(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the state grants a licensee assurances that the licensee has exclusive enjoyment of the inducements provided under this chapter before the commencement of commercial operations. If, before the commencement of commercial operations, the state extends to another person preferential royalty or tax treatment or grant of state money for the purpose of facilitating the construction of a competing natural gas pipeline project in this state, and if the licensee is in compliance with the requirements of the license and with the requirements of state and federal statutes and regulations relevant to the project, the licensee is entitled to payment from the state of an amount equal to three times the total amount of the expenditures incurred and paid by the licensee that are qualified expenditures for the purposes of Alaska Stat. § 43.90.110 that the licensee incurred in developing the licensee’s project before the date that the state first extended preferential treatment to another person. The payment under this subsection is subject to appropriation. Upon payment by the state of the amount owed under this section, the licensee shall, at no additional cost to the state, assign to the state or the state’s designee all engineering designs, contracts, permits, and other data related to the project that were acquired by the licensee during the term of the license. The payment under this subsection is in full satisfaction of all claims the licensee may bring in contract, tort, or other law related to the events that gave rise to the payment.
Terms Used In Alaska Statutes 43.90.440
Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
commencement of commercial operations: means the first flow of gas in the project that generates revenue to the owners. See Alaska Statutes 43.90.900
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
licensee: means the holder of a license issued under this chapter and all affiliates, successors, assigns, and agents of the holder. See Alaska Statutes 43.90.900
North Slope: means that part of the state that lies north of 68 degrees North latitude. See Alaska Statutes 43.90.900
Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, organization, business trust, or society, as well as a natural person. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
project: means a natural gas pipeline project authorized under a license issued under this chapter. See Alaska Statutes 43.90.900
state: means the State of Alaska unless applied to the different parts of the United States and in the latter case it includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
(b) The review, processing, or facilitation of a permit, right-of-way, or authorization by a state agency in connection with a competing natural gas pipeline project does not create an obligation on the part of the state under this section.(c) In this section,
(1) “competing natural gas pipeline project” means a project designed to accommodate throughput of more than 500,000,000 cubic feet a day of North Slope gas to market;(2) “preferential royalty or tax treatment” does not include
(A) the state’s exercise of its right to resolve disputes involving royalties and taxes; or(B) the state’s exercise of its right to modify royalties as authorized by law in effect on June 8, 2007.
