Session: State Capitol, Room 121 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-4797 Fax: (907) 465-3884 Interim: post office: 119 N. Cushman, Suite 101 Fairbanks, AK 99701-2879 location: 3340 Badger Road. North Pole, AK 99705 Phone: (907) 488-0857 Fax: (907) 488-4271

Sponsor Statement for SB 308
Coastal Zone Management Program and Council

An Act relating to the Alaska coastal management program and the responsibilities of the Alaska Coastal Policy Council; and providing for an effective date.

Alaska's permitting system is broken. Industries from across the state have stepped forward to ask for clarity, consistency, and timeliness. Central to the confusion of this broken system is the Coastal Zone Management program (CZM) and its underlying consistency determination process. It is confusing and often misunderstood by the public and permit applicants alike. Senate Bill 308 takes steps to address some of the problems associated with CZM and keep Alaska and its resource-dependent economy moving forward.

Alaska chose to participate in the federal voluntary Coastal Zone Management program by creating the Alaska Coastal Management Program (ACMP) in 1977. The ACMP requires that all permits issued by state agencies for a project within the coastal zone be consistent with the respective plans developed by a coastal resource district. Since that time, there have been many state and federal laws such as the clean water act, clean air act, spill prevention laws, and wetlands legislation affecting coastal districts and further complicating the process by which permits are found to be consistent.

As local plans have been developed, the statutes and regulations of specific departments and agencies were incorporated by reference. The result has been that local officials sometimes interpret these requirements differently than the state officials who work with them on a regular basis. While these conflicts are resolved through the internal elevation process, it causes delays and frustrations among all involved.

Specifically, the bill does two things:

• Prohibits the adoption by reference of state statutes and regulations by coastal districts.
• Allows permitting agencies to make consistency determinations in separate phases for a North Slope natural gas pipeline project that parallels the Trans Alaska Pipeline System and the Alaska Highway or a route that runs to Alaska tidewater.

While the original version and the previous committee substitute for SB 308 dealt with the petition process, a House bill (HB 439) has come over to the Senate that addresses the issue. However, the language adopted by the House may not accomplish what was intended and the title on that measure is too restrictive to allow changes. If, in order for the Senate to effectively deal with these concerns, changing the title of HB 439 proves problematic, the title of SB 308 needs to remain broad enough to deal with petitions at a later time. For that reason, the proposed CS retains a broad title.

For the foreseeable future, Alaska's economy will be dependent upon the development of our natural resources. As the policy-making body of state government, we must remove those aspects of our permitting system which cause unnecessary delay and expense without improving public input and accountability, particularly when it comes to those projects which are critical to our state's future prosperity and revenues.

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