Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/23/1993 05:00 PM House TRA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 23, 1993
5:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Richard Foster, Chair
Representative Al Vezey
Representative Curt Menard
Representative Bill Hudson
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Gary Davis, Vice-Chair
Representative Jerry Mackie
Representative Eldon Mulder
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HB 26: "An Act relating to the control of outdoor
advertising."
PASSED FROM COMMITTEE
Statewide airport overview by Helvi Sandvik from the
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
WITNESS REGISTER
HELVI SANDVIK
Statewide Aviation Manager
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
P.O. Box 196900
Anchorage, Alaska 99519
266-1460
Position Statement: Provided overview on statewide
airports.
JEFF OTTESEN
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
3132 Channel Drive
Juneau, Alaska 99801
465-6954
Position Statement: Available to testify on HB 26 if
necessary.
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 26
SHORT TITLE: PROHIBITED HIGHWAY ADVERTISING
BILL VERSION:
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) MENARD,Olberg
TITLE: "An Act relating to the control of outdoor
advertising."
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/04/93 31 (H) PREFILE RELEASED
01/11/93 31 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME -
REFERRAL(S)
01/11/93 31 (H) TRANSPORTATION, CRA, JUDICIARY,
FINANCE
02/11/93 (H) TRA AT 05:00 PM CAPITOL 17
02/11/93 (H) MINUTE(TRA)
02/23/93 (H) TRA AT 05:00 PM CAPITOL 17
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-6, SIDE A
Number 015
CHAIRMAN FOSTER called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m.
HB 26: PROHIBITED HIGHWAY ADVERTISING
CHAIRMAN FOSTER brought up HB 26 for discussion.
REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY said he was concerned with Section 8,
which provides penalties. The violation of these provisions
provides that the fines provide for fines up to $500 or one
year in jail. He felt the penalty provisions should be
revised.
REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY suggested the penalty for violation be
a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $5000, plus
the elimination of the jail time.
After discussion, the violation agreed upon by the committee
was a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $2500 and
the elimination of the jail time.
After further discussion of potential amendments, it was
decided that the committee would prepare a letter of intent
to the next committees of referral so that when it got
before the Judiciary Committee they could look at the
penalty sections with the final agreed upon fine and
suggestion to eliminate the jail time.
Number 328
REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY asked further questions regarding the
right-of-way provisions.
Number 0360
REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON asked Representative Menard if there
was any fiscal impact created by this legislation.
REPRESENTATIVE MENARD referred to the zero fiscal note
included within the members' packets.
Number 0365
REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON moved HB 26 from committee with
individual recommendations, and with a House Transportation
letter of intent.
Number 0370
CHAIR FOSTER requested that committee staff take care of
adding his name as a co-sponsor on HB 26.
Number 0375
CHAIR FOSTER moved to the next item on the agenda - the
statewide airport system - and invited Helvi Sandvik to
begin her briefing on this issue before the committee.
HELVI SANDVIK, STATEWIDE AVIATION MANAGER, DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES (DOT/PF), said there
are about 300 airports that the DOT/PF currently owns and
operates. There are also approximately one dozen non-DOT
owned airports in the state, owned by municipalities or
boroughs; i.e., Juneau, Kenai, Soldotna, Nenana, Palmer,
North Slope Borough owns 5 small airports, and the DOT owns
Deadhorse and Barrow, which are in the North Slope Borough.
There are also a few others that the DOT owns but are leased
and operated by other entities, such as Sitka and Ketchikan.
Number 0421
MS. SANDVIK stated that in relation to funding, they relied
almost entirely on the federal airport improvement grant
program, which provides 45-50 million dollars for capitol
improvements on airports. Although that is an historic
figure, for the last two years Alaska has received in excess
of 60 million dollars for airports. It is a fairly
restricted source and cannot be used for maintenance
activities and there is no flexibility to spend the money
where the department wants to spend the money. The
department is working to obtain more flexibility in the
state of Alaska in the use of these funds.
Number 0421
MS. SANDVIK indicated that one of the main issues that may
be brought up is essential air service. It is a relatively
small program to the state of Alaska, but it means a lot.
It is run by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S.
DOT) out of Washington, D.C., and essentially assures that
all of our communities that are not accessible by road or
other means have scheduled air service of some level. If a
commercial air carrier cannot provide service at a profit,
there is an opportunity for them to compete for a subsidy
offered by the U.S. DOT. Funding is fairly controversial
and the dollar amount for Alaska is a little less than two
million dollars subsidy. Ms. Sandvik indicated her office
is generally an advocate of the communities in their
dealings with the U.S. DOT.
Number 0414
MS. SANDVIK discussed the by-pass mail program, which has
been fairly controversial, and she indicated that the state
may see some changes with this. The U. S. Postal Service
provides a non-priority mail shipment of goods to rural
Alaska for very good rates. It is currently costing the U.
S. Postal Service seventy million dollars to subsidize the
Alaska program, and the postal service is proposing several
controversial changes. One of these changes is the
establishment of 15 new by-pass mail hubs, which means that
this may require significant capitol investments in those
new areas and be responsible for a significant increase in
maintenance and operations costs. They are proposing to
save seven million dollars. There is currently a task force
evaluating what the impact would be and providing
recommendations to the U. S. Postal Service. The task force
has determined they could compromise in certain areas;
however, they certainly were not in favor of the increased
hubs. The state DOT has gone on record against their
proposal.
Number 0450
MS. SANDVIK addressed two additional federal mandate issues
of concern. These were the FAR 139, which relates to safety
standards, and FAR 107, which relates to safety standards.
Under both programs, the federal government mandates must be
met or the state is at risk of paying non-compliance fines.
FAR 139 requires that airports which support aircraft of 30
seats or more provide fire fighting response; which means
that currently, a lot of grader operators in rural airports
have taken certification training for fire fighting.
MS. SANDVIK said FAR 107 effects security, and airports
serviced by airplanes which seat 60 passengers or more are
mandated to provide security. This requires law enforcement
officer response, and thus far the state has been able to
use the local enforcement officers. Due to occurrences in
the Lower 48, however, FAR 107 is getting harder to comply
with on a state level.
MS. SANDVIK stated that both of these mandates are dictated
by the type of aircraft which land in the airports. If the
state is unable to meet the mandates required, it is then up
to them to reduce service or limit types of aircraft which
land in those airports. Currently in Kotzebue, the police
force is on call 15 minutes prior and 15 minutes after a
plane lands. In some areas, the DOT has been able to ensure
payment if the law enforcement officers are called upon.
MS. SANDVIK stressed the budget constraints which are being
created by the federal mandates.
TAPE 93-6, SIDE B
CHAIR FOSTER adjourned the meeting at 6:05 p.m.
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