CSHB 93(FIN)-BOATING SAFETY, REGISTRATION, NUMBERING  REPRESENTATIVE BRUCE WEYHRAUCH, sponsor, asked the committee to reject the two amendments that were proposed at the last hearing saying that adhesian of the sticker could be dealt with technically and the other amendment with another exemption really wasn't necessary. 1:40 - 1:44 - at ease CO-CHAIR COWDERY moved to adopt Amendment 1. 23-LS0230\S.2 Luckhaupt 12/14/04 A M E N D M E N T 1 OFFERED IN THE SENATE TO: CSHB 93(FIN) Page 2, line 12, following "boat": Insert "operated on the freshwater lakes and inland  waterways of the state that is under 17 feet in length and" SENATOR OLSON said Amendment 1 addresses the Coast Guard's concern about motorized vehicles, but wanted to know why it addressed fresh water lakes only. He said this amendment relates to hand-crafted umiaqs with walrus skin coverings and, "Between Diomede and Wales, you're not going to be up there rowing with a current at 3 to 5 knots." CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked for a roll call. Senator Olson, Co-Chair Cowdery and Co-Chair Wagoner voted yea; Senator Lincoln voted nay. CO-CHAIR COWDERY moved to rescind the vote, as Senator Therriault just arrived. CO-CHAIR WAGONER noted for him that the sponsor's statement said Amendment 1 wasn't necessary. CO-CHAIR COWDERY moved Amendment 1 again. SENATOR OLSON said his main concern is that: I want to make sure that if someone has a canoe out there that - maybe they use it only once in the last 10 years, but I want to make sure they have the liberty to go ahead and use that for whatever necessary.... If something starts to drift away and they have an emergency on their hands... and someone comes up and says that you've got a canoe that's not registered. I've got a problem with that. SENATOR LINCOLN directed the committee to page 2, line 12, which exempts boats that are not equipped with mechanical propulsion. Adding the amendment might make the language more cumbersome. CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked for the roll call vote. Senators Olson, Therriault, Lincoln and Co-Chair Wagoner voted no; Co-Chair Cowdery voted yea; and Amendment 1 failed. SENATOR OLSON moved Amendment 2. He thought putting decals on umiaqs was shortsighted. That is why he asks that all native crafts with animal hide coverings be exempt. 23-LS0230\S.1 Luckhaupt 12/14/04 A M E N D M E N T 2 OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR OLSON TO: CSHB 93(FIN) Page 2, line 21, following "government": Insert ";  (6) a handmade umiaq with a walrus or sealskin  covering" SENATOR LINCOLN said she strongly supported Amendment 2. MS. LINDA SYLVESTER, staff to Representative Weyhrauch, said the problem with the amendment is that currently the federal standard is that any boat equipped with motorized propulsion has to be registered. Amendment 2 would be violating the federal standard; Alaska would lose motor fuel taxes coming into the state and its boater safety program that they fund. SENATOR LINCOLN asked if she knows for sure that the state would lose the boater safety funding with that single exemption. MS. SUE HARGUS, Coast Guard, explained that one of the few federal requirements is that within the boating safety program the state provide for registration. This has been very contentious for some reason in Alaska. Registering umiaqs with motors is still required under federal law even if state law exempts them. The intention of the law is that if the umiaq washes up on some shore a hundred miles away, the Coast Guard knows who to look for. SENATOR THERRIAULT explained the reason to have a registration attached to a vessel is because motorized vessels can travel a great distance. He asked how many search and rescue efforts the Coast Guard performs in western and northern Alaska. MS. HARGUS replied since 1990, the Coast Guard has spent a couple of million dollars searching for boats on the northwest coast. SENATOR OLSON asked if the state would lose all of the approximately $350,000 for an exemption like this. MS. SYLVESTER answered that the program has to match the federal minimum requirements. She related an anecdotal story about how this situation happened in Montana. SENATOR OLSON said he found it hard to rationalize that people have been paying a gas tax of three to four percent to fund that program and then the federal government puts stipulations on getting the money back. He also noted that they are just discussing extending a sunset, not passing a new law. MS. SYLVESTER explained that they are changing existing law that includes all paddleboats that are over 10 ft. The first uprising about this bill came from Fairbanks where it didn't make sense to register paddleboats. SENATOR LINCOLN asked if there isn't a federal helmet law and Alaska was threatened for years if it didn't pass a helmet law it would lose some DOTPF federal dollars. SENATOR THERRIAULT responded that Alaska is in compliance with that federal requirement where a passenger on a motorcycle is required to have a helmet. The federal law doesn't require a driver to have one. SENATOR LINCOLN pointed out that the umiaq is unique to Alaska and that just because the federal government requires it doesn't mean that Alaska needs to jump. CO-CHAIR WAGONER responded that the helmet law was passed and it requires anybody 18 years old or under who is riding a motorcycle to wear a helmet. Once you get to be 18, you can take your chances. Secondly, a bill just passed on seatbelt requirements with the same stipulation. He personally has a 26 ft. fiberglass boat that looks like an umiaq and he is required to have identification on it if he uses it on the water. It is very important for the Coast Guard to have the ability to either track or identify floating debris or an abandoned vessel or a sunken vessel. In my case they do it electronically with a beeper. I don't know why it is so important that you don't put an identification plaque on the seat.... SENATOR OLSON said the people who are sitting in an umiaq are not sitting on seats that are attached to the frame of the boat. "They are sitting on cans and things like that because it's cold and wet." Putting a sticker onto something like fiberglass will stick, but putting a sticker onto a skin that is not completely cured - which they aren't so that the oil provides waterproofing - it's going to shed the decal. He suggested a conceptual amendment to Amendment 2 to add "nonmotorized umiaqs". MS. HARGUS said that would be acceptable to the Coast Guard. CO-CHAIR WAGONER said it would be okay with him. SENATOR OLSON formally moved the conceptual amendment to Amendment 2. There were no objections and it was amended. CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked if there were any further objections to Amendment 2 am. There were none and it was adopted. CO-CHAIR COWDERY moved to pass SCS CSHB 93(TRA) from committee with individual recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered.