HB 178: "An Act relating to removing solid waste collection and disposal service from regulation by the Alaska Public Utilities Commission; requiring certain municipalities, and permitting other municipalities, to regulate solid waste collection and disposal service within the municipal boundaries; and providing for an effective date."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 178 01 "An Act relating to removing solid waste collection and disposal service from 02 regulation by the Alaska Public Utilities Commission; requiring certain 03 municipalities, and permitting other municipalities, to regulate solid waste collection 04 and disposal service within the municipal boundaries; and providing for an 05 effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT. (a) The legislature finds that 08 (1) in most states, solid waste collection and disposal service is not regulated 09 at the state level; rather, if it is regulated at all, solid waste collection and disposal service is 10 regulated at the county or city level; 11 (2) each community in Alaska is unique, and therefore local governments are 12 better able to determine the level of service and the appropriate market structure for solid 13 waste collection and disposal service within the community's boundaries than is a state 14 commission;
01 (3) local control of solid waste collection and disposal service would allow a 02 municipality to establish a comprehensive solid waste management plan based on the size, 03 nature, and population density of the area to respond to the unique needs of the community 04 and to better serve customers within the municipal boundaries. 05 (b) It is the intent of the legislature to provide in this Act that 06 (1) when the Alaska Public Utilities Commission ceases to regulate solid waste 07 collection and disposal service, a municipality in the state that owns and operates a solid waste 08 collection and disposal service or that has within its boundaries a certificated public utility that 09 is providing solid waste collection and disposal service should replace the commission's 10 regulation with a system of local control either by continuing its ownership and operation of 11 a solid waste collection and disposal service or by granting one or more franchises to private 12 carriers to do so; 13 (2) a municipality that does not own or operate a solid waste collection and 14 disposal service and that, on the effective date of this section, does not have within its 15 boundaries a certificated public utility providing the service should be authorized but not 16 required to establish a system of solid waste collection and disposal; 17 (3) a municipality should recover the cost of implementing this Act either 18 through revenue earned from directly providing solid waste collection and disposal service or 19 by the collection of franchise fees; 20 (4) the property interests of private carriers that already provide solid waste 21 collection and disposal service under a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued 22 by the Alaska Public Utilities Commission should be protected by requiring municipalities to 23 either grant exclusive franchises to these carriers for a period of time or purchase the 24 certificate, equipment, and facilities at fair market value. 25 * Sec. 2. AS 29.35.050 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 26 (e) By January 1, 2000, a municipality that, on the effective date of this 27 subsection, holds a certificate from the Alaska Public Utilities Commission to provide 28 solid waste collection and disposal service or that has within its boundaries a public 29 utility certificated by the Alaska Public Utilities Commission to provide solid waste 30 collection and disposal service shall by ordinance provide for a system of residential 31 and commercial solid waste collection and disposal for the affected service areas. The
01 municipality may satisfy the requirement of this subsection either by operating the 02 service itself, with municipal officials and employees, or by granting one or more 03 franchises to a private carrier to provide the service. Notwithstanding 04 AS 29.35.250(b), a city that is inside a borough and that has established a system of 05 solid waste collection and disposal before the effective date of this subsection may 06 maintain that service. If, on the effective date of this subsection, a public utility 07 provides residential or commercial solid waste collection and disposal service under 08 a certificate issued by the Alaska Public Utilities Commission in a service area in a 09 municipality, the municipality shall either 10 (1) grant an exclusive franchise to the certificated utility to continue 11 to provide the service for a term of at least five years from the later of the date that 12 the franchise was granted or January 1, 2000; the franchise must contain an agreement 13 that will allow the carrier to charge customers at the rates contained in the utility's 14 tariff in effect on June 1, 1999, adjusted for inflation and any extraordinary increases 15 in operating expenses; the term of the agreement and the rates charged are subject to 16 amendment by agreement of the municipality and the franchisee; or 17 (2) purchase, at fair market value, the utility's certificate, equipment, 18 and facilities that are related to providing service in the municipality. 19 (f) A municipality that is not described in (e) of this section may by ordinance 20 provide for a system of residential and commercial solid waste collection and disposal. 21 The ordinance may provide either that the municipality will operate the service itself, 22 with municipal officials and employees, or that the municipality may grant a franchise 23 to a private carrier to provide for the service. 24 (g) If more than one public utility provides residential or commercial solid 25 waste collection and disposal service under certificates issued by the Alaska Public 26 Utilities Commission in a service area in a municipality, the municipality may establish 27 an appropriate system of solid waste collection and disposal service as provided in (e) 28 of this section. However, if a municipality deprives a public utility holding a 29 certificate to provide service in the municipality of the right to provide service within 30 municipal boundaries between the effective date of this subsection and January 1, 31 2005, the municipality shall purchase at fair market value the utility's certificate,
01 equipment, and facilities that are related to providing service in the municipality. 02 (h) As part of a franchise agreement under this section, a municipality may 03 collect a fee from the franchisee to cover the cost of establishing and administering the 04 franchise agreement. The amount of the fee may not be less than one-half of one 05 percent and may not exceed two and one-half percent of the franchisee's gross 06 revenue. The amount of the fee may be considered in determining the rates charged 07 under the franchise agreement and may be charged as part of the rates paid by 08 customers for the solid waste collection and disposal service. 09 (i) A municipality may by ordinance require all persons, property owners, or 10 occupants of premises in the municipality to use the solid waste collection and disposal 11 system and to dispose of solid waste as provided in the ordinance. 12 (j) In this section, 13 (1) "commercial solid waste collection and disposal" means the 14 collection and disposal of solid waste, garbage, refuse, or trash from a container that 15 has a capacity of one cubic yard or more, whether or not the property from which the 16 solid waste, garbage, refuse, or trash is collected is considered commercial property; 17 (2) "fair market value" is the net present value of future projected 18 revenue less associated expenses over a 10-year period; in this paragraph, "future 19 projected revenue" is the historic revenue based on the number of customers on the 20 date of acquisition, the levels of service for each customer, and the existing rate 21 structure, with a pro forma adjustment over a 10-year period using a projected growth 22 rate; an appropriate rate in the range of eight - 10 percent shall then be applied to 23 reduce the future projected revenue to present value; 24 (3) "municipality" means, notwithstanding the definition in 25 AS 29.71.800, a political subdivision incorporated under the laws of the state that is 26 a home rule or first class city, a second class borough, or a unified home rule 27 municipality; 28 (4) "residential solid waste collection and disposal" means the 29 collection and disposal of solid waste, garbage, refuse, or trash from a container that 30 has a capacity of less than one cubic yard, whether or not the property from which the 31 material is collected is considered residential property.
01 * Sec. 3. AS 29.35.070(a) is amended to read: 02 (a) The assembly acting for the area outside all cities in the borough and the 03 council acting for the area in a city may regulate, fix, establish, and change the rates 04 and charges imposed for a utility service provided to the municipality or its inhabitants 05 by a utility that is not subject to regulation under AS 42.05 unless that utility is 06 exempted from regulation under AS 42.05.711(a) , [OR] (d) - (h), (j), or (k) or is 07 exempted under regulations adopted under AS 42.05.810 from complying with all or 08 part of AS 42.05.010 - 42.05.721. 09 * Sec. 4. AS 29.35.210(a) is amended to read: 10 (a) A second class borough may by ordinance exercise the following powers 11 on a nonareawide basis: 12 (1) provide transportation systems; 13 (2) regulate the offering for sale, exposure for sale, sale, use, or 14 explosion of fireworks; 15 (3) license, impound, and dispose of animals; 16 (4) [SUBJECT TO AS 29.35.050,] provide [GARBAGE, SOLID 17 WASTE, AND] septic waste collection and disposal; 18 (5) provide air pollution control under AS 46.14.400; 19 (6) provide water pollution control; 20 (7) participate in federal or state loan programs for housing 21 rehabilitation and improvement for energy conservation; 22 (8) provide for economic development; 23 (9) provide for the acquisition and construction of local service roads 24 and trails under AS 19.30.111 - 19.30.251; 25 (10) establish an emergency services communication center under 26 AS 29.35.130; 27 (11) subject to AS 28.01.010, regulate the licensing and operation of 28 motor vehicles and operators; 29 (12) engage in activities authorized under AS 29.47.460; 30 (13) contain, clean up, or prevent a release or threatened release of oil 31 or a hazardous substance, and exercise a power granted to a municipality under
01 AS 46.04, AS 46.08, or AS 46.09; the borough shall exercise its authority under this 02 paragraph in a manner that is consistent with a regional master plan prepared by the 03 Department of Environmental Conservation under AS 46.04.210. 04 * Sec. 5. AS 38.05.810(f) is amended to read: 05 (f) The commissioner shall lease state land for telephone or electric 06 transmission and distribution lines for less than the appraised value of the land if the 07 lessee is a nonprofit cooperative association organized under AS 10.25. The 08 commissioner may lease state land that is not located within the boundary of a 09 municipality for the disposal of garbage, refuse, trash, or other waste material for less 10 than the appraised value of the land if the lessee is approved by the commissioner 11 and collects and disposes [A LICENSED PUBLIC UTILITY AUTHORIZED TO 12 COLLECT AND DISPOSE] of garbage, refuse, trash, or other waste material outside 13 the boundaries of a municipality. Before determining the annual rental, the 14 commissioner shall consider the nature of the public service rendered by the nonprofit 15 cooperative association or approved lessee [LICENSED PUBLIC UTILITY] and the 16 terms of the grant under which the land was acquired by the state. A nonprofit 17 cooperative association may not construct improvements other than transmission or 18 distribution lines and substations on land leased under this subsection. An approved 19 lessee [A LICENSED PUBLIC UTILITY] may not construct permanent improvements 20 on land leased under this subsection that are not related to the purpose of the lease. 21 * Sec. 6. AS 42.05.711(l) is amended to read: 22 (l) A person, utility, or cooperative that is exempt from regulation under (a) , 23 [OR] (d) - (h), (j), or (k) of this section is not subject to regulation by a municipality 24 under AS 29.35.060 and 29.35.070. 25 * Sec. 7. AS 42.05.712(h) is amended to read: 26 (h) A utility or cooperative that is already exempt from regulation under this 27 section or that is exempt from regulation under AS 42.05.711(e) [, (i),] or (k) may 28 elect to terminate its exemption in the same manner. 29 * Sec. 8. AS 45.50.572(d) is amended to read: 30 (d) AS 45.50.562 - 45.50.596 31 (1) apply to long distance telecommunications services provided by
01 public utilities ; 02 (2) [. AS 45.50.562 - 45.50.596] do not apply to 03 (A) other services provided by public utilities that have been 04 issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity under AS 42.05 ; or 05 (B) solid waste collection and disposal that is regulated by 06 a municipality under AS 29.35.050 where the municipality has granted the 07 private carrier an exclusive franchise to operate in an area . 08 * Sec. 9. REPEAL OF STATUTES. (a) AS 29.35.050(a) and 29.35.050(b) are repealed. 09 (b) AS 42.05.431(f), 42.05.431(g), 42.05.711(i), 42.05.711(m), and 42.05.990(4)(F) 10 are repealed. 11 * Sec. 10. Sections 1, 2, 4, 8, and 9(a) of this Act take effect immediately under 12 AS 01.10.070(c). 13 * Sec. 11. Except as provided in sec. 10 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2000.