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HB0233a -1- HB 233
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HOUSE BILL NO. 233
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY REPRESENTATIVES EDGMON, Josephson, Hannan, Stutes, Hall
Introduced: 5/20/25
Referred: House Special Committee on Fisheries, Resources
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act prohibiting certain mining activities within the watershed of the Bristol Bay 1
Fisheries Reserve." 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 3
* Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 4
to read: 5
LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 6
(1) the Bristol Bay watershed is a region of unparalleled ecological value, 7
boasting salmon diversity and productivity unrivaled elsewhere in North America; 8
(2) the region's salmon resources have supported Alaska Native people for 9
thousands of years and continue to support local communities and Alaska Native cultures 10
throughout Southwest Alaska; 11
(3) the Bristol Bay watershed's largely undisturbed aquatic habitats and 12
productive salmon populations support one of the most valuable commercial fisheries in the 13
world, creating $2,200,000,000 each year in economic activity and supporting 15,000 jobs; 14
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HB 233 -2- HB0233a
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(4) the Bristol Bay region is home to a vibrant sport fishing, hunting, tourism, 1
and recreation economy, supporting 7,000 fishing and hunting jobs and thousands of full- and 2
part-time tourism and recreation jobs; 3
(5) in 1972, the Seventh Alaska State Legislature determined that a heightened 4
level of protection was needed for Bristol Bay fisheries and acted by designating the Bristol 5
Bay Fisheries Reserve to protect the longstanding and valuable commercial, subsistence, and 6
sport fisheries in the region; 7
(6) the region described as the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve and the rivers, 8
streams, and lakes that produce the fish continue to require the same level of protection as 9
when the reserve was created; and 10
(7) the considerations that justified the 1972 action also warrant new 11
protections to prevent hardrock mining activities that would risk polluting the region's river 12
systems, ground water, aquifer systems, and other hydrologic regimes, including any 13
hydrologically interrelated or connected surface and ground water, within the drainage 14
systems that connect to the surface water of Bristol Bay. 15
* Sec. 2. AS 38.05.142 is repealed and reenacted to read: 16
Sec. 38.05.142. Mining activities prohibited within watershed of Bristol 17
Bay Fisheries Reserve. (a) Metallic sulfide mining activities are prohibited within the 18
watershed of the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve designated in AS 38.05.140(f). 19
(b) In this section, "metallic sulfide mining activities" means mining activities 20
to extract sulfide minerals or precious metals from sulfide-bearing rock. 21