Supplemental Notice and Extension of Public Comment Period

Solicitation for Public Input — Department of Natural Resources — Division of Mining, Land and Water – Regulatory Revisions Regarding Water

Due to technical difficulties with the online comment portal, the comment period will be extended for an additional week. The new comment deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 7, 2025.

Comments may be submitted via the online comment portal, as explained below, or via email to dmlwprogramsupport@alaska.gov.

Notice of Public Scoping Under Administrative Order 360 for possible Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Mining, Land and Water (DMLW) Regulation Changes relating to Water Management.

Background. In response to Administrative Order 360, DMLW is soliciting written comments from affected industries, community organizations, and the general public regarding regulations and materials incorporated by reference in 11 AAC 58 relating to water.

Suggested subtopics include:

Alaska Hydrologic Survey

Dam safety and construction

Critical Water Management Areas

Temporary Water Uses

Water Rights

DNR is undertaking this solicitation process to ask the public for ideas, suggestions, and input before DMLW drafts or proposes any specific regulation amendments or repeals for public review.

DMLW is particularly interested in specific ideas for regulatory change that may:

• clarify existing regulatory obligations;
• reduce costs for the public, industry, or government;
• improve or streamline procedures, application requirements, and review processes, for example reducing the time required to apply for a license, permit, or benefit;
• reduce administrative burdens;
• streamline permitting procedures;
• improve communication procedures;
• provide greater transparency with respect to standards, decision-making, and rationales for application processing; or
• clarify interagency roles.

Written comments. Written comments must be received by November 7, 2025, at 5 p.m. Written comments may entered at: https://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/comment/ or by email to dmlwprogramsupport@alaska.gov.

If you are a person with a disability who needs a special accommodation in order to participate in this process, please contact the Program Support Section at dmlwprogramsupport@alaska.gov, or 907-269-8513 not later than November 6, 2025 to ensure that any necessary accommodation can be provided.

Please note that input provided in response to this solicitation will be subject to inspection, copying, and distribution as public records under the Alaska Public Records Act in AS 40.25.110 – 40.25.220.  Please do not include any confidential information in comments.

DMLW is not currently proposing any specific regulation change and there are no draft regulations prepared for public comment under the Administrative Procedure Act at this time. If DMLW undertakes revisions to these regulations, there will be an additional opportunity to comment on the proposed regulation changes that are released for public review and comment under the Administrative Procedure Act.

DMLW keeps a list of individuals and organizations interested in its regulations. Those on the list will automatically be sent a copy of all of DMLW’s notices of proposed regulation changes. To be added to or removed from the list, send a request to the dmlwprogramsupport@alaska.gov, or 907-269-8513, giving your name, and either your e-mail address or mailing address, as you prefer for receiving notices.

Individuals can also sign up to receive automated notifications of all State of Alaska notices, including public notice for regulation changes, by subscribing to the Alaska Online Public Notices System: https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Default.aspx.