|
Alaska Oil and Gas Commission adopts revised regulations Work begun in early ‘90s to update, standardize rules for downhole work expected to clear final Department of Law hurdle, move quickly to lieutenant governor’s office for filing Kristen Nelson PNA News Editor
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has completed work on a revision of its regulations begun in the early 1990s. At a Sept. 29 meeting the commission reviewed and approved final changes — some recommended by commissioners and staff and some from the Department of Law.
The regulations now go back to the Department of Law Legislation and Regulations Section for final review and then to the lieutenant governor’s office to be filed. Thirty days after the filing, the new regulations take effect. Rob Mintz, the assistant attorney general for the commission, said he expected that the regulations would be forwarded to the lieutenant governor’s office quickly.
He told the commission that considering how extensive the revisions were in the regulations, the Department of Law characterized the regulations as being in “uncommonly good shape” and requiring rather few changes.
Work sessions began in 1994 The commission involved industry in the revision process in 1994. The Alaska Oil and Gas Association, representing the state’s larger oil and gas companies, provided comments, suggested changes and worked with the commission on bringing the regulations up to date in a series of working sessions and public meetings. Individual companies and independent operators also participated.
A considerable amount of work was completed by the end of 1994, but changes in the commission and other demands on its time stalled progress on the regulations and an initial draft was not completed until 1996.
Public comments were taken, some changes were made and the commission adopted the regulations at the end of 1996. They were forwarded to the Department of Law, but didn’t come back to the commission until late in 1997. Between then and the summer of 1998, the commission worked with the department cleaning up particular sections.
There was a public hearing in October 1998, and then the commission had a series of public meetings to discuss proposed revisions and accept additional public testimony and then the regulations were sent to Juneau for review by the Department of Law.
The home stretch At its September public meeting, the commission did not take testimony, but reviewed proposed changes in the regulations made both by staff and commissioners and by the Department of Law.
Attorney Mark Worcester of ARCO Alaska Inc. asked that the commission not approve the changes that day, but allow time for AOGA to review and make comments. Copies of the changes had been received only the day before, Worcester said, and that didn’t allow AOGA time to go through and evaluate them. He pointed out that the revision had been a five-year process and that a quick review showed extensive changes, many substantive, and some of which redirected the way the commission does business.
Mintz said that the Department of Law didn’t make changes unilaterally, but in consultation with commissioners and staff, and noted that it was at the commission’s discretion whether or not to agree with changes proposed by the Department of Law. There were four types of changes, Mintz said: formal changes in style or conventions; changes where the Department of Law had detected a legal problem; instances where the department found ambiguity or lack of clarity; and changes or improvements from members of the commission or commission staff.
After reviewing proposed changes, the commission voted to approve the regulations as amended.
| 