Opinion ID: 1119416
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Are the regulations consistent with AS 38.05.150(d)?

Text: UCM argues that 11 AAC 85.220 and 11 AAC 85.225 are invalid because they are inconsistent with the plain meaning of AS 38.05.150(d), and are beyond the scope of DNR's authority to issue regulations. UCM argues that AS 38.05.150(d) must be construed together with the other mineral leasing sections of the Alaska Land Act because they are in pari materia  enacted at the same time and dealing with the same subject matter. UCM reasons that because sections of the Alaska Land Act relating to minerals expressly provide for percentage-based royalties, and AS 38.05.150(d) does not contain any such provision, the legislature did not intend percentage-based royalties to be applied to coal leases. DNR counters that a percentage-based royalty is consistent with AS 38.05.150(d); it also asserts that the mineral leasing sections of the Alaska Land Act are not in pari materia with AS 38.05.150(d), because they do not conflict; they do not affect one another; they simply do not interact. Therefore, 11 AAC 85.220 and 11 AAC 85.225 are not inconsistent with the plain meaning of AS 38.05.150(d). We construe statutes that are in pari materia together. Underwater Constr., Inc. v. Shirley, 884 P.2d 150, 155 (Alaska 1994). Statutes are deemed to be in pari materia when they relate to the same purpose or thing or have the same purpose or object. State v. Eluska, 724 P.2d 514, 517 (Alaska 1986) (Compton, J., dissenting). While coal leasing and other mineral leasing sections share the same general purpose of providing for the disposition of minerals on state lands, this is not sufficient to render them in pari materia, as they do not deal sufficiently with the same subject matter. Consequently, we find that the percentage-based royalty contained in 11 AAC 85.220 does not conflict with the plain terms of AS 38.05.150(d). As the superior court noted, the statute does no more than set a minimum royalty, so that the establishment of a royalty of 5% of adjusted gross value is consistent with the statute as long as it exceeds 5 [cents] a ton. Finally, as the superior court also observed, if the legislature had desired to restrict the royalties to either a flat fee or a percentage rate, we assume that it would have incorporated that requirement into the statute. Consequently, we hold that 11 AAC 85.225 and 11 AAC 85.220 do not conflict with the plain meaning of AS 38.05.150(d).