one was a site explored by a French explorer in North or South Dakota and it was later determined that explorer was never at that site. Another in New York was taken over and turned into a state/national park. SENATOR MICCICHE said what is scary about the Antiquities Act is that the one that was vetoed by a state in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was not overridden by the court. MR. TURNER summarized that there are over 300 million people in this country, but the power to create a national monument rests entirely in the hands of one person who can't seem to be challenged on any level. 3:41:30 PM SENATOR COGHILL offered Amendment 1 on page 2, line 15, to delete "by federal legislation" and say that no more land in the state should be set aside, period. CHAIR GIESSEL objected for discussion. SENATOR STEDMAN said it was fine with him. MR. RUARO said the amendment is important because the "no more clause" has expanded beyond legislation by Congress to unilateral action by the president, as well. MR. TURNER said the sponsor approves of the change. CHAIR GIESSEL removed her objection and without further objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. 3:44:30 PM SENATOR MICCICHE said considering the Jackson Hole case, which used the Antiquities Act for a national monument, he wondered if ANILCA could give Alaska standing if the same issue occurred under the "no more clause." MR. RUARO replied that ANILCA gives Alaska a very strong position of standing if that same situation were to occur here. CHAIR GIESSEL opened public testimony and finding none, closed public testimony. 3:45:47 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI joined the committee. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how many acres President George Bush expanded under the Antiquities Act. MR. TURNER replied that he didn't have that number in front of him, but would get it. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how many new national monuments President George Bush established. MR. TURNER answered that he didn't see one on his list. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he thought that list might be inaccurate and asked if he had a listing of how many presidents established national monuments. MR. TURNER answered 16. SENATOR STEDMAN remarked on the magnitude of the impacts on Alaska regardless of which president did it and he thought there would be more emphasis on Alaska in the future. 3:48:37 PM SENATOR MICCICHE said it looks there were 15 by President Obama and President George Bush did 6. MR. TURNER corrected his previous testimony and said 6 were created under the second President Bush. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said his 2009 article says President Bush invoked the Antiquities Act to establish three marine monuments that protect 125 million acres of habitat, and according to the article, it was the most sweeping use of the Antiquities Act since 1906. He asked if the resolution could be made more bi- partisan. CHAIR GIESSEL responded that the information in his article was outdated and that President Obama had created 15. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the legislature took any action or do any resolutions when President Bush undertook his "most sweeping actions since 1906." MR. TURNER replied that he wasn't aware of any and explained the point they are trying to make is that an unprecedented number of national monuments had been created and expanded in this state in the space of two years and one month. 3:51:03 PM He understood Senator Wielechowski's point about pointing a finger at the current administration, but this is for future administrations. The point is that a public process should be created that brings everyone to the table instead of just one person having the ability to create a national monument. 3:51:38 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if they should urge revocation of all national monuments that have been invoked by presidents without congressional approval as part of this resolution. MR. TURNER answered that was not part of Representative Millett's resolution and there is a concern about what could happen to ANWR when President Obama visits Alaska. 3:52:26 PM SENATOR STEDMAN asked the committee to reflect that Sitka under President Taft was number 24. On the repeal issue, if they were to do that, it would be attractive to look at Glacier Bay, which is the area lost to submerged lands. 3:54:38 PM SENATOR MICCICHE commented that the focus on Alaska seemed to be from President Carter with Admiralty Island. SENATOR COSTELLO moved to report SCS CSHJR 18( ), version N as amended, from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There were no objections and SCS CSHJR 18(RES) was reported from Senate Resources Standing Committee.