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Wielechowski appeals for ACMP renewal Begich says loss of coastal zone program will hurt oil, gas development, prevent building offshore deepwater port off North Slope Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, has appealed to all parties in the debate over coastal management to do what’s best for Alaskans and renew the program.
Citing an overview of the Alaska Coastal Management Program from Legislative Research Services, Wielechowski said in a May 23 statement that in less than six weeks Alaskans will lose their most “direct and important tool to influence federal activities” in Alaska.
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, jumped in May25 with an even more alarming analysis, that expiration of ACMP will affect oil and gas development off the North Slope.
“The Deep Water Port Act requires a state to have, or be making progress toward having an approved coastal zone management program in order to build an off-shore, deepwater port in federal waters,” Begich said. Shallow waters off the North Slope would require companies to go many miles offshore to reach waters deep enough to accommodate “the large, deep-draft vessels associated with oil and gas production and transportation. Without ACMP, oil and gas operators will not have the option to develop an offshore deepwater port, which could significantly impair their operations.”
He said Alaska will also lose out on funding from the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, which has invested more than $141 million in the ACMP to date, and has $2.5 million budgeted for the program this year. The state would no longer be eligible for grants under the federal Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, on track to distribute some $20 million nationwide in 2011, including funding for a project on Anchorage’s Campbell Creek.
And the state would have to scramble to find another entity to administer its share in the final round of Coastal Impact Assistance Program from outer continental shelf leasing, which has been administered by ACMP. Some $28 million remains of the state’s share, he said.
Loss of voice in federal decisions Begich said loss of the program would have severe impacts on both the state’s environment and economy.
“It is critical that Alaskans have a voice in federal decisions regarding ocean resource development and are well positioned to rapidly develop our enormous offshore oil and gas resources,” he said.
The Legislative Research Services report called the “loss of Alaska’s ability to review and to object to federal activities, licenses and permits through the consistency review process” the most significant impact of the loss of ACMP.
“The report paints a dire picture,” Wielechowski said. “Many Alaskans are rightfully concerned about the heavy hand of the federal government in Alaska. Loss of this program will give the feds more authority to dictate what happens on our lands and waters, and it will throw roadblocks in front of companies wanting to do business in Alaska.”
ACMP gives the state a formal role in review of federal activities including those on the outer continental shelf. While the state could still comment on federal activities without the ACMP, it “could no longer ensure those activities comply with ACMP statewide and district enforceable policies,” the report said.
ACMP Director Randy Bates told Legislative Research Services that without a formal review process, comments by state agencies may become “disjointed with conflicting responses from various state agencies.” Bates said that without ACMP the state would not be part of the formal review process for federal projects such as OCS oil and gas lease sales, timber sales in the Tongass National Forest or oil leases under the jurisdiction of the federal Bureau of Land Management.
Loss of consistency review Without ACMP there will be no consistency review, he said, thus eliminating or reducing pre-application assistance to developers, coordination of the application process, coordination between state agencies and affected coastal districts, a review of entire projects and consideration of local issues.
Bates also said that without ACMP developers would have to work with each permitting agency separately, a process he described as a “time-consuming, uncoordinated, duplicative, patchwork approach.”
This is an argument supporters made on the House floor, noting that ACMP is used for local projects as well as for large resource development projects.
While the state could create a new agency to coordinate resource permits, it would not have access to federal funds, some $2.5 million annually, and would not have the ability to participate in a coordinated review process with federal agencies.
Each coastal district has a coastal coordinator, the report said, employed by the municipality or borough in the case of organized local governments and partly funded by ACMP. There are four coastal service resource areas where organized local governments do not exist, and those areas receive funding from ACMP for staffing, training and an office.
Betty Svensson, deputy director of the Alaska Municipal League, told Legislative Research Services that the loss of ACMP would be a “double hit” to coastal districts, because they would not only lose their voice in the permitting process but would also lose funding for training, coordinators and other projects. With the loss of the coordinator position, Svensson said, local concerns would have to be raised with each permitting agency by a volunteer or another municipal employee who may not have the training to understand and participate in the process.
Closing up shot “No state or federal agency will take over or assume the function and responsibilities for coastal zone management in Alaska,” Bates said in a May 25 e-mail on the ACMP shutdown.
He said the Division of Coastal and Ocean Management staff is working on an orderly shutdown and plans to have its offices closed by June 30.
But, he said, DCOM will continue to accept project applications, as required by law, and quoted guidance the division has received from the Department of Law on orderly shutdown as it relates to ACMP project reviews.
Law said consistency reviews should continue to be processed and reviewed until the July 1 repeal date of the program.
“This is particularly important to applicants who will need a resource agency permit or a federal consistency determination prior to July 1, 2011,” Law said.
Bates said that for projects currently in review that will be complete by June 30, “the coordinating agency should continue the review and issue the final determination.”
For projects received prior to June 30 that could be completed because of expedited review or a 30-day review, the coordinating agency should process the review.
For projects received between now and June 30 that will not be completed by June 30, or for projects currently in review that will not be completed by June 30, “the coordinating agency should process and/or continue the review but terminate the review on July 1.”
Bates said the division and Law “are looking at the issues concerning the legal futility of initiating reviews that under the regulations cannot be completed prior to the expiration of the ACMP,” and encouraged applicants who are able to wait to submit a proposed project until after the June 30 expiration of ACMP to do so.
Close to special session? The Anchorage Daily News reported May 26 that the Legislature appears to be close to calling itself back into special session to deal with ACMP.
The governor can also call legislators back, but the governor’s spokeswoman, Sharon Leighow, told Petroleum News after the special session ended that there were no plans to call another special session.
The Daily News reported that 15 of 20 members of the Senate were in favor of a special session, and apparently the House was close to having two-thirds agreement among members for what is expected to be a two-day session.
Senate Majority Leader Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, told the Daily News it looks like the Senate will accept a version of the ACMP bill similar to what the governor and the House previously agreed on.
—The Associated Press contributed to this story
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