nominating outstanding natural resource waters, which once designated would receive the highest level of protection under the Clean Water Act, in PʬPN_YZbL_P]\`LWT_dOPR]LOL_TZY “Currently, Alaska has a formal process for designating the ONRWs, which puts the state at risk of violating the Clean Water Act and the EPA imposing its own designations. This leaves stakeholders — developers and conservationists alike — with uncertainty,” Kopp said. The water body designations are important because once it is made, water quality must be “maintained and protected,” meaning no new or additional discharges into the water may be au- thorized, Kopp said. “In and near water activities like wastewater treatment plants, seafood processing and motor- ized vessels, as well as upland activities including residential and commercial septic systems, road construction and mining and timber harvesting NZ`WOMPTX[LN_POZ]LʬPN_POMd_SP:9=BOP^ - ignation,” Kopp said. In this sense, the ONRW designations are essentially land-use decisions, which under long-standing practice in Alaska is a legislative determination. To date, the Legislature has acted
on 118 legislatively-directed land or water body protections, and the ONRW designations should follow a similar process. Recognizing this regulatory ambiguity, there bL^LYPʬZ]_MdQZ]XP]2Za-TWWBLWVP]_ZP^ - tablish a state process involving the Legislature, M`_T_]LYTY_ZLʭ]P^_Z]XZQZ[[Z^T_TZYQ]ZXPY - vironmental groups and those opposed to devel- opment, who hoped to use the ONRW process to impede mines across Alaska. Walker dropped the bill. While neither SB 51 or HB 138 moved beyond _SPT]ʭ]^_NZXXT__PP^ɨ_SP=P^Z`]NP^.ZXXT_ - tees in both the House and Senate — hearings were held to establish a legislative record, and the stage has been set for more action in the 2020 session. Since a Legislature spans two years, with sessions to do work held annually, bills intro- O`NPOTY $M`_YZ_[L^^POTYʭ]^_dPL]ZQ_SP two-year Legislature are still before lawmakers in 2020, the second year. The intense debate over the Permanent Fund Division was a major preoccupation of legislators all through the 2019 regular and special sessions. CONTINUED on PAGE 12
July 2019
The Alaska Miner
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