ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE  March 4, 2022 1:03 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Josiah Patkotak, Chair Representative Grier Hopkins, Vice Chair Representative Calvin Schrage Representative Sara Hannan Representative George Rauscher Representative Mike Cronk Representative Ronald Gillham Representative Tom McKay MEMBERS ABSENT  Representative Zack Fields COMMITTEE CALENDAR  PRESENTATION: ALASKA'S COMPETITIVE POSITION BY GAFFNEY CLINE - HEARD HOUSE BILL NO. 347 "An Act relating to the confidentiality of certain state records relating to animals; and providing for an effective date." - HEARD & HELD PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  BILL: HB 347 SHORT TITLE: CONFIDENTIALITY OF ANIMAL RECORDS SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) RAUSCHER 02/22/22 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS 02/22/22 (H) RES 03/02/22 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124 03/02/22 (H) -- MEETING CANCELED -- 03/04/22 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124 WITNESS REGISTER MIKE CLINE, Strategy Advisor/Legal Counsel Gaffney, Cline & Associates Houston, Texas POSITION STATEMENT: Co-provided a PowerPoint presentation, titled "Alaska's Competitive Position." NICK FULFORD, Senior Director Gas/LNG-Carbon Management-Energy Transition-Americas Gaffney, Cline & Associates Houston, Texas POSITION STATEMENT: Co-provided a PowerPoint presentation, titled "Alaska's Competitive Position." RYAN MCKEE, Staff Representative George Rauscher Alaska State Legislature Juneau, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Presented the sectional analysis for HB 347, Version I, on behalf of Representative Rauscher, prime sponsor. AMY SEITZ, Executive Director Alaska Farm Bureau Soldotna, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided invited testimony in support of HB 347. CHRISTINA CARPENTER, Director Division of Environmental Health Department of Environmental Conservation Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Provided invited testimony in support of HB 347. ACTION NARRATIVE 1:03:37 PM CHAIR JOSIAH PATKOTAK called the House Resources Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:03 p.m. Representatives McKay, Cronk, Hopkins, Rauscher, Hannan, Gillham, and Patkotak were present at the call to order. Representative Schrage arrived as the meeting was in progress. ^Presentation: Alaska's Competitive Position by Gaffney Cline Presentation: Alaska's Competitive Position by Gaffney Cline  1:04:19 PM CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that the first order of business would be a presentation on Alaska's Competitive Position by Gaffney Cline Consultants. PRESENTERS  MIKE CLINE NICK FULFORD NOTE: The presentation was recorded and log notes were taken. The recording is available at the legislature's web site akleg.gov or by contacting the House Records Office at State Capitol, Room 3, Juneau, Alaska 99801 (mailing address), (907)465-2214, and after adjournment of the second session of the Thirty-Second Alaska State Legislature this information may be obtained by contacting the Legislative Reference Library at (907) 465-3808. 2:47:22 PM The committee took an at-ease from 2:47 p.m. to 2:51 p.m. HB 347-CONFIDENTIALITY OF ANIMAL RECORDS  2:51:29 PM CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 347, "An Act relating to the confidentiality of certain state records relating to animals; and providing for an effective date." CHAIR PATKOTAK stated that the sponsor has requested the committee to adopt a proposed committee substitute. 2:51:55 PM REPRESENTATIVE HOPKINS moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 347, Version 32-LS1471\I, Bullard, 2/28/22, as the working document. There being no objection, Version I was before the committee. 2:52:18 PM REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER, as prime sponsor of HB 347, paraphrased from the sponsor statement [included in the committee packet], which read [original punctuation provided]: HB 347 is an act allowing confidentiality to all owner's quadruped animals when getting their animals tested for things like contagious viruses. The bill allows information on the results of those tests to be made available to those that ask, however, the owner's name and location is redacted for safety's sake. It allows the data needed to make accurate assessments from DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] and or the State Veterinarian to move forward in case of an outbreak but keeps the name of the owner from being made public. The bill has taken 5 years to get this far, and the current version is accepted by most hunting groups and farmers alike. Groups such as the Farm Bureau, SCI [Safari Club International], the Alaskan Sheep Foundation, and the Department of Environmental Conservation all support its passing. REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER noted that HB 347 also allows the public to give consultation or opinion on the collected data as it pertains to moving forward. 2:54:29 PM RYAN MCKEE, Staff, Representative George Rauscher, Alaska State Legislature, on behalf of Representative Rauscher, prime sponsor of HB 347, gave the sectional analysis for Version I [included in the committee packet], which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Section 1: AS 03.05  It is amended by adding a new section, AS 03.05.084, Confidentiality of Certain Information, Exceptions. It states that a record containing information about an animal that is maintained by the Department of Environmental Conservation will carry out the requirements of this chapter including the record of sale, movement, unique identification number, or owner of an animal is confidential and not subject to disclosure under AS 40.25.100-40.25.295, if the record identifies a particular animal, breed of an animal, business, or individual; contains test results, or a record of test samples, for a particular animal; or contains trade secrets or proprietary business or financial information. It also states the Department of Environmental Conservation may disclose this information to state, federal, local government, or regional health corporation if the department feels there is a health or safety threat of an animal or to the public. The Department of Environmental Conservation shall, upon request, publicly disclose records subject to this section in a manner that prevents identification of a particular animal, individual, or business. Section 2: The uncodified law of the State of Alaska,  Transition: Regulations  This is amended by adding a new section. The Department of Environmental Conservation may adopt regulations necessary to implement this Act and takes effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date. Section 3: Section 2 of this act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). CHAIR PATKOTAK [opened invited testimony on HB 347, Version I.] 2:57:07 PM AMY SEITZ, Executive Director, Alaska Farm Bureau, provided invited testimony in support of HB 347. She said the Alaska Farm Bureau's mission is to ensure the economic wellbeing and expansion of agriculture and to enrich the quality of life for all Alaskans. She noted that the bureau's 400 farming and ranching members drive the bureau's positions on policy issues, and today she is speaking in support of HB 347. MS. SEITZ related that for each of the last five years the bureau's members have said it is important to protect the personal, business, and individual animal information housed within DEC from release to the public. Because this information is currently subject to the Public Records Act, many farmers are reluctant to have the information go through the state. In some situations, state or federal law requires specific information; for example, importing animals [to Alaska] and running tests in Grade A dairies [in Alaska] must go through DEC. There are situations where it is voluntary as to what information goes through, but it would be helpful to have the information, like participating in disease surveillance programs. These programs are designed to be pro-active in identifying a disease and being able to take steps to mitigate before there becomes an outbreak. The bureau wants its farmers to feel comfortable working with state agencies and having security in knowing their personal, business, or financial information isn't going to be released to the public, or information identifying specific animals. MS. SEITZ said that in this time when Alaska needs to be increasing its food production it's important to have these protections in place. Having more farmers participating in testing can help produce a higher quality product and increase efficiency in production. Also, it could help with early detection of a possible outbreak, which would give agencies time to respond appropriately. There would still be access to general information and people would still know what's being imported and whether any diseases, pathogens, or parasites are being found. It would be like COVID-19 reporting - the number of positives in a region is known but who has it is unknown. MS. SEITZ addressed why it is important to protect this information. She said livestock farmers in other states have sometimes been harassed by anti-livestock organizations. During COVID-19 some states had problems with pilfering on the farms. Some Alaska farms have had issues with people stealing their animals. There have also been situations where someone has a grudge against a farmer and can access testing information and spread a rumor that a certain farmer has an unclean farm because the farmer is testing for a certain pathogen. Ms. Seitz further noted that in addition to farmers and ranchers being impacted by this, kennels have testing that goes through DEC. 3:03:34 PM CHRISTINA CARPENTER, Director, Division of Environmental Health, Department of Environmental Conservation, provided invited testimony in support of HB 347. She noted that the Division of Environmental Health includes the Office of the State Veterinarian (OSV) which is tasked with oversight of the animal records impacted by this legislation. She stated that HB 347 strikes a perfect balance by allowing DEC to keep its animal owner information confidential while keeping the public informed about known animal disease outbreaks. The bill will strengthen the agriculture community by encouraging increased surveillance testing which will in turn protect Alaska's wildlife resources. She thanked the sponsor for bringing forth the bill. 3:04:44 PM REPRESENTATIVE SCHRAGE asked whether the volume of documents would be large enough to result in a fiscal note for the redacting process that will be needed for keeping some of this information confidential. MS. CARPENTER replied that the fiscal note for HB 347 is zero as DEC doesn't anticipate increased needs for its staff since it is a relatively small number of documents. She drew attention to the Certificate of Export provided to the committee, which includes the shipper's information, receiver's information, and specific information about the animal and test results. She explained that if HB 347 were passed, DEC would be able to provide general information to the public along the lines of "nine reindeer were exported from Alaska in 2021 and all tested negative for tuberculosis prior to movement." 3:06:56 PM REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN asked whether other states have confidentiality like that proposed in HB 347, especially those states with much higher livestock management. MS. CARPENTER responded that most states do have confidentiality legislation or allowances in statute. When researching this previously, DEC looked to the statutes of Oregon and Washington. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN surmised Alaska has far more kennels with veterinary needs than cattle with veterinary needs, yet HB 347 was drafted in terms of agriculture and farming. She recalled Ms. Seitz stating that the bill would lead to more voluntary testing. She inquired about which tests are mandated in statute and which are optional and further asked whether the sharing of data is mandatory or voluntary for transmissible diseases like kennel cough and rabies. MS. CARPENTER answered that the only testing currently mandated through statute or regulation is when importing an animal into the state; DEC has requirements for several species. When there is a known or suspected disease outbreak throughout the state or in a certain region, the state veterinarian, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) veterinarian, and the Health and Social Services veterinarian work with animal owners and private veterinarians. The department believes that HB 347 will encourage more surveillance testing so that when a dog or livestock already in the state display symptoms the proper actions can be taken to get that animal tested and respond appropriately. The department has a list of reportable diseases in statute and in regulation so that an animal testing positive through a private veterinarian is reportable to the state veterinarian. She offered to provide those details to members. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN stated she would like to receive this information because she is curious about what the state's reporting requirements are. She said she isn't opposed to the idea of confidentiality but wants to ensure there are no unintended ripple effects. 3:12:47 PM REPRESENTATIVE CRONK offered his understanding that the main purpose of HB 347 is to ensure that Alaska's wild game populations don't get these diseases. REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER responded that the worry in Alaska for five-plus years has been over keeping [Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (Movi)] away from Dall sheep and mountain goats. An outbreak occurred in the Lower 48 where there is free range farming. Since that cannot be done in Alaska due to wild predators, farmers put up fencing but contact between domestic and wild animals is still a possibility. Given that Movi is a life- threatening disease for these wild animals, farmers are probably going to want to get their herds tested, but currently farmers are afraid to test because the information about their farms may become public and then there could be a reaction against the farmer, the farm, or the animals themselves. So, what is trying to be done with HB 347 is encourage the testing for every one of these because the most important part is to get this data recorded, who the farmer is isn't important. The information that needs to be acquired is the location and whether an animal has contracted the disease. This bill entices the farmer because he/she won't be found out and the information is as important to the farmer as it is to the herd in the wild. What comes across the border is already being taken care of because they must be tested, HB 347 makes sure that the herds within the state are taken care of. He offered his understanding that about 2,000 [domestic] animals are in Alaska. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN asked if testing for Movi is currently required or whether that will be contemplated once there is confidentiality of records. If testing is voluntary, she said, there is no guarantee that testing will be done. REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER replied that current regulation requires an animal be tested before being brought into the state. A regulation is done by DEC, so it is a possibility that when this bill passes the answer to the question may be yes. MS. CARPENTER responded that, currently, once an animal is in Alaska, surveillance testing is completely voluntary. At this time, she continued, there are no plans to implement mandatory testing for Movi or any other pathogen. 3:17:41 PM REPRESENTATIVE SCHRAGE thanked the sponsor for bringing forth the legislation. 3:18:04 PM CHAIR PATKOTAK announced that HB 347 was held over. 3:18:47 PM ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business before the committee, the House Resources Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 3:19 p.m.