Alaska Coastal Management

• HB 74 Coastal Management Program – Reps. Joule (D-Kotzebue) | Rep. Edgmon (D-Dillingham) | Rep. Buch (D-Anchorage)
• SB 4 Coastal Management Program - Sen. Olson (D-Nome)

The ACMP is a program created by the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. States with coastal regions must create and implement management programs that protect the coastal zones and “achieve wise use of the land and water resources…giving full consideration to ecological, cultural, historic and aesthetic values as well as the needs for compatible economic development.” Id. as § 1452(2).  Senator Olson and Representative Joule have introduced legislation, SB4 and HB74, that would address many of the concerns local participants have with Alaska’s Coastal Management Program (ACMP).

Unfortunately, big changes in 2003 by the Murkowski Administration dramatically limited the ability of local communities and coastal districts to have a voice in the management of their coastal resources.

Alaska’s Coastal Management Program, as it is currently implemented, is in need of the open, honest and thorough revision that the bills put forth by Sen. Olson and Rep. Joule would provide.  The changes proposed by SB4 and HB74 should go a long way towards addressing the negative effects of the 2003 changes made by the Murkowski Administration.  Most notably, SB4/HB74 would:

• Restore checks and balances by establishing a Coastal Policy Board with representation from state agencies as well as coastal districts, reflecting the diversity of regional interests and state agency interests.
• Repeal the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) carve-out.
• Reaffirm the ability of the coastal districts to write enforceable policies; and
• Incorporate subsistence into the objectives of the ACMP.

View our letter in support of SB4 and HB74.