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House passes ACMP bill Bill still requires a consistency review, but DEC permits are not required for reviews Kristen Nelson Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief
The Legislature has been struggling with bills to revise the state’s coastal zone management program for eight weeks. The House passed its version, House Bill 191, by a 25 to 10 vote May 7. A Senate version, Senate Bill 143, was heard and held in Senate Resources in late April, where only the original bill has been adopted.
House committees, by contrast, have worked the bill since mid-March and it is the third version of the bill — substantially changed from the original — which reached the House floor in early May.
In the debate before the vote the House heard pleas from Democrats Beth Kerttula of Juneau — who has led the fight against the bill — and Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz of Anchorage, both of whom asked legislators to vote against the bill and work with local communities to make changes to the program.
Rep. Hugh ‘Bud’ Fate, R-Fairbanks, told House members that under the administration plan to revise the coastal plan local communities will still have a seat at the table when development decisions are made in their coastal areas. And Rep. Norm Rokeberg, R-Anchorage, said a letter to legislators from 12 coastal districts opposing the bill does not have the support of the Municipality of Anchorage, despite the signature of an Anchorage planner on the letter. Anchorage supports the bill, Rokeberg said, and urges Anchorage legislators to vote for it. House bill third version HB 191 streamlines the Alaska Coastal Management Program by relying on existing state statutes and regulations as the enforceable policies of the ACMP. Municipalities retain existing land use authorities to regulate private activity and the Department of Natural Resources is authorized to adopt local ordinances as enforceable policies to be applied in consistency reviews of federal projects and outer continental shelf development.
DNR would consult with local government when applying local ordinance in a consistency review.
The bill would also adopt certain existing coastal district policies for federal OCS development as state enforceable policies.
The bill transfers development and implementation of the coastal program from the Alaska Coastal Policy Council to DNR and eliminates the council. The original bill also eliminated coastal resource service areas, but the bill passed by the house retains them.
Coastal districts retain the authorities and responsibilities they have. There is still a consistency review, but Department of Environmental Conservation permits are not required for that consistency review.
Marty Rutherford, representing the Department of Natural Resources and the administration, told the House Finance Committee May 3 that the coastal management program is an older program which hasn’t adequately responded to change in Alaska statutes. It is unpredictable, overly broad and delays issuance of permits. The coastal resource service areas are retained in the Finance version of the bill, she said, as are existing coastal districts. The bill ensures that districts retain their seat at the table although the coastal policy council is eliminated and those duties are placed with the commissioner of DNR, Rutherford said. DNR has until July 1, 2004 to adopt regs The development community has been supportive of the changes, and agreed with the original bill, which drew opposition from coastal communities. There is still concern about the loss of coastal community authority and Kerttula predicted on the House floor that the present version would hurt local communities in their dealings with federal agencies.
The Department of Natural Resources has until July 1, 2004, to adopt regulations to implement its role and coastal districts have a year after that to review their current coastal management program and submit to the department a revised plan for review and approval.
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