CSSB 101(FIN) AM: "An Act relating to disasters and to the disaster relief fund."
00CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 101(FIN) am 01 "An Act relating to disasters and to the disaster relief fund." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. INTENT. It is the intent of the legislature that this Act does not alter the 04 present authority of the governor to request and receive federal disaster relief and emergency 05 assistance. 06 * Sec. 2. AS 26.23.020(c) is amended to read: 07 (c) If the governor finds that a disaster has occurred or that a disaster is 08 imminent or threatened, the governor shall, by proclamation, declare a condition of 09 disaster emergency. The disaster emergency remains in effect until the governor finds 10 that the danger has passed or the disaster has been dealt with so that the emergency 11 no longer exists. The governor may terminate the disaster emergency by proclamation. 12 A proclamation of disaster emergency may not remain in effect longer than 30 days 13 unless extended by the legislature by law [A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION]. The 14 proclamation must indicate the nature of the disaster, the area threatened or affected,
01 and the conditions that have brought it about or that make possible the termination of 02 the disaster emergency. 03 * Sec. 3. AS 26.23.025 is repealed and reenacted to read: 04 Sec. 26.23.025. The legislature and disaster emergencies. (a) When the 05 governor declares a condition of disaster emergency under AS 26.23.020(c), 06 concurrently with the issuance of the proclamation, the governor shall prepare and 07 deliver to the presiding officers of the legislature and to the persons who chair the 08 finance committees in each house of the legislature a financing plan relating to the 09 source or sources of money available from sources identified in AS 26.23.050(b) that 10 the governor proposes to use to cope with the disaster. 11 (b) If the declaration of a disaster emergency occurs while the legislature is 12 in session or if a special session is held, actions taken by the governor under this 13 chapter that are not ratified by law adopted during that session are void. 14 (c) The legislature may terminate a disaster emergency at any time by law. 15 * Sec. 4. AS 26.23.300 is repealed and reenacted to read: 16 Sec. 26.23.300. Disaster relief fund. (a) There is in the Office of the 17 Governor a disaster relief fund. The Department of Revenue is custodian of the fund. 18 (b) Except as provided in (c) and (d) of this section, the governor may expend 19 during a fiscal year not more than $500,000 of state funds, including the assets of the 20 disaster relief fund, to 21 (1) save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or lessen 22 or avert the threat of the disaster that poses a direct and imminent threat of sufficient 23 severity and magnitude to justify state action; 24 (2) implement provisions of law relating to disaster relief to cope with 25 the disaster; 26 (3) alleviate the effects of the disaster by making grants or loans to 27 persons or political subdivisions on terms the governor considers appropriate or by 28 other means the governor considers appropriate. 29 (c) If the disaster described in the governor's declaration of a condition of 30 disaster emergency is determined by the President of the United States to cause 31 damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance under
01 the federal Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, the 02 governor may expend during a fiscal year not more than $1,000,000 of state funds, 03 including the assets of the disaster relief fund, to 04 (1) save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or lessen 05 or avert the threat of the disaster that poses a direct and imminent threat of sufficient 06 severity and magnitude to justify state action; 07 (2) implement provisions of law relating to disaster relief to cope with 08 the disaster; 09 (3) alleviate the effects of the disaster by making grants or loans to 10 persons or political subdivisions on terms the governor considers appropriate or by 11 other means the governor considers appropriate. 12 (d) If the disaster described in the governor's declaration of a condition of 13 disaster emergency is the result of a wildland fire, the governor may expend during a 14 fiscal year not more than $5,000,000 of state funds, including the assets of the disaster 15 relief fund, to 16 (1) save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or lessen 17 or avert the threat of the disaster that poses a direct and imminent threat of sufficient 18 severity and magnitude to justify state action; 19 (2) implement provisions of law relating to disaster relief to cope with 20 the disaster; 21 (3) alleviate the effects of the disaster by making grants or loans to 22 persons or political subdivisions on terms the governor considers appropriate or by 23 other means the governor considers appropriate. 24 (e) The governor may not expend more than $500,000 under (b) of this 25 section, more than $1,000,000 under (c) of this section, or more than $5,000,000 under 26 (d) of this section unless 27 (1) if the legislature is in session, the legislature has approved a 28 financing plan to cope with the disaster that identifies the amount in excess of the 29 expenditure limits that is to be expended from state funds, including the assets of the 30 disaster relief fund; or 31 (2) if the legislature is not in session,
01 (A) the legislature convenes in special session and approves a 02 financing plan to cope with the disaster that identifies the amount in excess of 03 the expenditure limits that is to be expended from state funds, including the 04 assets of the disaster relief fund; or 05 (B) the presiding officers of both the house of representatives 06 and the senate, after polling all members of the respective houses of the 07 legislature in writing and receiving a response in writing from a majority of the 08 members of each house, inform the governor in writing that a majority of the 09 members of each house do not object to the financing plan and do not find that 10 a special session is necessary; the poll of members of the legislature may be 11 conducted by telephonic facsimile, by electronic mail, or by other means of 12 written communication. 13 (f) The governor shall present to the legislature an annual accounting of money 14 expended from the disaster relief fund. 15 (g) The governor shall adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this 16 section. 17 * Sec. 5. AS 26.23.900(2) is amended to read: 18 (2) "disaster" means the occurrence or imminent threat of widespread 19 or severe damage, injury, [OR] loss of life or property , or shortage of food, water, 20 or fuel resulting from 21 (A) hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, wind-driven 22 water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, 23 mudslide, avalanche, snowstorm, prolonged extreme cold, or drought; 24 (B) [A NATURAL OR MAN-MADE CAUSE, INCLUDING 25 (A)] fire, flood, or [EARTHQUAKE, LANDSLIDE, 26 MUDSLIDE, AVALANCHE, WIND-DRIVEN WATER, WEATHER 27 CONDITION, TSUNAMI, VOLCANIC ACTIVITY, EPIDEMIC, AIR 28 CONTAMINATION, BLIGHT, INFESTATION,] explosion [, RIOT, OR 29 SHORTAGE OF FOOD, WATER, FUEL, OR CLOTHING]; 30 (C) [(B)] the release of oil or a hazardous substance [,] if the 31 release requires prompt action to avert environmental danger or mitigate
01 environmental damage; or [AND] 02 (D) [(C)] equipment failure [,] if the failure is not a predictably 03 frequent or recurring event or preventable by adequate equipment maintenance 04 or operation;