State officials: Ballot Measure 1 will make some construction projects impossible

In legislative hearing, experts testify about proposal’s side effects

Larry Hartig, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, speaks to the Alaska Legislature in 2014. On Friday, Hartig was among the state commissioners who spoke in front of the Alaska Senate’s State Affairs Committee about the effects of Ballot Measure 1. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Larry Hartig, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, speaks to the Alaska Legislature in 2014. On Friday, Hartig was among the state commissioners who spoke in front of the Alaska Senate’s State Affairs Committee about the effects of Ballot Measure 1. (Juneau Empire file photo)

Ballot Measure 1 is intended to boost protections for salmon, but a series of state officials told lawmakers Friday that those protections will come at a significant cost.

Four state commissioners and associates testified Friday afternoon before the Alaska Senate State Affairs Committee and explained how the measure would affect the state if approved by voters in the November general election.

In some cases, the effects would be significant.

The measure would “make it nearly impossible to permit the Alaska LNG project,” Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Andy Mack told the Senate State Affairs Committee.

AKLNG is the formal name of the trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline proposed by Gov. Bill Walker.

The officials were unable to provide specific cost estimates in most cases; they instead offered information about the side effects the initiative would have as it pursues its goal of fisheries protection.

State officials Friday had to tread carefully and avoid expressing their opinions as to whether or not they support the initiative. State law prohibits spending to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, unless specifically authorized by the Legislature, and that didn’t happen this year.

Instead, representatives of the transportation, natural resources, environmental conservation, and Fish and Game departments simply presented the likely consequences and let legislators (and the few dozen observers) make up their own minds.

“There isn’t a whole lot of time to educate people … that is why we wanted to do this now,” said Sen. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, explaining why the committee held the hearing.

“We are not going to take a position on the initiative, pro or con. This is simply a fact-seeking meeting,” said Meyer, who also is a candidate for the Republican lieutenant governor nomination.

Ballot Measure 1 is designed to rewrite much of Title 16, the state’s program for permits that affect fish habitat.

Kyle Moselle, associate director of the office of project management and permitting for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, said that in addressing Title 16, it “could constrain DNR’s statutory authority to appropriate water.”

That’s a significant issue because most construction projects in Alaska have to affect surface water in some way.

“When you’re talking about water, it’s everywhere. It’s ubiquitous in our state,” he said.

A water permit is needed when a road crosses a stream, when a mine covers wetlands, or when a pipeline bridges a river.

Ben White, statewide environmental program manager for the Alaska Department of Transportation, said the way the measure deals with water “has the potential to increase the time it takes to get a permit.”

DOT, for example, is likely to have to perform more environmental assessments and environmental impact statements, things that take years, instead of analyses that might take months.

He suggested that projects would also have to be “overdesigned to accommodate fish.”

Current rules require construction projects to mitigate any damage to fish habitat with work elsewhere. The ballot measure changes that to require on-site mitigation, something that would be difficult or impossible for some projects.

Larger projects might not be able to obtain a permit at all under the stricter guidelines, the state officials suggested.

In addition to AKLNG, officials repeated the affidavit of one industry expert who said the Prudhoe Bay oil field could not have been developed under the standards implemented by Ballot Measure 1.

The problems might extend to projects that are already operating but need to expand or change their operations. A planned expansion of the Red Dog Mine, in northwest Alaska, might run into difficulties, it was suggested.

Sen. John Coghill, R-North Pole, suggested that in some cases, the initiative could grant an exclusive water right to fisheries.

He said he understands where initiative supporters stand, but he isn’t sold on the argument.

“I don’t blame them. Fish are very, very important, but they’re not exclusively important,” he said.


• Contact reporter James Brooks at jbrooks@juneauempire.com or 523-2258.


More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Dozens of people throw colors in the air and at each other during a Holi festival gathering Monday night outside Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Dozens toss caution and colored cornstarch to the wind in traditional Hindu celebration of spring

Most Read