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Senate hearings began Jan. 29 on legislation intended to reverse former Gov. Frank Murkowski’s changes to the state’s coastal zone management program. The three major changes in a new committee substitute for SB-161, by Sen. Donny Olson, D-Nome, would reestablish the Alaska Coastal Policy Council, bring state Department of Environmental Conservation authorization of air and water quality back into coastal zone consistency reviews and clarify that coastal zones have the ability to establish enforceable policies in their local district plans. Changes made by Murkowski brought the program under the Department of Natural Resources and watered down the ability of coastal communities to influence state permits under their programs. The Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee heard support for the bill from coastal community representatives but opposition from the state Department of Natural Resources, which now administers the coastal management program. The Senate committee took no action on the bill, but Olson, sponsor of the measure and chairman of the committee, said it would be brought up again on Feb. 5.
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