The director of the Division of Lands is authorized under Alaska statutes to issue permits, rights-of-way and easements on State land without the necessity of a best interest finding. These permits are issued for such purposes as roads, oil well drilling sites, and telephone or electric transmission and distribution lines.

"Recently the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that a conditional right-of-way permit issued by DNR for construction of an electrical transmission line required a best interest finding," said Senator Pete Kelly, sponsor of Senate Bill 255. "The court disregarded the current statutes, and ignored legislative intent. SB 255 simply clarifies what already exists in the statutes."

Issuing a best interest finding on every right-of-way, easement or permit issued under the relevant statute would cause a strain on DNR's budget and would substantially delay the permitting process. Ultimately, the development and use of State land resources could be negatively impacted because it would be too costly and time consuming to issue permits. Even small development projects could get backed up for years without this legislation.

In light of the court decision, projects completed before 1993 would be at risk, because prior to that date a 30 day limit on appeals was not included by DNR when they issued these permits. SB 255 would retroactively exempt all DNR permits issued since July 27, 1981 from the best interest finding requirement, protecting completed projects, from which the state already benefits, from a legal challenge.

"This bill does not change the best interest finding requirement that has existed for the last 20 years, but it does add a positive change to the permitting process," said Kelly. "SB 255 adds a public notice provision that was not in the statutes before, and that I think is necessary. It does not take away from the public process, but rather adds to it"

A notice of reconsideration was filed.