Environmental permitting in Alaska: laboring through the regulatory process.

• Author: Liles, Patricia
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: ENVIRONMENT

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Alaska is a land of giant-sized development projects--from its fur-trading and gold rush industries over a century ago, to development of Prudhoe Bay in the 1970s, to the world's largest supplier of zinc in Northwestern Alaska, the Red Dog mine.

In recent years, much has changed regarding regulatory approvals to develop industrial projects in Alaska, no matter the size or scope of operation planned.

Unlike in the early days of Alaska's history, developers must overcome more than just logistical and financial challenges when planning an industrial project. They must demonstrate to State and federal agencies, which represent the public's interest, that the proposed plan of operation meets specific and measurable criteria contained in governmental environmental laws that protect the land and environment.

THE STATE STEPS IN TO REVIEW

"Our function is to do the technical review of the project documents on behalf of the public," said Ed Fogels, director of the Office of Project Management and Permitting in the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR). "Our function is to make sure the public's interest is protected--the government experts work for the public."

That representation of the public's interest by regulatory agencies appears to be lost in the contentious debate about the possible Pebble mine project, he said. It's among several misunderstandings and even misrepresentations about Alaska's environmental permitting process that have been included in the public debate about the copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in Southwestern Alaska.

To deal with that public perception problem, state regulators put together a public presentation that explains the permitting process in Alaska. The roughly two-hour PowerPoint presentation, available online, has been made in several communities in Alaska, followed by time for public comment and discussion.

"Quite frankly, with all the concern about the Pebble Project, there was confusion about what the State's permitting process was. There was a lot of misinformation being thrown around," Fogels said. "People were saying that Alaska's permitting processes are broken but they've never experienced Alaska's permitting process. Before anyone makes that judgment about whether it is broken or not, they can understand what the existing process is. Then they can make a judgment about whether it is broken or now, whether it needs to be fixed."

Common misconceptions about environmental permitting in Alaska expressed during the public meetings include a decision-making role by DNR.

"People somehow think DNR approves these mine projects," Fogels said...