00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 37                                                                                           
01 Urging the Congress to enact H.R. 1033 or similar legislation authorizing                                               
02 construction grants for publicly-owned treatment works in economically distressed                                       
03 rural communities.                                                                                                      
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05  WHEREAS over 90 percent of the wastewater facilities in Alaska Native villages have                                    
06 been assessed by the federal government as inadequate; and                                                              
07  WHEREAS the Department of Environmental Conservation has identified that at least                                      
08 $1,200,000,000 is needed to correct water and sewer problems in rural Alaska; and                                       
09  WHEREAS hepatitis A, dysentery, meningitis, and other waterborne diseases are                                          
10 serious health problems in communities that lack basic water and sewer systems; and                                     
11  WHEREAS many rural communities in Alaska are unable to attract the seafood                                             
12 processing industry onto their shores because their water and sewer facilities do not meet                              
13 industry standards; and                                                                                                 
14  WHEREAS income levels in most of rural Alaska are low and the cost of living is                                        

01 high, making it difficult for many villages to operate and maintain conventional sanitation                             
02 systems; and                                                                                                            
03  WHEREAS the Alaska Sanitation Task Force recommends increased federal                                                  
04 participation and increased coordination and cooperation between federal and state agencies                             
05 in addressing rural sanitation problems; and                                                                            
06  WHEREAS H.R. 1033, which has been proposed in the 103rd Congress, would                                                
07 establish a grant program for construction of publicly-owned treatment works in economically                            
08 distressed rural communities like those in Alaska;                                                                      
09  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Congress to enact H.R.                                      
10 1033 or similar legislation to authorize construction grants for publicly-owned treatment works                         
11 in economically distressed rural communities.                                                                           
12  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Al Gore, Vice-President of                                    
13 the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, President                             
14 Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the U.S. House                                
15 of Representatives; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski,                                 
16 U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                  
17 delegation in Congress.