Answering questions on mining ordinance proposal
A proposal to change an important City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) ordinance, such as the mining ordinance, automatically raises the questions, “What is being changed?” and “Why?”
The proposed change removes a process that is duplicative, outside of the expertise and jurisdiction of the CBJ staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission, and does not include a public process:
1. CBJ staff determination whether Federal and State regulators properly issued Federal and State permits — no public process involved with that;
2. CBJ staff determination whether CBJ air and water standards were met — no public process involved because there are no such standards;
3. Planning and Zoning Commission determination whether CBJ air and water standards were met — no public process involved because there are no such standards;
4. Planning and Zoning Commission determination whether Federal and State regulators properly issued Federal and State permits — this determination would have been made in public, but is deleted because it’s outside the scope of Planning and Zoning Commission’s expertise. However, the Planning and Zoning Commission would determine whether applicant has the necessary Federal and State permits.
Since litigation is assured in the case of the Alaska-Juneau Mine, Federal and State courts will determine whether the Federal and State permits were properly issued.
Finally, the socio-economic report has been removed because we’ve lost 400 jobs in Juneau in the past two years and have the prospect for losing more as the State budget and employees are cut. There is room in Juneau to bring in new folks — that was demonstrated by the ease with which Juneau has accommodated workers from the Kensington and Greens Creek Mines.
Denny DeWitt,
Juneau