Alaska Governor Calls 30-Day AGIA Special Session

Legislature to Convene in Juneau on June 3

March 28, 2008, Juneau, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today announced that AGIA findings will be presented to lawmakers the week of May 19. She also called the Legislature into a 30-day special session on June 3. The Executive Proclamation calls for legislators to review “any action taken by the commissioner of natural resources and the commissioner of revenue” under AGIA.

“This schedule is extremely aggressive,” Governor Palin pointed out, in explaining the basis behind the dates selected. “Our plan is to complete the findings by the week of May 19, allow legislators time to read and absorb the materials, provide public gasline team briefings in Anchorage, and then move to special session in Juneau where they have requested to meet.”

The commissioners would give notice of their findings to the legislature the week of May 19, and if they recommend awarding the proposed license, the legislature would then have 60 days to approve issuance of the license. The gasline team’s schedule includes briefings in Anchorage – May 28, 29 and 30 – on the commissioners’ findings for legislators and the public.

Lawmakers passed AGIA legislation with a 59-1 vote on May 11, which began the AGIA application process. The commissioners received proposals on November 30 and reviewed them to determine whether they met the conditions required under AGIA. On January 4 it was announced that the application from TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC/Foothills Pipelines, Ltd. (TransCanada) satisfied all of the mandatory requirements set out in AGIA, allowing TransCanada’s application to move to the evaluation phase of the AGIA process. The 60-day public review and comment period on TransCanada’s application ended March 6. The Administration is continuing to analyze and evaluate the benefits to Alaskans of the gas pipeline project proposed by TransCanada, including a comparative analysis of the benefits of an all-Alaska route for liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.

Governor Palin emphasized that the calling of a special session is not an indication that the commissioners have yet made a determination regarding whether to recommend TransCanada’s AGIA application.

“The gasline team faces a truly monumental effort in comprehensively analyzing TransCanada’s application, considering the public comments received and reviewing the all-Alaska LNG options for comparison purposes,” Governor Palin said.

Source: Alaska Governor

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