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CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 120(STA)
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
BY THE SENATE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Offered: 4/18/25
Referred: Finance
Sponsor(s): SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act establishing the Alaska Climate Change Emergency Respon se Commission; 1
and relating to the powers and dut ies of the Alaska Climate Cha nge Emergency 2
Response Commission." 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 4
* Section 1. The uncodified law of the State o f Alaska is amended by adding a new section 5
to read: 6
FINDINGS. The legislature finds that a state of emergency exists because of the threat 7
climate change poses on communities in the state, the state eco nomy, traditional ways of life, 8
fish and game populations, and natural ecosystems. 9
* Sec. 2. AS 44.19 is amended by adding new sections to read: 10
Article 6. Alaska Climate Change Emergency Response Commission. 11
Sec. 44.19.651. Commission established. The Alaska Climate Change 12
Emergency Response Commission is established in the Office of the Governor. 13
Sec. 44.19.653. Composition of commission. (a) The commission consists of 14
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16 members, six of whom are departmental representatives who se rve by virtue of 1
office, and 10 of whom are municipal representatives. 2
(b) The following departmental representatives shall serve by virtue of office: 3
(1) the commissioner of fish and game; 4
(2) the commissioner of environmental conservation; 5
(3) the commissioner of natural resources; 6
(4) the commissioner of comme rce, community, and economic 7
development; 8
(5) the commissioner of transportation and public facilities; 9
(6) the director of the division in the Department of Commerce , 10
Community, and Economic Developmen t responsible for community a nd regional 11
affairs. 12
(c) The governor shall appoint 10 municipal representatives to the 13
commission. Each municipal representative must be a mayor or me mber of an 14
assembly or council of a munici pality. The governor shall appoi nt one municipal 15
representative from each of the following general regions: 16
(1) Northwest Alaska, including, generally, the area of the No rth Slope 17
Borough and the Northwest Arctic Borough; 18
(2) Bering Strait area, including, generally, the area of the Bering Strait 19
regional educational attendance area; 20
(3) Southwest Alaska, including, generally, the area within th e Lower 21
Yukon, Lower Kuskokwim, and Southwest regional educational atte ndance areas and 22
the Lake and Peninsula and Bristol Bay Boroughs; 23
(4) Kodiak-Aleutians area, including the area of the Kodiak Is land and 24
Aleutians East Boroughs and the Aleutian, Adak, and Pribilof re gional educational 25
attendance areas; 26
(5) Interior Alaska, including the Fairbanks North Star Boroug h and 27
the Denali Borough; 28
(6) Upper Cook Inlet area, including the Municipality of Ancho rage 29
and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough; 30
(7) Lower Cook Inlet area, including, generally, the area with in the 31
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Kenai Peninsula Borough; 1
(8) Prince William Sound area, including, generally, the area east of 2
the Kenai Peninsula Borough to 141 West longitude; 3
(9) northern Southeast Alaska, including the area southeast of 141 4
degrees West longitude and north of 57 degrees North latitude a nd the entirety of the 5
City and Borough of Sitka; and 6
(10) southern Southeast Alaska, including the portion of South east 7
Alaska not contained in the area described in (9) of this subsection. 8
(d) Municipal representatives serve at the pleasure of the gov ernor. Municipal 9
representatives serve staggered terms of three years, until rea ppointed or replaced. A 10
municipal representative may be reappointed. If a municipal rep resentative ceases to 11
be a mayor, assembly member, or council member in the municipal ity the governor 12
appointed the representative to r epresent, that representative's seat becomes vacant. If 13
a municipal representative's seat becomes vacant for any reason before the expiration 14
of that representative's term, the governor shall, within 30 da ys after the occurrence of 15
the vacancy, appoint a municipal representative from the same r egion to serve the 16
unexpired portion of the term. 17
(e) The commission shall, by majority vote, elect co-chairs. O ne co-chair shall 18
be a departmental representative member, and one co-chair shall be a municipal 19
representative member. 20
Sec. 44.19.655. Compensation. Members of the commission serve without 21
compensation but are entitled to per diem and travel expenses a uthorized for boards 22
and commissions under AS 39.20.180. 23
Sec. 44.19.657. Meetings. Three departmental representative members 24
designated under AS 44.19.653(b) and five municipal representat ive members 25
appointed under AS 44.19.653(c) constitute a quorum for conduct ing business and 26
exercising the powers of the commission. The commission shall m eet at least 27
quarterly, at the call of a co-chair, at the request of the majority of the members, or at a 28
regularly scheduled time as determined by a majority of the mem bers. The 29
commission shall keep a record of its proceedings and make the record available for 30
public inspection. 31
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Sec. 44.19.659. Alternate members. (a) Each member of the commission 1
shall have a permanent alternate to serve at meetings of the commission as follows: 2
(1) for a municipal represen tative member appointed under 3
AS 44.19.653(c), the governor shall appoint a permanent alterna te who, at the time of 4
appointment and throughout the period of service as a permanent alternate, is the 5
mayor or a member of the assemb ly or council of a municipality within the region 6
from which the permanent member was appointed; in appointing a permanent alternate 7
under this paragraph, the governor shall consider the recommend ations of the 8
permanent member; 9
(2) for a departmental represe ntative member designated under 10
AS 44.19.653(b)(1) - (5), a deputy commissioner of the relevant department or the 11
director of a division of the department; and 12
(3) for a departmental represe ntative member designated under 13
AS 44.19.653(b)(6), the member's designee within that office. 14
(b) A member of the commission who is unable to attend a meeti ng shall 15
advise the permanent alternate, who may attend the meeting and act in the place of the 16
member. 17
Sec. 44.19.661. Executive director. The commission may employ an 18
executive director who serves at the pleasure of the commission . The executive 19
director may not be a member of the commission. The executive d irector may contract 20
with or employ personnel or consultants that the executive dire ctor considers 21
necessary to carry out the power s and duties of the commission. The executive 22
director is in the exempt service under AS 39.25 (State Personnel Act). 23
Sec. 44.19.663. Powers of the commission. The commission may 24
(1) apply for and accept grant s, contributions, and appropriat ions, 25
including application for and acceptance of federal, internatio nal, or private funds that 26
may become available for financin g infrastructure adaptation, r enewable energy 27
technology, community relocati on, food and transportation secur ity, education and 28
research, or other needs related to climate change; 29
(2) contract for necessary services; 30
(3) consult and cooperate with 31
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(A) public or private persons, organizations, and groups 1
interested in, affected by, or concerned with climate change ef fects and 2
response; 3
(B) climate scientists holding doctorate degrees who are 4
affiliated with an academic or nonprofit institution; and 5
(C) agents and officials in the different regions of the state and 6
federal and state agencies concer ned with or having jurisdictio n over climate 7
change effects and response; 8
(4) establish the duties of the executive director of the commission; 9
(5) assess fees for grant writing and other assistance; and 10
(6) take any reasonable action necessary to carry out the prov isions of 11
AS 44.19.651 - 44.19.672. 12
Sec. 44.19.665. Duties of the commission. The commission shall 13
(1) prepare a strategic respons e plan to address climate chang e threats 14
that includes 15
(A) identification of areas in the state and sectors of the st ate 16
economy that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change; 17
(B) options for assisting communities and sectors of the 18
economy identified as being partic ularly vulnerable to the effe cts of climate 19
change; and 20
(C) identification of specific threats posed by climate change 21
on areas in the state and sectors of the state economy and a co urse of action to 22
address the identified threats; 23
(2) provide grant writing and general assistance to government al and 24
nongovernmental entities in the s tate on climate change respons e issues, prioritizing 25
assistance to rural governments, nonprofits serving rural areas , and tribal 26
organizations; 27
(3) develop a program for the distribution of funds to assist local 28
governments to respond to climate change effects; 29
(4) establish continuing coordination among state agencies to facilitate 30
the development and implementation of the climate change response strategy; 31
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(5) coordinate with the Univers ity of Alaska in efforts to see k out 1
grants or other aid for climate change education and research; 2
(6) inform the public of available assistance for responding t o climate 3
change effects, including an outreach program to rural governme nts, nonprofits 4
serving rural areas, and tribal organizations; 5
(7) advance the implementation of technology that provides for 6
renewable energy, local food syst ems, and adaptive infrastructu re in the state by 7
recommending legislation and policies to incentivize its development; 8
(8) monitor and report on the effects of climate change on exi sting 9
infrastructure, ecosystems, geophysical features, and communities in the state; 10
(9) identify opportunities to r educe greenhouse gas emissions from in-11
state sources, including the exp anded use of alternative fuels, energy conservation, 12
energy efficiency, renewable energy, land use management, and t ransportation 13
planning; and 14
(10) recommend legislative and administrative action to implem ent the 15
climate change response strategy. 16
Sec. 44.19.667. Fees. The commission shall adopt regulations under AS 44.62 17
(Administrative Procedure Act) to establish fees for grant writ ing or other assistance 18
provided to a client by the commission. The fees must be based on a sliding scale 19
formula that takes into account the client's need. A client tha t is a governmental or 20
tribal entity may not be charged a fee. 21
Sec. 44.19.669. Annual report and recommendations. The commission shall 22
submit to the governor and the legislature an annual report of the activities of the 23
commission for the previous calendar year that includes a list of threats identified by 24
the commission, an assessment of p rogress in addressing the thr eats, an assessment of 25
compliance with the strategic response plan, and any recommenda tions for legislative 26
and administrative action. The commission shall submit a report under this section not 27
later than February 1 of each year and shall deliver the report to the senate secretary 28
and the chief clerk of the hous e of representatives and notify the legislature that the 29
report is available. 30
Sec. 44.19.672. Definition. In AS 44.19.651 - 44.19.672, "commission" means 31
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the Alaska Climate Change Emergency Response Commission. 1
* Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 2
read: 3
TERMS OF INITIAL MEMBERS OF THE ALASKA CLIMATE CHANGE 4
EMERGENCY RESPONSE COMMISSION. Notwithstanding AS 39.05.055, th e governor 5
shall appoint the initial member s of the Alaska Climate Change Emergency Response 6
Commission under AS 44.19.653(c) to staggered terms as follows: 7
(1) three members shall be appointed to serve three years; 8
(2) four members shall be appointed to serve two years; and 9
(3) three members shall be appointed to serve one year. 10
* Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 11
read: 12
TRANSITION: WRITTEN INFORMATION FROM CLIMATE CHANGE SUB-13
CABINET. The governor shall provide all written reports, recomm endations, and research 14
developed by the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet established under A dministrative Order No. 15
238 to the Alaska Climate Change Emergency Response Commission established under 16
AS 44.19.651 within 30 days after the effective date of this Act. 17