00CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 342(O&G)                                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to water quality."                                                                                     
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1.  AS 16.05.050 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                            
04  (b)  The commissioner may not require a higher discharge water quality                                                
05 standard for water used than the existing quality of water received for the use.                                        
06    * Sec. 2.  AS 38.05.020 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                               
07  (c)  The commissioner may not require a higher discharge water quality                                                
08 standard for water used than the existing quality of water received for the use.                                        
09    * Sec. 3.  AS 46.03 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                      
10  Sec. 46.03.085.  WATER QUALITY STANDARDS.  (a)  If, in considering the                                                
11 discharge of water and establishing criteria for water quality for discharged water, the                                
12 commissioner finds it necessary to establish a discharge standard for sediment, the                                     
13 measurement of the sediment shall be by the volumetric Imhoff Cone method or by                                         
14 another method approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the                                             

01 measurement of sediment.                                                                                                
02  (b)  In applying the water quality criteria and limits authorized under this                                          
03 chapter, the commissioner may require a person who uses water to meet a discharge                                       
04 standard that is compatible with downstream uses at the point of the downstream uses                                    
05 if the standard                                                                                                         
06   (1)  reflects a range of values that are satisfactory for the other                                                  
07 downstream uses;                                                                                                        
08   (2)  is not more restrictive than current applicable federal water quality                                           
09 standards; and                                                                                                          
10   (3)  does not require a higher discharge water quality standard than the                                             
11 existing quality of water received for the use.                                                                         
12  (c)  If federal water quality standards change, the commissioner shall promptly                                       
13 adopt regulations that amend the state's water quality standards so that the state's water                              
14 quality standards remain consistent with, and not more restrictive than, applicable federal                             
15 water quality standards.