HB 114-BOILER/PRESSURE VESSEL INSPECTION REPORTS  3:31:46 PM CHAIR KITO announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 114, "An Act relating to boiler and unfired pressure vessel inspection reports and fees." 3:32:09 PM BIANCA CARPENETI, Staff, Representative Sam Kito, Alaska State Legislature, presented HB 114 on behalf of the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee, sponsor, on which Representative Kito serves as chair. She explained that HB 114 was drafted by the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee at the request of the Department of Labor & Workforce Development. She remarked: On January twentieth, the department presented the concept behind this bill to the committee. At that time the committee authorized the chair to draft a bill on behalf of the committee that modifies filing requirements for boiler inspections. The bill before you is the result. MS. CARPENETI explained that HB 114 would do two things: first, it would establish a $10 fee for each boiler and pressure vessel inspection report not filed using the department's online system; second, it would reduce the time allowed to submit such reports following an inspection from the current 30 days to 15 days. 3:33:03 PM DEBORAH KELLY, Director, Division of Labor Standards & Safety, Department of Labor & Workforce Development (DLWD), explained that HB 114 would institute a $10 fee for each boiler or pressure vessel inspection report filed with the department in a manner other than using the department's online direct-entry system. The bill would also reduce the time allowed to file a report following an inspection from 30 days to 15 days. She said boiler and pressure vessels in Alaska receive routine inspections at intervals of two to five years as a public safety measure to prevent catastrophic failures. She noted that the inspections may be done by State of Alaska inspectors or by private inspectors who generally work for insurance companies or the device owners. The Mechanical Inspection section of the Division of Labor Standards and Safety administers the inspections of the devices. She remarked: Besides performing inspections, we also collect and review inspection reports and ensure that boiler owners are in compliance with state law. We use "Jurisdiction Online," a software that allows inspectors to enter the reports directly from the field and also gives them access to information while they're in the field. The majority of the inspectors are using this system, but some inspectors submit electronic documents, usually in PDF format, which require Mechanical Inspections staff to do manual data entry... MS. KELLY detailed that the Mechanical Inspection section spends 350-400 man hours every year entering data for the reports filed without using the department's online system. She noted that the bill would institute a $10 fee for each report submitted without using "Jurisdiction Online." The fees collected would be deposited into the building safety account to compensate the department for the data entry and support provided to the inspectors paying the fees. MS. KELLY stated that HB 114 would also reduce the time allowed for submission of boiler inspection reports. The current time limit of 30 days was set when reports were mailed by the inspector in the field to the company headquarters and then mailed to the department. She explained that all reports are now submitted electronically, either through direct data entry or e-mailed PDFs; most reports arrive within a week of the inspection. She said, "Shortening the time to 15 days reflects current technology and practice and ensures that device owners are in compliance with the law in a more timely manner." 3:35:49 PM REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH asked how long it takes to enter the data from the reports. MS. KELLY answered that the department estimates that it takes just a few minutes per report: 350-400 man hours are spent each year for 3,200 reports. She added that the inspectors in the field who don't have access to "Jurisdiction Online" sometimes have to call the department asking for device information that they otherwise could have gotten from that online database. REPRESENTATIVE BIRCH offered his opinion that a push towards electronic reporting would be good. 3:37:00 PM REPRESENTATIVE SULLIVAN-LEONARD asked how many total reports are filed each year. MS. KELLY answered that the department sees around 11,000-12,000 total inspections per year: of those, 3,200 are being submitted in manners that require data entry. She clarified that it is 12,000 inspections - not devices - in a year, since most devices are in a two- to five-year inspection interval. 3:37:59 PM CHAIR KITO opened public testimony on HB 114. 3:38:13 PM CHAIR KITO announced that HB 114 was held over.