ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 26, 2014
3:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Cathy Giessel, Chair
Senator Fred Dyson, Vice Chair
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Lesil McGuire
Senator Anna Fairclough
Senator Hollis French
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 26
Urging the United States Congress to provide a means for
consistently and equitably sharing with all oil and gas
producing states adjacent to federal outer continental shelf
areas a portion of revenue generated from oil and gas
development on the outer continental shelf to ensure that those
states develop necessary infrastructure to support outer
continental shelf development and preserve environmental
integrity.
- MOVED HJR 26 OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15(RES)
Supporting the introduction and enactment of federal legislation
acknowledging that the federal government is financially
responsible under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act for
the remediation of contaminated land subject to conveyance under
the Act.
- MOVED SCS CSHJR 15(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 137
"An Act extending the termination date of the Alaska Seismic
Hazards Safety Commission; and providing for an effective date."
- MOVED SB 137 OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE BILL NO. 105
"An Act requiring the state to quitclaim to the federal
government land or an interest in land that was wrongfully or
erroneously conveyed to the state by the federal government."
- BILL HEARING POSTPONED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HJR 26
SHORT TITLE: OFFSHORE OIL & GAS REVENUE SHARING
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) SADDLER
02/17/14 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/17/14 (H) RES
02/19/14 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
02/19/14 (H) Moved Out of Committee
02/19/14 (H) MINUTE(RES)
02/21/14 (H) RES RPT 5DP
02/21/14 (H) DP: SEATON, JOHNSON, OLSON, FEIGE,
SADDLER
02/21/14 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
02/21/14 (H) VERSION: HJR 26
02/24/14 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/24/14 (S) RES
02/24/14 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/24/14 (S) Scheduled But Not Heard
02/26/14 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: HJR 15
SHORT TITLE: FEDERAL CONTAMINATION OF ANCSA LANDS
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) MILLETT
03/27/13 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/27/13 (H) RES
02/10/14 (H) RES AT 1:00 PM BARNES 124
02/10/14 (H) Moved CSHJR 15(RES) Out of Committee
02/10/14 (H) MINUTE(RES)
02/12/14 (H) RES RPT CS(RES) 6DP 1AM
02/12/14 (H) DP: HAWKER, JOHNSON, SEATON, TARR,
OLSON, P.WILSON
02/12/14 (H) AM: KAWASAKI
02/17/14 (H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)
02/17/14 (H) VERSION: CSHJR 15(RES)
02/18/14 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/18/14 (S) RES
02/26/14 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
BILL: SB 137
SHORT TITLE: EXTEND SEISMIC HAZARDS SAFETY COMMISSION
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) BISHOP
01/24/14 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/24/14 (S) RES
02/24/14 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
02/24/14 (S) Scheduled But Not Heard
02/26/14 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HJR 26.
ADRIAN HERRERA, Coordinator
Arctic Power
Washington, D.C.
POSITION STATEMENT Supported HJR 26.
VASILIOS GIALOPSOS
Staff to Representative Millett
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented HJR 15 for the sponsor.
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HJR 15.
MAVER CAREY, President and CEO
Kuskokwim Corporation
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HJR 15.
BRENNAN KANE, Chair
Land Committee
Alaska Native Village CEO Association
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HJR 15.
PJ SIMON, Second Chief
Allakaket, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HJR 15.
CURTIS MCQUEEN, Chief Executive Officer
Eklutna, Inc.
Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HJR 15.
MICHELE METZ, Lands Manager
Sealaska Corporation
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HJR 15.
BRITTANY HUTCHISON
Staff to Senator Bishop
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented SB 137 for the sponsor.
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor
Division of Legislative Audit
Legislative Affairs Agency
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 137.
ROBERT SCHER, Chair
Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SB 137.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:30:56 PM
CHAIR CATHY GIESSEL called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Fairclough, Micciche, French, Bishop and
Chair Giessel.
HJR 26-OFFSHORE OIL & GAS REVENUE SHARING
3:31:30 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL announced HJR 26 to be up for consideration.
3:31:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER, sponsor of HJR 26, Alaska State
Legislature, said this resolution simply asks the federal
government to enact a fair and equitable system of sharing
federal revenues from offshore development. He explained that
offshore oil and gas development is a boon for the country; it
brings us a secure source of domestic energy, revenue and jobs,
but it creates costly impacts in states like Alaska. The federal
government recognizes these strains by sharing some of the
proceeds of this development to help state's offset the costs
for the improvements and services necessary to have responsible
and safe development. On land they share half of the revenues
and within three miles from shore they share 27 percent. In the
four states bordering the Gulf of Mexico they share a whopping
37.5 percent. Current law says Alaska will receive a zero
percent share from oil produced in the Chukchi and Beaufort
Seas, Cook Inlet and offshore.
Everyone knows the federal waters offshore contain a lot of oil,
but development of Alaska's offshore resources require
infrastructure investments including new roads, airports,
utilities and housing, and additional services must be provided
for including oil spill and emergency response, environmental
monitoring mitigation, public health and safety.
3:34:04 PM
The Chukchi and Beaufort Seas sales generated $2.75 billion and
that would have brought more than $1 billion to Alaska if the
same revenue sharing provisions were afforded Alaska as the Gulf
of Mexico states. But Alaska didn't get a single cent.
Opponents of revenue sharing argue that the federal treasury
cannot afford to give up money, but Representative Saddler would
argue that revenue sharing opportunities can incentivize more
lease sales and bring in more development, ultimately opening up
more opportunities for the federal government and states to
share more money.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said the time couldn't be better or more
opportune to have this kind of legislation move through the
Congress as Senator Lisa Murkowski is the ranking member in the
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the new chair
of that committee is Senator Merrill Landrew of Louisiana who is
also a strong advocate for the oil industry and OCS revenue
sharing. These two senators have introduced the Fixing America's
Inequities with Revenue Act (FAIR ACT), which would extend to
Alaska and all Outer Continental Shelf States (OCS) states the
same 37.5 percent share that the Gulf States now receive.
3:35:58 PM
ADRIAN HERRERA, Coordinator, Arctic Power, Washington, D.C.,
supported HJR 26. He said Arctic Power is a 501(c)(6) not-for-
profit organization arguing for the environmentally responsible
oil and gas exploration in Alaska's Arctic.{ Arctic Power
strongly supports HJR 26 as it will bring parity with onshore
resource development and parity with the Gulf of Mexico states
which currently do enjoy revenue sharing. They believe it will
allow for much safer and environmentally sound development to
occur nationwide, particularly in Alaska's rural Arctic, the
area closest to the most active OCS leasing areas in the nation
currently.
Zero revenue sharing does nothing to encourage or allow safe OCS
resource development and by allowing the state to have a share
of the resources will allow for a much more even playing field
and safer situations as states develop their offshore areas.
3:37:49 PM
SENATOR MCGUIRE joined the committee.
MR. HERRERA said the House of Representatives has passed an OCS
revenue sharing bill, HR 2231, that passed last summer with a
vote of 2035 in favor and 186 against. This issue is quite a
non-partisan issue. Senator Begich also has a revenue sharing
bill, S 199, but it is Alaska-centric only and probably won't
generate much support. It uses the same 37.5 percent as the
Landrew Murkowski bill.
MR. HERRERA said this resolution will be up against the White
House view and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. They
testified last year against the FAIR Act and their main
complaint was that this will be a loss of revenue for the
national treasury. But they strongly disagree and feel it is a
short sighted view for many of the reasons Representative
Saddler does. They believe the perceived notion that revenue
sharing will take away from the President's environmental
policies. Ironically, the prime beneficiary of the fund is
Louisiana, Chair Landrew's home state.
Further, he said if you make OCS developed and more attractive -
whether it be a wind turbine or an offshore oil field - you
could expect more companies to operate in these areas. Thus you
would get a better revenue stream, and under revenue sharing the
state would be mandated to use 10 percent of their winnings for
environmental conservation, environmental mitigation and
alternative energy development, which are exactly the same
projects that the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the
President's environmental policies are trying to achieve.
CHAIR GIESSEL found no further comments and closed public
testimony.
3:41:04 PM
SENATOR FAIRCLOUGH moved to report HJR 26, version 28-LS1439\N,
from committee to the next committee of referral with attached
fiscal note and individual recommendations.
SENATOR FRENCH objected, saying that about a week ago the
committee heard a nearly identical resolution, SJR 5, sponsored
by Senator Wielechowski, which was held in committee. He
supported this resolution but wondered why the other one didn't
pass. He thought his caucus member had not been treated fairly
in this instance. He then withdrew his objection.
Finding no further objections, Chair Giessel said HJR 26 moved
from the Senate Resources Standing Committee.
3:43:37 PM
At ease from 3:43 to 3:45 p.m.
HJR 15-FEDERAL CONTAMINATION OF ANCSA LANDS
3:45:26 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL announced HJR 15 to be up for consideration [CSHJR
15(RES), version 28-LS071\U, was before the committee].
VASILIOS GIALOPSOS, staff to Representative Millett, sponsor of
HJR 15, explained that the resolution urges the U.S. Congress to
pass legislation to hold the federal government financially
responsible for contaminated sites that were found on lands
conveyed to Native corporations through the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (ANCSA). Though the intentions were good, several
encumbrances occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s that
culminated in the U.S. Congress passing legislation in 1995 to
have a report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Interior.
That report identified 650 such contaminated sites that ranged
in size and from a variety of agencies and departments and a
variety of contaminants (PCPs, arsenic, mercury, petroleum);
many of the sites are in the area of living settlements and
cultural habitats.
3:46:06 PM
SENATOR DYSON joined the committee.
MR. GIALOPSOS explained that lands were conveyed for a specific
societal purpose, but now have an additional encumbrance upon
the corporations and shareholders. Remediation costs in the
range from tens of millions to tens of tens of millions. But the
main motivation was just the hypocrisy that there is a
consideration for wildlife in in one decision in one aspect of
the Department of the Interior or another federal department or
agency and yet the situation is allowed to perpetuate.
3:48:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT, sponsor of HJR 15, said these are
similar to the legacy wells except that these are lands that
were given to Native with the right to develop, live on and
subsist. You can't live on contaminated lands or subsist on
them.
3:50:05 PM
SENATOR FAIRCLOUGH said that when they refer to "legacy wells"
that "travesty" strikes closer to the mark of what they are
trying to say as far as devastation of the lands that have been
left behind.
3:51:30 PM
MAVER CAREY, President and CEO, Kuskokwim Corporation, an ANCSA
corporation comprised of ten villages upriver from Bethel all
the way up to Stony River, said she is also Chairman of the
Board of the Alaska Native Village CEO Association that is
comprised of other village corporations and their executives and
9 out of 13 regional corporations. When the federal government
conveyed millions of acres of land to ANCs they included lands
contaminated with arsenic, asbestos, PCBs, unexploded
ordinances, mining waste chemicals, spilled diesel fuel,
petroleum and oil, solvents, toxic metals, and mercury. As ANVCA
gathers more data about these sites, they are finding even more
than 650 and contamination in drinking water and drums of toxins
buried in soil saturating the tundra and infecting the local
food and water sources. White Alice sights that were left behind
after the Cold War are leaking contaminants such as PCBs and
PCEs. The known health effects of these specific contaminants
include cancer, miscarriages, attacks on the central nervous
system, suppression of the immune system to neurological
learning disabilities. Clearly contaminated land can result in a
significant health risks to residents of the State of Alaska,
the animals and the environment.
3:53:54 PM
MS. CAREY said that almost 20 years after ANCSA was passed and
signed into law the Alaska Native community has raised the
concern that the Department of Interior (DOI) had conveyed
contaminated lands to ANCs.
In 1995, Congress directed the Secretary of Interior to prepare
a report on these specific contaminated lands that were conveyed
to ANCs; so in December 1998 the DOI submitted a report to
Congress entitled "Hazardous Substance Contamination of Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act Lands in Alaska." In that report
the DOI acknowledged conveying 650 contaminated sites to ANCs;
the report identified numerous types of hazardous wastes
including the ones she spoke of earlier recognizing the
unjustness of conveying these lands to ANCs in the Settlement of
the aboriginal rights and recommended an approach to fully
identify these sites and to clean them up. The report included
six recommendations almost 20 years ago and none have been done.
The conveyance of these significant amounts of contaminated
lands to ANCs is unjust and although Congress did not intend to
stick Alaska Natives with them BLM has spent over $10 million on
cleaning them up and the job is not done. This would have
bankrupted the corporation.
3:57:27 PM
She had five recommendations on how the state could assist the
situation.
1. Pass this resolution
2. Push the federal government to acknowledge their financial
responsibility to clean up the contaminated lands they
transferred to ANCs.
3. Urge Alaska's governor to include this as one of the lobbying
priorities of his Washington, D.C. office staff.
4. Conduct high level meetings with all relevant federal
agencies and identify which lead agency is responsible for the
timely remediation.
5. Help ANVCA identify these sights and prioritize them.
3:58:27 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL said that Senator McGuire would be in Washington,
D.C. related to Arctic issues and would carry that message.
3:58:55 PM
BRENNAN KANE, Chair, Land Committee, Alaska Native Village CEO
Association, Anchorage, Alaska, supported HJR 15 and its
companion SJR 12. He said he was also Vice President and General
Counsel of Eyak Corporation.
He said that Representative Millett's staff mentioned the 1998
Interior Department report, a copy of which was being emailed to
the committee right now. The report was a "solid piece" of work
that included six recommendations. Three bear mentioning:
establishing a forum for ANCSA land owners and federal, state,
local and tribal agencies to collaborate on cleanup of these
contaminated sites, compiling a comprehensive inventory of
contaminated sites and recommending further cleanup federal
actions.
In the report the department said they were going to coordinate
the implementation of these six recommendations, but nothing
happened over the next 15 years, Mr. Kane said. It's important
to note that BLM's people are "solid people" and recently
informed them that they will now review those 650 sites that are
listed and see which ones had been remediated. But additional
sites have been found since 1998. ANVCA wants to work
collaboratively with everyone to address these sites. This issue
needs attention and this resolution will give it that
visibility.
MR. KANE said the cost to clean up these sites would bankrupt
most native corporations and HJR 15 addresses the unjustness of
Alaska Native Corporations being subject to legal exposure for
contamination caused by the federal government. And as
landowners, Alaska Native Corporations are subject to strict
liability under federal and state law for contamination on their
lands, even if that land was contaminated by the federal
government prior to conveyance.
So HJR 15 proposes a solution to this problem: if the federal
government conveyed contaminated land to an Alaska Native
Corporation through ANCSA the federal government is financially
responsible for the remediation of that land.
4:04:04 PM
P.J. SIMON, Second Chief, Allakaket, Alaska, said he also sits
on the Tanana Chief's Executive Board and he supported HJR 15.
He lives in Allakaket next to Hughes that has had a White Alice
early warning site since the Cold War called Indian Mountain.
The planes are in a museum and Air Force personnel have retired,
but right now this site has contamination; remediation is in
order to protect the natural resources up there.
He said they support the military at Alatna and Hughes and hope
they can bring the White Alice site behind Hughes where 600
truckloads of contamination needs to go out.
This would also add an economic boost for the area.
4:06:02 PM
CURTIS MCQUEEN, Chief Executive Officer, Eklutna, Inc., said he
has the authority to testify on behalf of the Tribe and Cook
Inlet Regional, Inc. (CIRI). They are in strong support of this
resolution, but are in a bit of a different situation in that
contamination has been being cleaned up on some Eklutna lands
for the last six or seven years through Army Corps of Engineers
funds. They even recently found a large diesel spill from an old
motor pool and were able to cook that gravel into asphalt, which
ended up in the Anchorage road system.
They are also due 17,000 acres of JBER land, however some of the
lands that have had contamination identified on them and are
looking for funds to try to clean those lands before they are
delivered. Some other communities are not as lucky.
4:08:34 PM
MICHELE METZ, Lands Manager, Sealaska Corporation, Juneau,
Alaska, supported HJR 15. Their issue was community landfills
that were conveyed with their land. She had also been authorized
to convey that the ANCSA regional CEOs had met earlier and
passed a motion in support of this issue and getting it resolved
at the federal level.
4:09:45 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL, finding no further comments, closed public
testimony.
CHAIR GIESSEL offered Amendment 1, labelled 28-LS0717\U.1.
28-LS0717\U.1
Nauman
2/25/14
AMENDMENT 1
OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR GIESSEL
TO: CSHJR 15(RES)
Page 2, following line 9:
Insert new clauses to read:
"WHEREAS, in that report, the United States
Department of the Interior proposed six
recommendations to "fully identify contaminated sites
and clean-up needs of Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act lands"; and
WHEREAS the United States Department of the
Interior has not fully implemented any of the six
recommendations it proposed to the United States
Congress; and"
Page 2, line 22, following "Act":
Insert "; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State
Legislature urges the United States Department of the
Interior to fully implement the six recommendations in
its 1998 report to the United States Congress"
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT said she fully supported the amendment
and agreed with two whereas clauses and one resolve that were
inserted. The other body had some consideration about who they
had addressed the resolution to and decided not to fill in
names, since a new Department of Interior Secretary people was
being appointed.
4:11:40 PM
She introduced three Kuskokwim Student Education Foundation
Scholarships students who are shareholders in the contaminated
lands.
CHAIR GIESSEL moved Amendment 1. There were no objections and it
was adopted.
SENATOR DYSON moved to report HJR 15, version 28-LS0717\U, as
amended, from committee to the next committee of referral with
attached fiscal notes and individual recommendations.
There were no objections and SCS CSHJR 15(RES) moved from
committee.
4:14:08 PM
At ease 4:14 to 4:15 p.m.
SB 137-EXTEND SEISMIC HAZARDS SAFETY COMMISSION
4:15:38 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL announced SB 137 to be up for consideration.
4:15:57 PM
BRITTANY HUTCHISON, staff to Senator Bishop, sponsor of SB 137,
presented the bill for the sponsor. She said that SB 137 extends
the termination date of the Alaska Seismic Hazard Safety
Commission from June 30, 2014 to June 30, 2020. She said that
Alaska has more earthquakes than any other region in the United
States and is one of the most seismic reactive areas in the
world. In fact, we are fast approaching the 50th Anniversary of
the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, the most powerful recorded in
North American history.
Given the historical record and inevitable potential of future
earthquake activity, she said Alaska needs this Commission. The
Commission was created in 2002 in able to help reduce the
disaster potential of major earthquakes and reduce dependence on
disaster relief. It is an advisory body administered through the
Department of Natural Resources in the Division of Geological
and Geophysical Surveys. They operate on a $10,000 annual
budget; they have six standing committees and 11 members each
appointed for three-year terms by the governor. They are
designed to include a cross-section of public and private sector
representatives.
She said the Commission serves all Alaskans and works in
providing policy, goal, and priority recommendations to the
governor, legislature, local governments, and the public and
private sectors alike in order to reduce the state's
vulnerability to seismic hazards and to advise them on
approaches for mitigating earthquake risks and potential damage.
They have significantly impacted school safety by collaborating
with the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) on
seismic issues concerning school construction and renovations.
In addition, they have amended state regulation and departmental
practices to ensure that all registered civil and structural
engineers have a full understanding of Alaska's earthquakes.
They also assist with seismic hazard training efforts by
coordinating with the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs
(DMVA) in order to help put on two day workshops focusing on
post disaster facility safety assessments and work with other
organizations who are concerned with seismic hazards.
MS. HUTCHISON said for these reasons and many more Senator
Bishop agrees with the legislative audit, which concluded that
the commission should be extended for six more years and that
they are serving the public's interest.
4:19:01 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if six years is a typical extension
period.
MS. HUTCHISON answered no; they were originally designed in 2002
and came up again two years ago. The problem with a two-year
extension is that the commission is not able to focus on their
job in that short of a time.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if the budget is $10,000 a year.
MS. HUTCHISON answered yes.
4:20:24 PM
KRIS CURTIS, Legislative Auditor, Legislative Audit Division,
Legislative Affairs Agency, said their agency did conduct a
sunset audit of the commission and the purpose was to review
whether it was serving the public's interest and whether its
termination date should be extended. The last time they did a
sunset audit was 2011 and then they recommended a four year
extension accompanied by some recommendations. They were given a
two year extension at that point and their progress is being
reviewed. They did conclude that the commission was serving the
public's interest and recommended a six year extension.
4:22:01 PM
At ease from 4:22 to 4:27 p.m.
4:27:06 PM
MS. CURTIS said the audit included four recommendations:
1. Improve prioritization and accountability within its
strategic planning documents: the prior sunset audit found the
commission lacked a clear strategy for prioritizing and
monitoring its efforts, but this audit found the commission had
made significant progress toward resolving this finding by
developing a strategic plan that identifies objectives and
strategies to correlate with the commission's statutory mandate.
Each strategy lists a priority, a target date and a planned
outcome; the commission also used goals contained in its annual
report and action list during committee meetings to really focus
its efforts.
2. They offered another recommendation to basically fine tune
their strategic plan (page 9). They clearly need to prioritize
their tasks. While each task has a priority, 27 of 29 tasks are
listed as important and the commission goals and action lists
did not contain priorities. They recommended consistently
identifying the person or subcommittee responsible for task
completion.
3. They recommended associating their goals and action lists
with the commission's over-arching strategic plan objectives and
consistently identifying specific outcomes. By improving their
prioritization and accountability, the commission could improve
its ability to serve the public.
4:29:03 PM
On page 12 of the audit they found that the commission did not
consistently specify the organization responsible for
implementing a recommendation. Additionally, they found that not
all recommendations adequately identify the action to be
performed. At times the commission was uncertain about where to
direct its recommendations. So they recommended that it ensure
that recommendations clearly identify the organization
responsible for implementing an action and the action to be
performed. Additionally, they recommend that the commission seek
assistance from Department of Natural Resources (DNR) management
in identifying the appropriate organization responsible for
implementing their recommendations.
4. Finally, there are two more administrative type
recommendations: one directing the commission to recommend
replacement of habitually absent members and the other to work
with the Office of the Governor to fill vacant positions in a
timely manner.
4:30:11 PM
ROBERT SCHER, Chair, Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission,
Anchorage, Alaska, supported SB 137. He said the Commission is
an advisory body that recommends goals and priorities for
mitigating seismic hazards - things like strong ground shaking,
landslides, avalanches, tsunami inundation, fault displacements,
large area subsidence - recommending policies including needed
research mapping, monitoring programs, reviewing practice for
recovery and reconstruction after a major earthquake,
recommending improvements to mitigate losses from future
earthquakes as well as gathering, analyzing, and disseminating
information of general interest on seismic hazards. These duties
are done on behalf of the legislature, the Governor, local
governments, as well as the public and private sectors at large;
these duties are not shared by any other state department or
commission.
MR. SCHER said the commission was originally formed under HB 53
in 2002; but in 2005 the first commissioners were appointed by
Governor Murkowski. In 2006, HB 83 increased the membership from
9 to 11 commissioners and extended the commission through 2012
(6 years). Most recently, HB 279 extended it through June 30,
2014, which is where they are right now. They are an eclectic
body, comprised of geologists, seismologists, civil and
structural engineers, emergency response planners and managers,
and a representative from the insurance industry.
They believe they have been functioning in the state's and
publics' interest as was concluded by the Division of
Legislative Audit's report of September 2013. They look forward
to being extended for another six years and already have a full
list of projects that are either started or in the planning
stages that they would take advantage of performing during that
period of time. They would welcome any opportunity to assist
this committee and the full legislature with matters pertaining
to earthquakes and tsunamis.
4:35:43 PM
SENATOR DYSON asked him to talk a little about their large
gathering of seismologists this summer.
MR. SCHER answered that it is the 50th year following 1964 Good
Friday Alaska Earthquake and the Seismological Society of
America is hosting its annual meeting in Anchorage in its
commemoration and hundreds of seismologists and geologists will
attend; then in July there will be a week-long conference
sponsored by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
entitled the Tenth National Conference on Earthquake
Engineering. It is held every four years in the North America,
but it has international influence and over 800 papers are being
presented.
CHAIR GIESSEL thanked him for serving.
4:37:44 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL, finding no further comments, closed public
testimony.
SENATOR DYSON moved to report SB 137 from committee to the next
committee of referral with attached fiscal note and individual
recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered.
4:38:48 PM
Finding no further business to come before the committee, Chair
Giessel adjourned the Senate Resources Standing Committee
meeting at 4:37 p.m.