00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 153(RES) 01 "An Act replacing the storage tank assistance fund with the underground storage tank 02 revolving loan fund and relating to that revolving loan fund; repealing the tank cleanup 03 program and the tank upgrading and closure program; and providing for an effective 04 date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06  * Section 1. AS 46.03.360(e) is amended to read: 07 (e) Under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), the board shall adopt 08 regulations under which the department shall 09 (1) rank requests for assistance under AS 46.03.422 [AS 46.03.420 10 AND 46.03.422]; 11 (2) determine which costs of risk assessment, containment, corrective 12 action, and cleanup are eligible costs under AS 46.03.422 [AS 46.03.420 AND 13 46.03.422; 14 (3) DETERMINE WHICH COSTS OF UPGRADING AND 01 CLOSURE ARE ELIGIBLE COSTS UNDER AS 46.03.430]. 02  * Sec. 2. AS 46.03.360(f) is amended to read: 03 (f) If the department determines that an owner or operator is not eligible for a  04 loan under AS 46.03.422 [ASSISTANCE UNDER AS 46.03.410 - 46.03.430] or that 05 a cost is not eligible under AS 46.03.422 [AS 46.03.415 - 46.30.430] and the affected 06 owner or operator disputes that determination, or if an owner or operator disputes the 07 ranking assigned to a request for assistance under AS 46.03.422 [AS 46.03.420 OR 08 46.03.422], the owner or operator may apply to the board for resolution of the dispute. 09 The board may issue a decision in a dispute brought to it under this subsection. The 10 decision is binding on the owner, operator, and department. 11  * Sec. 3. AS 46.03.360(g) is amended to read: 12 (g) The board may adopt regulations to limit the number of sites per calendar 13 year for which an owner or operator may be awarded a loan under AS 46.03.422 14 [FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE UNDER AS 46.03.420 - 46.03.430]. The department 15 shall implement the regulations. 16  * Sec. 4. AS 46.03.365(c) is amended to read: 17 (c) When [EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN AS 46.03.420(c)(2)(A), WHEN] the 18 regulations adopted under this section address areas governed by federal laws or 19 regulations, the state regulations must be consistent with federal laws and regulations 20 and may not be more stringent than the federal laws and regulations. 21  * Sec. 5. AS 46.03.385(e) is amended to read: 22 (e) The department shall deposit fees collected under this section into 23 [LEGISLATURE MAY APPROPRIATE THE ANNUAL ESTIMATED BALANCE 24 OF THE ACCOUNT MAINTAINED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF 25 ADMINISTRATION UNDER AS 37.05.142 TO] the underground storage tank 26 revolving loan [ASSISTANCE] fund established under AS 46.03.410. 27  * Sec. 6. AS 46.03.405 is amended to read: 28 Sec. 46.03.405. Prohibitions. A person, including a governmental entity or 29 institution [,] or a public corporation, may not operate an underground petroleum 30 storage tank or tank system unless 31 (1) the tank and tank system are [IS] registered with the department as 01 provided in AS 46.03.360 - 46.03.450 or other law; and 02 (2) [EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN AS 46.03.420(c)(1)(D),] the person 03 has provided to the department proof of financial responsibility to the extent required 04 under regulations adopted under AS 46.03.365 or proof of application for 05 arrangements that would satisfy state financial responsibility requirements. 06  * Sec. 7. AS 46.03.410 is amended to read: 07 Sec. 46.03.410. Underground storage [STORAGE] tank revolving loan  08 [ASSISTANCE] fund. (a) There is established the underground storage tank 09 revolving loan [ASSISTANCE] fund. It consists of money appropriated to it by law,  10 repayments of principal and interest on loans made or fees collected under  11 AS 46.03.385 - 46.03.450, and income earned on money in the fund [. THE 12 DEPARTMENT SHALL DEPOSIT EARNINGS ON MONEY IN THE FUND IN 13 THE GENERAL FUND. THE LEGISLATURE MAY USE THE ESTIMATED 14 BALANCE IN THE ACCOUNT MAINTAINED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF 15 ADMINISTRATION UNDER AS 37.05.142 TO MAKE APPROPRIATIONS TO 16 THE FUND]. The legislature may appropriate unencumbered money from the fund 17 for the cost of risk assessment, containment, corrective action, and cleanup relating to 18 an underground petroleum storage tank system owned or operated by the state, the 19 University of Alaska, a public corporation, a school district, or another political 20 subdivision or instrumentality of the state. The legislature may also appropriate 21 unencumbered money from the fund for state legal and regulatory expenses associated 22 with underground petroleum storage tanks. An application for funds under 23 AS 46.03.420, 46.03.422, and 46.03.430 is not considered an encumbrance for 24 purposes of this subsection. 25 (b) The commissioner may use money in the underground storage tank  26 revolving loan fund to pay for 27 (1) grants and loans under AS 46.03.420 and 46.03.422 for risk 28 assessment, containment, corrective action, and cleanup costs; [AND] 29 (2) costs of administering the fund and the tank cleanup loan  30 program under AS 46.03.422; and  31 (3) grants under AS 46.03.430 for tank system upgrading and closure. 01 (c) The commissioner shall prepare a report on the status of the underground 02 storage tank revolving loan [ASSISTANCE] fund and notify the legislature not later 03 than the 10th day following the convening of each regular session of the legislature 04 that the report is available. The report may include information considered significant 05 by the commissioner but must include 06 (1) the amount and source of money received by the fund during the 07 preceding fiscal year; 08 (2) the amount of money expended during the preceding fiscal year for 09 each type of expense authorized under (b) of this section; 10 (3) a detailed summary of department activities paid for from the fund 11 during the preceding fiscal year, including how many requests for assistance have 12 been made to the department to use the fund for grants or loans for testing, site 13 assessment, risk assessment, upgrading, closure, containment, corrective action, and 14 cleanup costs, and the number of requests funded in each activity area; 15 (4) the projected cost for the next fiscal year of monitoring, operating, 16 and maintaining sites where department activities have been completed or are 17 expected to start or be continued during the fiscal year; 18 (5) the priority list of tank system sites for which the department 19 expects to provide financial assistance in the next fiscal year. 20  * Sec. 8. AS 46.03.410 is amended to read: 21 Sec. 46.03.410. Underground storage tank revolving loan fund. (a) There 22 is established the underground storage tank revolving loan fund. It consists of money 23 appropriated to it by law, repayments of principal and interest on loans made or fees 24 collected under AS 46.03.385 - 46.03.450, and income earned on money in the fund. 25 The legislature may appropriate unencumbered money from the fund for the cost of 26 risk assessment, containment, corrective action, and cleanup relating to an 27 underground petroleum storage tank system owned or operated by the state, the 28 University of Alaska, a public corporation, a school district, or another political 29 subdivision or instrumentality of the state. The legislature may also appropriate 30 unencumbered money from the fund for state legal and regulatory expenses associated 31 with underground petroleum storage tanks. An application for funds under 01 AS 46.03.422 [AS 46.03.420, 46.03.422, AND 46.03.430] is not considered an 02 encumbrance for purposes of this subsection. 03 (b) The commissioner may use money in the underground storage tank 04 revolving loan fund to pay for 05 (1) [GRANTS AND] loans under AS 46.03.422 [AS 46.03.420 AND 06 46.03.422] for risk assessment, containment, corrective action, and cleanup costs; and 07 (2) costs of administering the fund and the tank cleanup loan program 08 under AS 46.03.422 [; AND 09 (3) GRANTS UNDER AS 46.03.430 FOR TANK SYSTEM 10 UPGRADING AND CLOSURE]. 11 (c) The commissioner shall prepare a report on the status of the underground 12 storage tank revolving loan fund and notify the legislature not later than the 10th day 13 following the convening of each regular session of the legislature that the report is 14 available. The report may include information considered significant by the 15 commissioner but must include 16 (1) the amount and source of money received by the fund during the 17 preceding fiscal year; 18 (2) the amount of money expended during the preceding fiscal year for 19 each type of expense authorized under (b) of this section; 20 (3) a detailed summary of department activities paid for from the fund 21 during the preceding fiscal year, including how many requests [FOR ASSISTANCE] 22 have been made to the department to use the fund for [GRANTS OR] loans for testing, 23 site assessment, risk assessment, upgrading, closure, containment, corrective action, 24 and cleanup costs, and the number of requests funded in each activity area; 25 (4) the projected cost for the next fiscal year of monitoring, operating, 26 and maintaining sites where department activities have been completed or are 27 expected to start or be continued during the fiscal year; 28 (5) the priority list of tank system sites for which the department 29 expects to provide loans [FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE] in the next fiscal year. 30  * Sec. 9. AS 46.03.420(a) is amended to read: 31 (a) The commissioner may make a grant from the underground storage tank 01 revolving loan [ASSISTANCE] fund to an owner or operator of an underground 02 petroleum storage tank system, other than the state or federal government, for the costs 03 of risk assessment, containment, corrective action, and cleanup resulting from a 04 release of petroleum from or associated with an underground petroleum storage tank 05 system if the owner or operator meets the requirements of this section. Applications 06 for assistance under this section must be submitted to the department before July 1, 07 1994. Under regulations of the board, the department shall rank requests under this 08 section in order of priority, giving greatest priority to those tank systems that present 09 the greatest threat or potential threat to human health. 10 * Sec. 10. AS 46.03.420(i) is amended to read: 11 (i) The department shall deposit money collected under this section into 12 [LEGISLATURE MAY APPROPRIATE THE ANNUAL ESTIMATED BALANCE 13 OF THE ACCOUNT MAINTAINED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF 14 ADMINISTRATION UNDER AS 37.05.142 TO] the underground storage tank 15 revolving loan [ASSISTANCE] fund established under AS 46.03.410. 16  * Sec. 11. AS 46.03.422(a) is amended to read: 17 (a) The commissioner may make a loan from the underground storage tank 18 revolving loan [ASSISTANCE] fund to an owner or operator of an underground 19 petroleum storage tank system for the costs of risk assessment, containment, corrective 20 action, and cleanup resulting from a release of petroleum from or associated with an 21 underground petroleum storage tank system if the owner or operator submitted a 22 timely application for a grant under AS 46.03.420 and agrees 23 (1) to accept a loan in the same or lesser amount instead of a grant for 24 the same project; 25 (2) to provide additional security or collateral for the loan if requested 26 by the department; 27 (3) [EITHER] to 28 (A) upgrade all underground petroleum storage tanks located at 29 the facility from which the release occurred to the standards set by state and 30 federal regulations according to a time line established by the department; or 31 (B) remove and properly dispose of all liquids and sludges 01 from the underground petroleum storage tanks located at the facility from 02 which the release occurred, conduct a site assessment, and either fill the tanks 03 with inert solid material or properly dismantle, remove, and dispose of the 04 tanks in accordance with applicable state and federal regulations; and 05 (4) to submit a plan for risk assessment, containment, corrective 06 action, and cleanup to the department for its review and approval; if the department 07 and the owner or operator cannot reach agreement on a plan, on later changes in the 08 plan, or on a cleanup decision, the owner or operator may apply to the board to review 09 the dispute; the board may issue a recommendation to the department in a dispute 10 brought to it under this paragraph; the recommendation may include a suggested time 11 limit for completing appropriate cleanup activities or reaching a cleanup decision. 12  * Sec. 12. AS 46.03.422(a) is amended to read: 13 (a) The commissioner may make a loan from the underground storage tank 14 revolving loan fund to an owner or operator of an underground petroleum storage tank 15 system for the costs of risk assessment, containment, corrective action, and cleanup 16 resulting from a release of petroleum from or associated with an underground 17 petroleum storage tank system if the owner or operator submitted a timely application 18 for a grant under former AS 46.03.420 and agrees 19 (1) to accept a loan in the same or lesser amount instead of a grant for 20 the same project; 21 (2) to provide additional security or collateral for the loan if requested 22 by the department; 23 (3) to 24 (A) upgrade all underground petroleum storage tanks located at 25 the facility from which the release occurred to the standards set by state and 26 federal regulations according to a time line established by the department; or 27 (B) remove and properly dispose of all liquids and sludges 28 from the underground petroleum storage tanks located at the facility from 29 which the release occurred, conduct a site assessment, and either fill the tanks 30 with inert solid material or properly dismantle, remove, and dispose of the 31 tanks in accordance with applicable state and federal regulations; and 01 (4) to submit a plan for risk assessment, containment, corrective 02 action, and cleanup to the department for its review and approval; if the department 03 and the owner or operator cannot reach agreement on a plan, on later changes in the 04 plan, or on a cleanup decision, the owner or operator may apply to the board to review 05 the dispute; the board may issue a recommendation to the department in a dispute 06 brought to it under this paragraph; the recommendation may include a suggested time 07 limit for completing appropriate cleanup activities or reaching a cleanup decision. 08  * Sec. 13. AS 46.03.422(e) is amended to read: 09 (e) This section does not affect 10 (1) the liability under state or federal law of a person or entity that 11 receives a loan [ASSISTANCE] under this section for the costs of risk management, 12 containment, corrective action, and cleanup resulting from a release of petroleum; or 13 (2) the authority of the department to seek recovery from the owner or 14 operator of costs other than [GRANTS OR] loans actually made to an owner or 15 operator under this section. 16  * Sec. 14. AS 46.03.422(g) is amended to read: 17 (g) A loan payment under this section, when combined with loans and grants 18 to the same owner or operator under former AS 46.03.420 and former AS 46.03.430 19 [46.03.430], may not exceed $500,000. 20  * Sec. 15. AS 46.03.422(h) is amended to read: 21 (h) The department shall deposit loan repayments and other money  22 collected under this section into [LEGISLATURE MAY APPROPRIATE TO] the 23 underground storage tank revolving loan [ASSISTANCE] fund established under 24 AS 46.03.410 [THE ANNUAL ESTIMATED BALANCE OF THE ACCOUNT 25 MAINTAINED UNDER AS 37.05.142 BY THE COMMISSIONER OF 26 ADMINISTRATION TO KEEP TRACK OF LOAN REPAYMENTS, INCLUDING 27 INTEREST PAYMENTS, UNDER THIS SECTION]. 28  * Sec. 16. AS 46.03.422 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 29 (i) To be eligible for a loan under this section, an owner or operator shall 30 provide the department with a written sworn statement on a form required by 31 regulation of the department that the owner or operator has not been eligible for self- 01 insurance under 40 CFR 280.95 at any time on or after July 1, 2001. This subsection 02 does not apply to an owner or operator that is a municipality. For purposes of this 03 subsection, "sworn statement" has the meaning given in AS 11.56.240. 04  * Sec. 17. AS 46.08.040(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) In addition to money in the response account of the fund that is transferred 06 to the commissioner of community and economic development to make grants under 07 AS 29.60.510 and to pay for impact assessments under AS 29.60.560, the 08 commissioner of environmental conservation may use money 09 (1) from the response account in the fund 10 (A) when authorized by AS 46.08.045, to investigate and 11 evaluate the release or threatened release of oil or a hazardous substance, and 12 contain, clean up, and take other necessary action, such as monitoring and 13 assessing, to address a release or threatened release of oil or a hazardous 14 substance that poses an imminent and substantial threat to the public health or 15 welfare, or to the environment; 16 (B) to provide matching funds in the event of a release of oil or 17 a hazardous substance for which use of the response account is authorized by 18 AS 46.08.045 for participation 19 (i) in federal oil discharge cleanup activities; and 20 (ii) under 42 U.S.C. 9601 - 9657 (Comprehensive 21 Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980); 22 and 23 (C) to recover the costs to the state, a municipality, a village, or 24 a school district of a containment and cleanup resulting from the release or the 25 threatened release of oil or a hazardous substance for which money was 26 expended from the response account; 27 (2) from the prevention account in the fund to 28 (A) investigate and evaluate the release or threatened release of 29 oil or a hazardous substance, except a release described in AS 46.08.045(a), 30 and contain, clean up, and take other necessary action, such as monitoring and 31 assessing, to address a release or threatened release of oil or a hazardous 01 substance, except a release described in AS 46.08.045(a); 02 (B) pay all costs incurred 03 (i) to establish and maintain the oil and hazardous 04 substance response office; 05 (ii) under agreements entered into under AS 46.04.090 06 or AS 46.09.040; 07 (iii) to review oil discharge prevention and contingency 08 plans submitted under AS 46.04.030; 09 (iv) to conduct training, response exercises, inspections, 10 and tests, in order to verify equipment inventories and ability to prevent 11 and respond to oil and hazardous substance release emergencies, and to 12 undertake other activities intended to verify or establish the 13 preparedness of the state, a municipality, or a party required by 14 AS 46.04.030 to have an approved contingency plan to act in 15 accordance with that plan; and 16 (v) to verify or establish proof of financial 17 responsibility required by AS 46.04.040; 18 (C) pay, when presented with appropriate documentation by the 19 Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, the expenses incurred by the 20 Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs for Alaska State Emergency 21 Response Commission activities, including staff support, when the activities 22 and staff support relate to oil or hazardous substances, and for the costs of 23 being prepared for responding to a request by the department for support in 24 response and restoration, but not including the costs of maintaining the 25 response corps and the emergency response depots under AS 26.23.045; 26 (D) pay all costs incurred to acquire, repair, or improve an asset 27 having an anticipated life of more than one year and that is acquired, repaired, 28 or improved as a preparedness measure by which the state may respond to, 29 recover from, reduce, or eliminate the effects of a release or threatened release 30 of oil or a hazardous substance; 31 (E) pay the costs, if approved by the commissioner, that were 01 incurred by local emergency planning committees to carry out the duties 02 assigned them by AS 26.23.073(g); 03 (F) provide matching funds in the event of the release of oil or 04 a hazardous substance, except a release of oil for the containment and cleanup 05 of which use of the response account is authorized by AS 46.08.045, for 06 participation 07 (i) in federal oil discharge cleanup activities; and 08 (ii) under 42 U.S.C. 9601 - 9657 (Comprehensive 09 Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980); 10 (G) pay or reimburse the underground storage tank revolving  11 loan [ASSISTANCE] fund established in AS 46.03.410 for expenditures from 12 that fund authorized by AS 46.03.410(b); 13 (H) transfer to the Department of Community and Economic 14 Development for payment by the commissioner of community and economic 15 development of 16 (i) municipal impact grants when authorized under 17 AS 29.60.510(b)(2); 18 (ii) assessments of the social and economic effects of 19 the release of oil or hazardous substances as required by AS 29.60.560 20 when, in the judgment of the commissioner, the release of oil or a 21 hazardous substance is not one that is described in AS 46.08.045; and 22 (iii) grants to repair, improve, or replace fuel storage 23 facilities under the bulk fuel system emergency repair and upgrade 24 program; 25 (I) recover the costs to the state, a municipality, a village, or a 26 school district of a containment and cleanup resulting from the release or 27 threatened release of oil or a hazardous substance for which money was 28 expended from the prevention account; 29 (J) prepare, review, and revise 30 (i) the state's master oil and hazardous substance 31 discharge prevention and contingency plan required by AS 46.04.200; 01 and 02 (ii) a regional master oil and hazardous substance 03 discharge prevention and contingency plan required by AS 46.04.210; 04 and 05 (K) restore the environment by addressing the effects of an oil 06 or hazardous substance release. 07  * Sec. 18. AS 46.03.420 and 46.03.430 are repealed. 08  * Sec. 19. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 09 read: 10 TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS. (a) The underground storage tank revolving loan 11 fund established in AS 46.03.410, as amended in secs. 7 and 8 of this Act, is the successor to 12 the storage tank assistance fund, and the balance in the storage tank assistance fund on the 13 effective date of sec. 7 of this Act shall be retained in the underground storage tank revolving 14 loan fund. 15 (b) The Department of Environmental Conservation may not enter into a grant 16 agreement under AS 46.03.410 - 46.03.450 that requires payment by the department after 17 June 30, 2004, of grant money from any source. The department may only pay money for a 18 grant from the underground storage tank revolving loan fund before June 30, 2004. 19  * Sec. 20. Sections 5, 7, 9 - 11, 15 - 17, and 19 of this Act take effect July 1, 2001. 20  * Sec. 21. Sections 1 - 4, 6, 8, 12 - 14, and 18 of this Act take effect June 30, 2004.