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1/27/99
WASHINGTON -- Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski today opened hearings on his
bill (S.25) that would require the federal government to share revenues
from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas development with states. If
the bill is adopted, there will be significant benefits for many
communities in Alaska. ³For years the U.S. Treasury has enjoyed royalties generated from the
federal OCS leasing program, while the states that host the development
have been underwriting the impacts. That is not fair and has got to
change,² said Murkowski, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee. Murkowski's bill would split the roughly $4.1 billion in OCS oil and
gas revenues evenly between the federal treasury and state and local
governments. Twenty seven percent of oil and gas revenues would go to
states for OCS impact assistance and 16 percent would fund the stateside
portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) that provides money
for state and local park improvements and land acquisitions. In addition,
7 percent would fund state Wildlife Conservation Programs to improve
wildlife and recreation programs nationwide. Alaska would net approximately $110 million under the bill and that the
funds could be used for such things as sanitation assistance in rural
communities, breakwaters and coastal erosion facilities, and
infrastructure for the Port of Anchorage. The state would receive about $5 million a year from the setaside to
fund the LWCF. In the past program has funded park improvements to
Alaskaland in Fairbanks, construction of the coastal trail in Anchorage,
Harbor View Park in Ketchikan and Marine Park in Juneau. The state also would gain about $16 million a year for wildlife
conservation programs -- money that would go for non-game conservation
programs. Murkowski along with Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is leading the11
senators proposing the revenue-sharing bill. Murkowski said he is open to
changing parts of the bill, but believes it is a fair starting point to
finally get needed aid to coastal states. Noting that some private property groups have expressed concern about
the money the bill will provide for federal land acquisitions, Murkowski
empasized the funding restrictions contained in the bill. * Federal land purchases can only be made within an existing federal
land management unit created by Congress. * No funds can be used to
condemn property. Only property offered by willing sellers can be
purchased. * Two-thirds of the funds must be spent on land acquisition in
the eastern part of the country (east of the 100th meridian a line roughly
through the Great Plains and the middle of Texas.). * Federal land
acquisitions with a value greater than $5 million must be approved by the
House and Senate authorizing and appropriation committees. The bill does allow funds for federal land acquisition. ³However, this
money is not earmarked for a federal land grab. I believe the federal
government already owns too much land. However, the demand for federal
land acquisition dollars is significant. Many inholders, who want to sell,
have been waiting for decades to receive compensation from the federal
government for their property. In many instances those landowners must
suffer restrictions on access to and use of their lands while they wait
endlessly for the funds to compensate them for their lands. That needs to
be changed,² said Murkowski. Murkowski said he intends to devote substantial time in coming months
to examine all aspects of the bill. |