February 20 , 2003
Thursday - 12:15 am

Juneau - Governor Frank H. Murkowski on Wednesday introduced legislation to extend the life of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, to extend the life of Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority's bonding authorization, and to increase the renew period for oil discharge prevention and contingency plans from three years to five years.

"I am asking the Legislature to extend the RCA for four years to provide stability to the regulation of utilities and pipelines," Murkowski said. "Failure to extend the commission this session would put the RCA into its 'wind down' year and significantly interfere with its work.

"The second bill extends to 2007 the authorization for AIDEA to sell bonds to fund development projects costing less than $10 million. AIDEA's general bonding authorization will expire on June 30, 2003 if it is not extended.

"Finally, we are asking that the renewal period be increased to five years for oil discharge prevention and contingency plans, from the present law which requires they be redone every three years.

"This bill acts on my goal to streamline the permitting process with no loss of environmental protection," Murkowski said. "In fact, this change will allow the Department of Environmental Conservation to increase its field presence and work directly with operators on the ground to improve performance and make practical enhancements to their spill prevention and response capabilities."

DEC Commissioner Ernesta Ballard, who developed the legislation at the governor's request said, "The bill complements my department's initiatives to shift emphasis away from the administrative review and approval process to the actual inspection and verification of response capability, which fall clearly under the purview our enforcement authority."

"This bill supports the Governor's goal of fostering clarity and certainty through clear and consistently applied industry requirements," Ballard said.

Oil spill prevention and contingency plans are required of operators of oil terminals, refineries, pipelines, exploration and production facilities, oil tank vessels, nontank vessels, oil barges, and railroad tank cars. Plans are publicly noticed, reviewed and approved by the
Department of Environmental Conservation if they meet state requirements.

A five-year renewal cycle will also provide consistency with the approval cycle for federal response plans, as well as those of other West Coast states, aiding operators who wish to develop plans that meet the requirements of multiple jurisdictions that are on the same approval cycle.

"Extending the plan approval period for oil spill prevention and contingency plans reduces the administrative burden to both applicants and the Department of Environmental Conservation," said Murkowski. "By increasing our emphasis to oversight of on-site regulated facilities and vessels through inspections, spill drills and exercises, industry's
ability to prevent and respond to spills is improved."

Source of News Release:

Office of the Governor
Web Site

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