OPINION: Alaska Legislature should not fund wetlands permitting primacy

The Alaska Legislature seems poised to add to the size of the state government by taking on a program that the federal government is already running for us. The program cost for the federal government to run the program is about $8 million and the state wants to take over the same program at an estimated cost to Alaska of $5 million. Apparently, our state workers can do more work for less money — or maybe the Alaska version of the federal program will be a scaled-back version of protections for our world-class fish habitat?

In front of the Legislature this spring is a request to add an initial 28 (it will probably grow to more) full-time employees with salaries and benefits to create an new division in the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that would voluntarily take over the permitting of industrial development in wetlands that the US Army Corps of Engineers is already doing.

It is ironic that the Legislature would consider adding 28 new full time positions to the budget considering the years of cuts and departmental austerities and all of the heated ongoing rhetoric about smaller government. It is just plain nonsensical that they would add a new program they don’t have to without any substantive justification for doing so.

The administration has convinced a number of lawmakers that taking over the federal wetlands permitting program under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act will someday pay for itself because hypothetically more development will occur. The subtext seems to be that the state will go easier on developers than the feds do, so there will be more development, including potentially DEC Commissioner Jason Brune’s pet project, the proposed Pebble Mine. The small-print cautionary disclaimer is that with our new system of unlimited campaign contributions, deep-pocketed developers can and will influence state level political races, and having a permitting system conducted at a state level might just make it easier for the state’s “regulated community” to influence the regulators.

There would be a significant cost to the state of assuming the program. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has requested a nearly $5 million appropriation to staff 28 employees but it is not at all clear how DEC came up with this estimate. As of a number of years ago, the Corps’ regulatory program in Alaska had 49 full-time positions and an annual budget of $7.9 million. Assumption of the permitting program will likely also require additional staff from other resources agencies and the Department of Law, as well as additional third-party contractors.

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act brings inevitable legal challenges. Ensuring that the state program is equally protective will invite even more litigation, which the state will have to defend at its own expense. The administration estimates this amount at $250,000 per year.

States administering the Section 404 permit program receive no federal funds specifically dedicated to support operation of the permit program.

The full costs of the program are unknown and it would be irresponsible for the Legislature to fund this program before the costs are assessed and the state has determined how these costs will be covered on an on-going basis The state has not done the economic, legal, and technical feasibility studies to determine what the true cost of the program would be or how it would be funded. It is unclear if the state has the resources or the technical expertise to do so.

Brian Ritchie was born and raised in Homer and is the owner of a charter fishing business in his hometown.

Jeff Farvour is a commercial salmon troller and halibut fisherman who lives in Sitka.

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