Alaska Conservation Voters

Conservation Watch

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"We see the University and DNR as a 1000-pound gorilla at our door."
---Pelican resident Norm Carson testifying in opposition to HB 130 at a House Resources hearing on March 4.

• Lands Bill Drops 7 Parcels on its Way Out of Resources
• Penny-Pinching NPDES Primacy
• Alternative Energy Building Steam

In Every Issue

• Bills on the Move
• New Legislation
• Hearing Schedule

Lands Bill Drops 7 Parcels on its Way Out of Resources

Governor Murkowski's highly controversial university land grant proposal cleared its first committee hurdle March 4, but not without dropping some of its nastier provisions in House Resources. In response to constituent concerns they couldn't ignore, committee members amended HB 130 to remove seven parcels and add some planning and public notice provisions. The changes don't satisfy the concerns of many Alaskans.

"A couple of Band-Aids aren't going to make bad legislation good legislation," fumed Port Alexander resident Lori Mastrella. The Port Alexander parcel is one of few retracted from the giveaway list, along with the hotly debated Neets Creek watershed, Kodiak rocket range, Duke and Kelp Islands, and Warm Springs Bay. A negotiation team of committee Republicans and three Southeast representatives concocted the changes to fix their specific problems. Rep. Paul Seaton negotiated in some planning and public notice provisions in the new bill, though today's public testimony reflected continued uneasiness about the future use of granted land.

It's not surprising that Rep. LeDoux described the amendment as a glowing example of the public process at work since many of the 2300 Kodiak constituents who signed a petition opposing the transfer are now soothed. It may be a better example of the committee process at work, where you only need to appease a majority of the committee members to move a bill, and you only have to listen to the first two minutes of each person's testimony.

The Resources Committee moved the bill satisfied they had met the public's demands, and yet residents of Pelican, Petersburg, and Sitka, some of the most outspoken against HB 130, were offered no land retractions. Meanwhile, the committee curiously removed the Lena Creek parcel in Juneau, despite a complete lack of public testimony on it. Fairbanks graduate student Rosemary McGuire's assertion that HB 130 "treats communities unethically" is echoed in the apparent arbitrariness of the Lena Creek change.

HB 130 will next be heard in the House Finance Committee, where members will likely get an earful about controversial parcels that haven't been excluded.

For more perspectives on HB 130, check out the ACV University Land Grab page.

Penny-Pinching NPDES Primacy

Peppered with language about states' rights, streamlining, and efficiency, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials pitched National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) primacy to a skeptical Senate Resources Committee on March 2nd.  Despite DEC’s enthusiasm, legislative and industry support will likely hinge on the bill's cost.

NPDES permits, currently administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are required by the Clean Water Act for discharges into surface waters. SB 110 and sister bill HB 153 authorize DEC to apply to EPA for primacy over issuing, enforcing, and administering these permits.

Major sticking points include the state’s General Fund price tag ($1.5 million in FY ’07), DEC’s lowball staffing estimates, lack of Tribal consultations, and the industries’ legislative demands. Additionally, DEC would charge $300,000 in fees, to be paid by municipal wastewater utilities, industry, and other permit holders.

When primacy first came up as a discussion item, DEC convened a working group, consisting entirely of agency and industry interests, to hash out issues. The group developed a detailed list of “must have” elements of a primacy application. Not surprisingly the Governor’s legislation meets these demands, including limiting fees to “direct costs” of permitting. According to Steve Borell with the Alaska Miners Association, “any additional costs and fees beyond those allowed [under current law] would outweigh any anticipated benefits of primacy.” 

Curiously absent from the March 2 hearing were the oil, construction, and municipal wastewater industries. The municipal stakeholder representative on DEC's working group recommended against state primacy, citing concerns about costs to ratepayers. At the hearing Dan Easton, DEC's Water Director, confirmed that state primacy over NPDES permits would result in higher municipal sewer fees for many communities, including Juneau.

The industry’s tepid support begs questions about why the state wants primacy in the first place. SB 110 is scheduled again for Monday in Senate Resources.

For the ACV website on NPDES primacy, click here.

Alternative Energy Building Steam

The Legislature is starting to pay attention to Alaska's renewable energy potential. Four bills under consideration would help facilitate development of Alaska’s alternative energy resources.

The Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP) deserves some of the credit for the upswing in interest in renewables. REAP is a coalition of large utility companies, small Native village utility interests, businesses, conservation organizations and consumer groups. Considering the vast alternative energy potential in Alaska (wind, solar, hydrogen, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric, and tidal energy) the bills below are just the beginning.

HB 9, sponsored by Rep. Harry Crawford (D-Anchorage), creates a Hydrogen Energy Research Program to facilitate the development of a hydrogen fuel industry in Alaska. A similar measure passed the House last session. HB 9 has been referred to the House Community and Regional Affairs, Resources, and Finance Committees.

HB 164, also by Rep. Crawford, would make a special appropriation to the Chugach Electric Association for the construction of a wind farm on Fire Island near Anchorage. In addition to supplying electricity to the Anchorage grid, the project could power the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Coast Guard air and marine navigation facilities on the island. HB 164 has been referred to House Economic Development, Trade, & Tourism, Labor & Commerce, and Finance.

HB 196, sponsored by Rep. Jay Ramras (R-Fairbanks), would create a revolving alternative energy loan program in the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. Renewable energy loans under the program would be interest-free for 10 years. HB 196 has been referred to Labor & Commerce and Finance.

HCR 3, also by Rep. Ramras, recognizes the importance of alternative energy, but concurs with the findings of the Alaska Energy Policy Task Force (AEPTF). The AEPTF is an industry group created by 2003's HCR 21 to study Alaska's short- and long-term energy needs. Despite HCR 3's positive language about renewable energy development, some of the AEPTF's findings are troubling. The AEPTF's railbelt report endorses privatization, saying "All other considerations being equal, projects should in general not be owned, operated or maintained by the State." Regardless, HCR 3, which passed out of House Labor and Commerce on March 2, represents an important step in the direction of sustainability. Next it will be heard in Resources.

Read more about prospects for alternative energy in Alaska at www.pfdcoalition.org.

Bills on the Move

---HB 19, which would assert the Alaskan public's right to know about pesticide use, has passed out of the House Resources Committee and awaits a hearing in Finance. Click here to visit the ACV pesticide right-to-know page.

---Despite the supposed independence of Alaska's two legislative bodies, a Senate action on an Arctic Refuge drilling resolution convinced 11 House members to withdraw their support of language recognizing the Gwichin's dependence on the Porcupine caribou herd. The Senate didn't like the Gwichin amendment in HJR 4, passed out of the House on January 28. Instead of voting on HJR 4, they sent the House their own version, SJR 2, with the Gwichin language conspicuously absent. The 11 House members who changed their votes are Reps. Chenault, Foster, Harris, Hawker, Kott, Meyer, Olson, Samuels, Seaton, Thomas, and Wilson. SJR 2 will be transmitted to Governor Murkowski for his signature.

---After US Senator Ted Stevens' visit, the million-plus Arctic Power bills SB 69 and HB 32 appear to have stalled in the Finance Committees in their respective houses. Instead lawmakers are focusing on Gov. Murkowski's supplemental budget, which includes $500,000 for the Arctic Refuge drilling lobby group. Stevens, in his annual address to the Legislature on February 24, expressed doubts about the continued need for Arctic Power funding, saying, "You hire lobbyists when your senator disagrees with you, not when he agrees with you." See CW 5 for more on Arctic Power.

---HB 103, which would require all claims against the state to be tried without a jury, passed out of House State Affairs and will move on to the Judiciary Committee.

---A unanimous Legislature has transmitted SJR 5 to the Governor. The resolution urges Congress to reauthorize the 2000 Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act and appropriate $70 million over five years to research gas hydrates in Alaska.

New Legislation

HJR 14 Begging Congress to Approve Land Grant - Rep. Jim Elkins (R-Ketchikan)
This resolution would urge Congress to pass U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski's legislation granting up to half a million acres of federal land to the University. Sponsor's press release

HB 197 No Oil Spill Contigency Plan for Natural Gas Wells - House Special Committee on Oil & Gas
This bill would exempt natural gas facilities from some oil spill prevention and contingency requirements. The bill also would repeal AS 31.05.030 (J), effectively removing all drinking water protections for gas operations, including coal bed methane.

SB 107 Sport Fish Export Tag - Sen. Con Bunde (R-Anchorage)
To raise revenue from visitors for fisheries management, this bill would require nonresidents to purchase a $10 export tag when they send home sport caught fish. Sponsor's fact sheet

SB 126 Aquatic Farming - Sen. Bert Stedman (R-Sitka)
This bill would make changes to existing requirements for obtaining shellfish farming permits. Permits could only be issued in places where there is an insignificant wild population of the species to be farmed. Insignificant populations would be defined to exclude those large enough for commercial fishing and areas where farming would result in a "significant alteration" in traditional use.

HJR 15 Open-Ocean Fish Farming Resolution - House Special Committee on Fisheries
In response to US Sen. Ted Stevens' surprising level of support for fish farming in federal waters off of Alaska, this resolution would demand an environmental impact statement on any fish farming proposal considered by the federal government. It's scheduled for a hearing in House Fisheries on Wednesday.

SJR 12 Bush Court Nominees - Sen. Gene Therriault (R-Fairbanks)
Referring to "activist judges," this resolution would ask Congress to make quick work of confirming Pres. Bush's Supreme Court nominees.

Hearings this Week

Click on the date in the table below to get the most current schedule information for that day, or check the BASIS hearing schedule. Once a bill has been heard in a particular committee it may be brought up again without public notice or listing on the weekly committee schedule. You can click on a committee name to see a list of its members.