BRADNERS' ALASKA LEGISLATIVE DIGEST

The recession is continuing to soften with job losses in 2018 estimated at 2,000, or 0.8 percent, state economist Neal Fried told the Resource Development Council’s annual conference Nov. 14. Job losses are expected to even out in 2019, with slow growth resuming. Still, there’s a lot of catching up needed to reach 2015 peak levels. Employment in the oil industry has essentially leveled out after two years of reductions and construction is actually up, Fried told the RDC. Retail…

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Low water worries ease in SE Worries over low water levels in Southeast hydro facilities due to summer drought have eased with recent rainfall. However, Ketchikan had to fire up its diesel generators early but an increase in water levels in Swan Lake should allow the diesels to be shut down in mid-November.  Siemens modular LNG project The Interior Gas Utility, of Fairbanks, has entered into an agreement with Siemens to investigate the company’s proposal for a modular liquefied natural…

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80th-percentile rule change Consideration of a revamp of the so-called “80th percentile” rule that sets a guaranteed level of reimbursements to health care providers, mainly physicians and specialists, is on hold during the transition from Governor Bill Walker’s administration to the incoming administration of Governor-elect Mike Dunleavy. That also means it will take time for Dunleavy’s people coming in to come to grips with the problem among many others they will juggle. The 80th percentile rule requires payment at the…

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Welcome, Governor-elect Dunleavy Oil prices, production both decline; could PFD plan imperil budget? Call it the curse of the newly-elected: In 2015, just as Gov, Bill Walker took office, oil prices and state revenues collapsed. Now, as Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy prepares to assume office Dec. 3, oil prices are again falling and, more troubling, oil production is trending down after three years of stability (see page 8). A new factor is that Dunleavy’s campaign pledge to “fully fund” Permanent Fund…

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Permit work to start on Arctic Trilogy Metals Inc. is now engaged in pre-permitting work on its planned Arctic project, which is mainly copper, with work on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for development set to begin early next year, company officials told business leaders in Anchorage in early October. On a parallel track, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is working on plans for an 311-mile access road to the Ambler Mining District from the Dalton Highway, with the…

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Work on GMT-2 starts this winter ConocoPhillips approved construction of the GMT-2 project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved its Record of Decision for the project. Construction will start this winter. The plan is for a 14-acre drill pad supporting up to 48 wells, an 8.2 mile road and an 8.6 mile pipeline. The road and pipeline connect with GMT-1 and the CD-5 production site further east, and ultimately the Alpine field on…

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State fisheries board turns down request to curtail hatcheries The state Board of Fisheries denied a request Oct. 16 by sport fishing groups to rollback hatchery releases of salmon fry statewide and approved an expansion for Valdez Fisheries Development Corp., operator of the Solomon Gulch hatchery in Prince William Sound. Sports groups argued that increasing numbers of hatchery-released fish are competing with wild salmon for food in the ocean. Commercial fish groups argued the science is uncertain, and hatcheries are…

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