JUNEAU, Alaska, March 25 (UPI) -- Alaskan lawmakers backed a measure that would shift responsibility of an in-state gas pipeline out of Juneau's hands with the aim of shipping gas by 2015.
Former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, testified before Alaskan lawmakers last week in support of a bill that would put the state-owned Alaska Railroad Corp. in charge of an in-state natural gas pipeline.
The state Senate bill would give the Alaska Railroad Corp. authority to finance, build and operate the natural gas pipeline. The legislation would grant the railroad authority to look overseas for financing to ease the burden on Alaskan taxpayers as well.
Lawmakers in the Alaskan House of Representatives approved the measure in a unanimous vote late Wednesday, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports Thursday.
The state railroad agency would join other developers to produce a streamlined review of the project by the middle of next year.
The measure comes as gas executives in Alaska said the energy-rich state would have to import gas within the next three years without domestic gas advancements.
