AK Stat § 09.25.490 (2021)
2021 Alaska Statutes|Title 9. Code of Civil Procedure|Chapter 25. Evidence, Presumptions, and Privileges|Article 4. Privileges and Immunities Related to Disclosure of Certain Self-Audits and Violations.|Sec. 09.25.490. Definitions.

(a) In AS 09.25.450 - 09.25.490, (1) “audit report” means a report that includes each document and communication, other than those set out in AS 09.25.460, produced from an environmental audit; general components that may be contained in a completed audit report include (A) a report, prepared by an auditor, monitor, or similar person, including the scope of the audit, the dates the audit began and ended, the information gained in the audit, findings, conclusions, recommendations, exhibits, and appendices; the types of exhibits and appendices that may be contained in an audit report include supporting information that is collected or developed for the primary purpose and in the course of an environmental audit, including (i) interviews with current or former employees; (ii) field notes and records of observations; (iii) findings, opinions, suggestions, conclusions, guidance, notes, drafts, and memoranda; (iv) legal analyses; (v) drawings; (vi) photographs; (vii) laboratory analyses and other analytical data; (viii) computer generated or electronically recorded information; (ix) maps, charts, graphs, and surveys; and (x) other communications and documents associated with an environmental audit; (B) memoranda and documents analyzing all or a portion of the materials described in (A) of this paragraph or discussing implementation issues; and (C) an implementation plan or tracking system to correct past noncompliance, improve current compliance, or prevent future noncompliance; (2) “confidential self-evaluation and analysis” means the part of an audit report that consists of interviews with current or former employees conducted by the auditor; field notes and records of observations made by the auditor; findings, opinions, suggestions, conclusions, guidance, notes, drafts, and analyses performed by the auditor; memoranda and documents that evaluate or analyze all or part of the material contained in the audit report, including findings, conclusions, opinions, recommendations made by the auditor, and an audit implementation plan or tracking system to correct past noncompliance, improve current compliance, or prevent future noncompliance with an environmental law; and that is (A) a voluntary, confidential, critical, internal, and retrospective review, self-evaluation, or analysis of conduct, practices, and occurrences and their resulting consequences; and (B) prepared and maintained with the expectation that it will be kept confidential; (3) “department” means the Department of Environmental Conservation; (4) “environmental audit” means a voluntary audit that an owner or operator of a regulated facility, operation, or property conducts or causes to be conducted, whether or not on a regular basis or in response to a particular event, that is specifically designed and undertaken to assess compliance with environmental laws or a permit, license, or approval issued under those laws, including an assessment that is part of the owner's or operator's compliance management system and that is a (A) systematic, objective, and periodic review of the facility, operation, or property related to meeting the requirements of environmental laws or a permit, license, or approval issued under those laws; or (B) documented, systematic procedure or practice that reflects the owner's or operator's due diligence in preventing, detecting, and correcting violations of environmental laws or a permit, license, or approval issued under those laws at the facility, operation, or property; (5) “environmental law” means (A) a federal or state environmental law implemented by the department; or (B) a rule, regulation, or municipal ordinance adopted in conjunction with or to implement a law described by (A) of this paragraph; (6) “operator” means a person or persons who direct, control, or supervise all or part of a regulated facility, operation, or property; (7) “owner” means a person or persons with a proprietary or possessory interest in a regulated facility, operation, or property; (8) “penalty” means an administrative or civil sanction imposed by the state or a municipality to punish a person for a violation of a statute, rule, regulation, or ordinance; the term does not include a technical or remedial provision ordered by a government agency, nor an administrative or civil sanction relating to pipeline rates, tariffs, fares, or charges; (9) “regulated facility, operation, or property” means a facility, operation, or property that is regulated under an environmental law. (b) To fully implement the privilege and immunity established under AS 09.25.450 - 09.25.490, the term “environmental law” shall be construed broadly. (c) For purposes of this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, a person acts (1) “intentionally” with respect to a result described by a provision of law defining a violation when the person's conscious objective is to cause that result; when intentionally causing a particular result is an element of a violation, that intent need not be the person's only objective; (2) “knowingly” with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a provision of law defining a violation when the person is aware that the conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists; when knowledge of the existence of a particular fact is an element of a violation, that knowledge is established if a person is aware of a substantial probability of its existence, unless the person actually believes it does not exist; a person who is unaware of conduct or a circumstance of which the person would have been aware had that person not been intoxicated acts knowingly with respect to that conduct or circumstance; (3) “recklessly” with respect to a result or to a circumstance described by a provision of law defining a violation when the person is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the result will occur or that the circumstance exists; the risk must be of such a nature and degree that disregard of it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation; a person who is unaware of a risk of which the person would have been aware had that person not been intoxicated acts recklessly with respect to the risk.