SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE April 19, 2000 1:44 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Jerry Ward, Chairman Senator Drue Pearce, Vice Chair Senator Mike Miller Senator Georgianna Lincoln MEMBERS ABSENT Senator Rick Halford COMMITTEE CALENDAR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 205(TRA) "An Act relating to the use of snow machines to travel across the Dalton Highway corridor." MOVED CSHB 205(TRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 320(FIN) am "An Act approving the application for and acceptance of a grant of certain federal land by the Alaska Railroad Corporation; approving the conveyance of the entire interest in land appurtenant to the Whittier DeLong Dock by the Alaska Railroad Corporation; relating to use and disposition of the Whittier DeLong Dock and associated land; prohibiting the Alaska Railroad Corporation and the City of Whittier from granting any special right, privilege, or preference to a third party to provide management services for the DeLong Dock; providing that contracts for management of the DeLong Dock by a third party shall be awarded only under competitive procurement procedures established by the Alaska Railroad Corporation and the City of Whittier; and providing for an effective date." MOVED CSHB 320(FIN)am OUT OF COMMITTEE PREVIOUS SENATE ACTION HB 205 - No previous Senate action. HB 320 - No previous Senate action. WITNESS REGISTER Representative Reggie Joule Alaska State Capitol Juneau, AK 99801 POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HB 205 John Manley Legislative Staff to Representative Harris Alaska State Capitol Juneau, AK 99801 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified for the sponsor of HB 320 ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 00-5, SIDE A CHAIRMAN WARD called the Senate Transportation Committee meeting to order at 1:44 p.m. Present were Senators Pearce, Miller and Ward. The first order of business to come before the committee was HB 205. HB 205-SNOWMACHINES CROSSING DALTON HIGHWAY REPRESENTATIVE REGGIE JOULE, sponsor of HB 205, said the bill is quite simple. Under current statute, people are not allowed to cross the Dalton Highway or the five mile corridor on each side on snow machines. HB 205 allows people to cross the corridor and will apply to people in Anaktuvuk Pass and Kaktovik. The bill does not change anything in the hunting regulations and it only allows people to cross the Dalton Highway, not to travel on it. SENATOR MILLER moved CSHB 205(TRA) from committee with individual recommendations. There being no objection, the motion carried. HB 320-APPROVE AK RAILROAD GETTING WHITTIER DOCK MR. JOHN MANLEY, legislative aide to Representative Harris, sponsor of the measure, made the following comments. Last year the legislature passed a bill that required the Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) to receive legislative approval before it can accept land from the federal government. Congress has passed a law transferring the DeLong dock in Whittier to the ARRC. HB 320 approves that transfer and it incorporates the provisions of a memorandum of understanding that the land underneath would be transferred to the City of Whittier. The City of Whittier would lease back the North half of the land to ARRC and ARRC would lease back the South half of the dock to the City of Whittier. The bill has been in the making for about one year while agreements were negotiated. The bill is beneficial to both the ARRC and the City of Whittier. SENATOR PEARCE stated that she was one of the people who worked last year to get language put in statute that disallows the ARRC from accepting land conveyances without approval of the legislature. She remains convinced that ARRC should not own the entire interest in the tidelands in Whittier, which it will, once this transfer occurs. No one else will have access to a deep water port except the ARRC which gives ARRC an unfair advantage. She believes that ARRC has said it would do something during the making of this bill and then turned around and worked legislatively to unravel its commitment. Senator Pearce said she will not object to moving the bill from committee because the City of Whittier will be receiving a 20 year attachment which provides access but she remains very concerned about allowing ARRC to own all of the waterfront in Whittier. There being no further testimony or questions, SENATOR MILLER moved CSHB 320(FIN)am from committee with individual recommendations. There being no objection, the motion carried. There being no further business to come before the committee, CHAIRMAN WARD adjourned the meeting.