00CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 25(CRA) am                                                                           
01 Urging the federal government to recognize the dire water and sanitation                                                
02 conditions in rural Alaska and to become a full partner with this state in                                              
03 improving this health-threatening situation.                                                                            
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05  WHEREAS Alaskans living in over 135 rural communities throughout the state have                                        
06 substandard and inadequate water and sewer facilities; and                                                              
07  WHEREAS this lack of basic facilities results in many of these rural Alaskans having                                   
08 to drink untreated water from ponds, creeks, or rivers and having to use a bucket as a toilet                           
09 or an outhouse as a bathroom facility; and                                                                              
10  WHEREAS this lack of basic facilities often results in uncontained sewage pooling                                      
11 in close vicinity to homes, in liquid wastes leaching into the waters used for drinking, and in                         
12 exposing children to raw sewage in their play areas; and                                                                
13  WHEREAS this lack of basic facilities is causing a critical human health and safety                                    
14 crisis in rural Alaska as evidenced by an alarmingly high incidence of potentially life-threatening diseases, such as   

01 hepatitis A and meningitis; and                                                                                         
02  WHEREAS Alaska's rural population is projected to double by the year 2010, further                                     
03 compounding this health crisis and exposing many rural residents to diseases that would be                              
04 preventable with basic sanitation facilities; and                                                                       
05  WHEREAS rural Alaska has a history of cycles of waterborne disease epidemics                                           
06 stemming from unsafe water and sanitation systems, and state epidemiologists report hepatitis                           
07 A is currently beginning another new cycle of that disease; and                                                         
08  WHEREAS the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development                                                  
09 continues to design and build homes in rural Alaska without adequate provision for safe                                 
10 sewage disposal or in-home drinking water; and                                                                          
11  WHEREAS the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental                                                     
12 Conservation established the Alaska Sanitation Task Force, consisting of 27 federal, state,                             
13 Native, and regional organizations, to analyze these important issues and provide                                       
14 recommendations for action; and                                                                                         
15  WHEREAS the implementation of the recommendations of the Alaska Sanitation Task                                        
16 Force involves the joint commitment of the state, local and federal governments to improve                              
17 the living standards, public health, and quality of life of rural Alaskans; and                                         
18  WHEREAS the governor has directed the commissioner of the Alaska Department of                                         
19 Environmental Conservation and commissioners of other affected state departments to use their                           
20 best efforts to utilize available resources to address this critical health problem; and                                
21  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature recognizes the important work done by the                                         
22 Alaska Sanitation Task Force and urges early implementation of the task force's findings and                            
23 recommendations by the state government in partnership with the federal government, local                               
24 government, Native regional nonprofit corporations, and others to address these challenges;                             
25 and                                                                                                                     
26  WHEREAS this state effort will not be successful without the commitment of the                                         
27 federal government to meet its responsibilities and obligations to these rural residents, many                          
28 of whom are Alaska Natives; and                                                                                         
29  WHEREAS the federal government, through the United States Environmental                                                
30 Protection Agency, has the capacity to assist in correcting the sanitation conditions in rural                          
31 Alaska as exemplified by its ongoing efforts in other areas of the country such as the                                  

01 American Southwest Colonias where border town communities are receiving assistance in                                   
02 establishing basic water and sewage facilities; and                                                                     
03  WHEREAS a national effort similar to that currently being undertaken in the                                            
04 American Southwest Colonias will enable accelerated transformation for residents in rural                               
05 Alaska from substandard sanitation conditions.                                                                          
06  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                             
07 President of the United States to direct the administrators of the United States Environmental                          
08 Protection Agency and the Indian Health Service to join in a partnership with the State of                              
09 Alaska to finance and implement a long-term, comprehensive effort to improve sanitation                                 
10 conditions in rural Alaska in cooperation with Native regional nonprofit corporations and                               
11 Alaska's rural communities; and be it                                                                                   
12  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                           
13 President of the United States to ask the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States                            
14 Department of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Department of Health and                                 
15 Human Services, the United States Department of the Interior, the United States Department                              
16 of Education, the United States Department of Labor, the United States Department of                                    
17 Transportation, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Department of                                 
18 Agriculture, the United States Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration,                               
19 the Office of Management and Budget, and ACTION to commit available finances and                                        
20 resources necessary to improve the water and sanitation conditions in rural Alaska by                                   
21 implementing the recommendations of the Alaska Sanitation Task Force.                                                   
22  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
23 United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady; Mike Espy, Secretary of Agriculture;                                 
24 Ronald Brown, Secretary of Commerce; Richard W. Riley, Secretary of Education; Hazel R.                                 
25 O'Leary, Secretary of Energy; Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services;                                 
26 Henry G. Cisneros, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Bruce Babbit, Secretary                                  
27 of the Interior; Robert B. Reich, Secretary of Labor; Frederico Pena, Secretary of                                      
28 Transportation; Carol M. Browner, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;                                 
29 Leon E. Panetta, Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget; Patricia F. Saiki,                               
30 Administrator of the Small Business Administration; John Seal, Acting Director of ACTION;                               
31 and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, United States                                       

01 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, United States Representative, members of the Alaska                              
02 delegation in Congress.