Second Water & Mining Initiative Fails Legal Test

September 28, 2007, Anchorage, Alaska – Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell denied certification today of a second initiative application related to water and mining. The initiative was denied because it contained an impermissible appropriation of public lands and water.

According to Lieutenant Governor Parnell, “The initiative failed to meet state legal requirements and proposed improper prohibition of certain mining uses of water, a power reserved only to the legislature. Therefore the application itself was faulty and could not be certified.”

Lieutenant Governor Parnell’s decision was supported by an Alaska Department of Law legal opinion, dated September 27, 2007, which concluded that an impermissible appropriation persists in the bill, and therefore the bill does not conform to the constitutional and statutory requirements of the initiative.

The lieutenant governor’s decision may be appealed within 30 days. Please note that this decision pertains only to the initiative application regarding water and mining submitted on July 30, 2007. An earlier initiative application regarding water and mining was submitted on April 25, 2007 and was denied by the lieutenant governor as it also contained impermissible appropriations.

The Department of Law’s legal opinion is available online

The lieutenant governor’s letter to the initiative’s sponsors is available online

The Division of Elections memorandum is available online