Juneau -- Monday the Alaska House passed Senate Bill 229, sponsored by Senator Drue Pearce (R-Anchorage). SB 229 makes changes to SB 133, which abolished the Alaska Public Utilities Commission (APUC) and established the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). SB 133 passed the legislature last year.

"One change that SB 229 makes is to require the use of hearing officers, not hearing examiners, at RCA hearings," said Pearce. "The people conducting these hearings are called on to adjudicate legal matters, and they need to be proficient in judicial proceedings and rules of evidence and of practice. Hearing examiners are not required to be attorneys, while hearing officers are."

Another change repeals the requirement that RCA and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission share facilities. "When we drafted SB 133, we believed that both RCA and AOGCC would save money by sharing clerical staff and record storage facilities if they moved into the same office space," said Pearce. "The space that the RCA currently occupies is very inexpensive, and after a review by the Department of Administration it became apparent that it actually cost more for them to share space with AOGCC than it would to stay where they are."

The final revision clarifies that the RCA may employ and utilize mediators as well as arbitrators in its hearing process. Mediation is a less formal process than arbitration, and tends to expedite the process of finding common ground among the interested parties.

SB 229 goes to the Governor for signature.