11 AAC 114.340. Minor amendments

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, this section and 11 AAC 114.360 govern a minor amendment to an approved district plan. A minor amendment must be approved by the commissioner.

(b) A minor amendment to an approved district plan includes

(1) a revision, an addition, or a deletion to the issues, goals, and objectives included in the approved district plan, if that change

(A) improves clarity or specificity, or reflects the district's current views; and

(B) subject to (4) of this subsection, does not result in a modification of an enforceable policy developed under 11 AAC 114.270;

(2) a revision, an addition, or a deletion to the resource inventory developed under 11 AAC 114.230;

(3) a revision, an addition, or a deletion to the resource analysis developed under 11 AAC 114.240;

(4) a revision, an addition, or a deletion to an enforceable policy, if that change

(A) improves specificity or clarity, and does not modify the goals, objectives, or intent of the approved district plan;

(B) changes that policy to be consistent with an ordinance or federal or state statute or regulation; or

(i) the office or a district has previously developed as part of a grant project that receives federal money under 16 U.S.C. 1455 or 16 U.S.C. 1456b (Coastal Zone Management Act);

(ii) the office has approved, through a public review process that includes public notice and a 30-day public comment period, as text that a district may adopt with minimal change;

(iii) the United States Secretary of Commerce has approved under 16 U.S.C. 1455;

(iv) receives, at the most, minimal change by the district adopting the text; and

(v) receives, in the district adopting that text, a public review that includes at least public notice and a 30-day public comment period;

(5) an alteration of a boundary map or description developed under 11 AAC 114.270(g) , so long as the alteration does not otherwise change an enforceable policy;

(6) a deletion of a local ordinance, state statute or regulation, or federal law or regulation from the enforceable policies of a district plan;

(7) a revision, an addition, or a deletion of a local ordinance, state statute or regulation, or federal law or regulation that is contained within an appendix of a district plan;

(8) a revision, an addition, or a deletion to the implementation methods or authorities included in the district plan under 11 AAC 114.280, and in which

(A) a coastal resource service area becomes a borough;

(B) an area which merits special attention outside a district is annexed to a municipality; or

(C) a borough delegates coastal management planning or municipal implementation responsibility to a city inside a borough, as provided in AS 29.40.010 (b)

(9) an alteration of a coastal resource service area or municipal corporate boundary by annexing land

(A) where

(i) an existing district plan does not apply; and

(ii) the district designates the initial biophysical coastal zone boundary, as described in 11 AAC 114.220(b) , as the final coastal zone boundary or

(B) already covered by a district plan, so long as the district does not

(i) make a significant change to an enforceable policy that applies to the area annexed; or

(ii) change the coastal zone boundary in the area annexed; and

(10) an editorial change, a reprint, a change of format or plan layout, or a translation into another language or dialect.

(1) a brief description of the proposed change and an enclosure containing the actual change;

(2) the basis upon which the district considers the amendment to be a minor plan amendment;

(3) the reason that the change is necessary;

(4) an assessment of the effects or potential effects of the change on the implementation of the district plan;

(5) documentation that the district has consulted the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation, and Department of Fish and Game about the proposed change; this documentation may include a district's response to those state agencies' comments;

(6) a letter of support for the change from the coastal resource service area board for the district, municipal planning commission, or governing body, as applicable;

(7) documentation that the district has consulted each federal agency responsible for managing lands within the boundaries of the district; this documentation may include the district's response to any comments by those federal agencies; and

(8) a letter of support from a governing body or village, if the city or village is located within a coastal resource service area and is affected by the minor amendment.

(d) Within 30 days after submission of the request under (c) of this section, the office shall

(1) review the proposed amendment and the material submitted under (c) of this section;

(2) discuss the proposed amendment with each person the district or the office considers to be interested, including

(A) a state or federal agency; and

(B) a district other than the district proposing the amendment; and

(3) prepare an analysis of the amendment, with a recommendation that the commissioner

(A) approve the amendment in whole or in part as a minor amendment;

(B) approve the amendment so long as the district makes each change that the office considers necessary for the amendment not to be treated as a significant amendment; or

(C) identify the amendment as a significant amendment and require that the amendment undergo the review set out in 11 AAC 114.305 - 11 AAC 114.335.

(e) The district may modify a proposed minor amendment to address the concerns identified by a person considered by the office under (d)(2) of this subsection as interested or by the office.

(f) Unless otherwise agreed by the office and the district, the office shall give notice of the availability of the proposed amendment and the office's analysis and recommendation, as well as notice of the opportunity for public comment under (g) of this section, to any person who has requested that notice in writing and through advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the district.

(g) The office shall provide at least a 30-day public comment period on the proposed amendment and the office's analysis and recommendation. At the close of the comment period, the office shall submit the proposed amendment, the office's analysis and recommendation on the proposed amendment, and all timely comments to the commissioner.

(h) Within 15 days after the close of the comment period, the commissioner will act on the proposed amendment. The commissioner may adopt the recommendation of the office by reference. In the determination, the commissioner will

(1) approve the amendment in whole or in part as a minor amendment;

(2) approve the amendment so long as the district makes each change that the commissioner considers necessary for the amendment not to be treated as a significant amendment;

(3) identify the amendment as a significant amendment and require that the amendment undergo the review set out in 11 AAC 114.305 - 11 AAC 114.335; or

(4) disapprove the amendment.

History: Eff. 7/1/2004, Register 170

Authority: AS 46.39.010

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