(Juneau) -The House Finance Committee passed the Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 3002 today, with no changes.

Under the Stranded Gas Development Act, the Commissioner of Revenue is required to prepare a summary of the public comments received in response to the proposed contract and the preliminary findings and determination within 30 days of the end of the public comment period. SB 3002 (NGD) proposes to extend this timeline to 120 days.

Over the course of the 75-day public comment period, the Department of Revenue received 2,158 comments. Since July 25th, the department has been reviewing the comments and has found that 30 days is not a substantial amount of time to review the comments, prepare a summary of the comments and prepare recommended amendments to the contract. With the passage of SB 3002, the period of review will extend to November 20th.

"The public comment period is one of the most important elements of the Stranded Gas Development Act. If the administration needs more time to evaluate the comments of Alaskans and proposed amendments to the contract, then we should grant them this time, said House Finance Co-Chair Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski).

CSSB 3002 now moves to the House floor for consideration.

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