Full Statute Name:  West's Alaska Statutes Annotated. Title 3. Agriculture, Animals, and Food. Chapter 05. Powers and Duties of Commissioners of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.

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Primary Citation:  AS § 03.05.011, § 03.05.013, § 03.05.050, § 03.05.090, § 03.05.100 Country of Origin:  United States Last Checked:  August, 2023 Alternate Citation:  AK ST § 03.05.011, § 03.05.013, § 03.05.050, § 03.05.090, § 03.05.100 Historical: 
Summary: This set of Alaska laws sets forth the powers of the commissioner of environmental conservation. Additionally, the commissioner of environmental conservation may employ or appoint a person to act as the state veterinarian to carry out and enforce the requirements of this title. The penalties for violation of provisions under this chapter are also described.

§ 03.05.011. Powers of commissioner of environmental conservation

§ 03.05.013. State veterinarian

§ 03.05.050. Products in violation of regulations

§ 03.05.090. Penalties for violations

§ 03.05.100. Definitions


 

 

§ 03.05.011. Powers of commissioner of environmental conservation

(a) To carry out the requirements of this title relating to animals or animal products over which the department has jurisdiction, the commissioner may

(1) issue orders or permits relating to or authorizing the examination, inspection, testing, quarantine, or embargo of animals or animal products, or premises containing or having contained animals or animal products, in order to prevent the spread of pests or contagious or infectious disease;

(2) conduct tests, analyses, and hearings to determine whether to issue an order or permit relating to animals or animal products under this section;

(3) cooperate with federal, state, municipal, and other governmental agencies regarding powers and duties under this section;

(4) issue orders or permits relating to or authorizing the custody, care, or destruction of animals or animal products to prevent the spread of pests or contagious or infectious disease;

(5) designate points of entry for the admission of animals or animal products into the state; and

(6) issue orders or permits relating to, or authorizing the examination, testing, or care of, animals or animal products to be transported into, within, or from this state, in order

(A) to prevent the spread of pests or contagious or infectious disease; or

(B) to promote safe or sanitary conditions for the animals or animal products to be transported.

(b) The commissioner may

(1) adopt a schedule of fees or charges, and credit provisions, for services related to animals and animal products rendered by state veterinarians to farmers and others at their request, and all the receipts from the fees and charges shall be transmitted to the commissioner for deposit in the state treasury;

(2) designate individuals, independently or in cooperation with federal, state, municipal, or other governmental agencies, to carry out and enforce, under the direction of the state veterinarian, the requirements of this title relating to animals or animal products over which the department has jurisdiction;

(3) enter into agreements with the federal government for controlling disease among animals and match federal payments for animals destroyed under those agreements from any appropriation available for this purpose;

(4) pay an owner of an animal destroyed under this section an amount from any appropriation available for this purpose; and

(5) adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) to implement and interpret this section; when adopting regulations under this paragraph, the commissioner shall give substantial weight to the typical practices and standards in the state and in the United States of the industry for which the regulations are designed.

(c) Before taking custody of or destroying an animal or animal product under (a)(4) of this section, or imposing a quarantine, placing an embargo, or taking another action under this section that deprives a person of an animal or animal product, the department shall provide for notice and an opportunity to be heard to the owner or person in possession of the animal or animal product, unless the commissioner determines there is an immediate threat to the health or safety of an animal or the public.

(d) Nothing in this section affects the authority of another agency of this state.

(e) In this section,

(1) “commissioner” means the commissioner of environmental conservation;

(2) “department” means the Department of Environmental Conservation.

CREDIT(S)

SLA 1960, ch. 46, § 1; SLA 1974, ch. 82, § 1; SLA 1974, ch. 138, §§ 3, 4; SLA 1978, ch. 58, § 1; 1981 E.O. No. 51, § 2; SLA 1982, ch. 57, § 1; SLA 1983, ch. 23, § 1; SLA 1987, ch. 88, § 2; SLA 1988, ch. 145, § 3; SLA 1995, ch. 48, § 1; SLA 1998, ch. 72, §§ 1, 26; SLA 2006, ch. 59, § 1, eff. July 1, 2006.

Prior Codifications: ACLA 1949, § 33-1-2.

 

§ 03.05.013. State veterinarian

The commissioner of environmental conservation may employ or appoint a person to act as the state veterinarian to carry out and enforce the requirements of this title relating to animals or animal products over which the Department of Environmental Conservation has jurisdiction. To be eligible for appointment as the state veterinarian, a person must be licensed or otherwise legally authorized under AS 08.98 to engage in the practice of veterinary medicine in the state.

CREDIT(S)

SLA 2006, ch. 59, § 2, eff. July 1, 2006.

 

§ 03.05.050. Products in violation of regulations

(a) An animal, animal product, or agricultural product found by the commissioner, or an individual designated by the commissioner as an inspector, to violate a regulation adopted under AS 03.20.010 - 03.20.080 is declared to be a public nuisance injurious to the public interest and may not be moved by the person in whose possession it may be except at the specific direction of the commissioner or inspector.

(b) In this section, “commissioner” means commissioner of natural resources with respect to those products over which the commissioner of natural resources has jurisdiction under this title, and the commissioner of environmental conservation with respect to those products over which the commissioner of environmental conservation has jurisdiction under this title.

CREDIT(S)

SLA 1955, ch. 121, § 1; SLA 1978, ch. 58, § 4; 1981 E.O. No. 51, § 6; SLA 1998, ch. 72, § 4, eff July 1, 1998; SLA 2006, ch. 59, § 4, eff. July 1, 2006.


§ 03.05.090. Penalties for violations

(a) A person who violates a provision of this chapter or a regulation, order, or quarantine made under authority of this chapter, or violates a provision of a permit issued under this chapter, or sells seeds failing to meet the labeling requirements, standards, and tests provided for by regulation of the commissioner of natural resources or the commissioner of environmental conservation is guilty of a class A misdemeanor for each offense.

(b) A person who violates an order issued, a regulation adopted, a permit issued, a quarantine imposed, or an embargo ordered under AS 03.05.011, or a person who directs or orders a person to commit the violation, is subject to a civil fine of not more than $500 for each violation.

(c) If the Department of Environmental Conservation issues an order regarding, adopts a regulation on, issues a permit regarding, imposes a quarantine on, or orders an embargo on an animal or animal product that the Department of Environmental Conservation reasonably believes carries pests, a contagious disease, or an infectious disease, a consignee who knowingly receives, or a carrier who knowingly transports, the animal or animal product in violation of the order, regulation, permit, quarantine, or embargo is subject to a civil fine of not more than $500 for each violation.

(d) The Department of Environmental Conservation or a court of competent jurisdiction may impose the fine authorized by (b) or (c) of this section.

(e) Each animal, animal product, or premises containing or having contained animals or animal products involved in a violation described in (b) or (c) of this section constitutes a separate violation under (b) and (c) of this section. Each day on which a violation described in (b) or (c) of this section occurs constitutes a separate violation under (b) and (c) of this section.

(f) In this section, “knowingly” has the meaning given in AS 11.81.900(a).

CREDIT(S)

1981 E.O. No. 51, § 10; SLA 1982, ch. 57, § 4; SLA 2006, ch. 59, § 5, eff. July 1, 2006.


§ 03.05.100. Definitions

In this chapter,

(1) “agricultural products” does not include fish, fisheries products, animals, or animal products;

(2) “animal” means an animal other than a human being and includes a mammal, insect, bird, fish, and reptile, whether wild or domestic, and whether living or dead;

(3) “animal product” means a product, article, or commodity containing any part of an animal;

(4) “fish or fisheries products” means any aquatic animal, including amphibians, or aquatic plants or parts of those plants, animals, or amphibians that are usable as human food;

(5) “industrial hemp” means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including its seeds and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry-weight basis.

Credits
SLA 1978, ch. 58, § 5; SLA 1988, ch. 145, § 5; SLA 1998, ch. 72, § 26; SLA 1998, ch. 72, § 26, eff. July 1, 1998; SLA 2006, ch. 59, §§ 6, 7, eff. July 1, 2006. Amended by SLA 2018, ch. 5, § 5, eff. April 13, 2018; SLA 2021, ch. 32, § 8, eff. Nov. 27, 2021.

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