00                              HOUSE BILL NO. 86                                                                          
01 "An Act prohibiting mixing zones in freshwater spawning waters."                                                        
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1. AS 46.03 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                  
04            Sec. 46.03.065. Prohibition of mixing zones in spawning waters. (a) Except                                 
05       as provided in (b) and (c) of this section, the department may not authorize a mixing                             
06       zone for lakes, streams, rivers, or other flowing fresh water in an area of                                       
07                 (1)  anadromous fish spawning; or                                                                       
08                 (2)  resident fish redds for                                                                            
09                      (A)  Arctic char;                                                                                  
10                      (B)  Arctic grayling;                                                                              
11                      (C)  brook trout;                                                                                  
12                      (D)  burbot;                                                                                       
13                      (E)  cutthroat trout;                                                                              
14                      (F)  Dolly Varden;                                                                                 
15                      (G)  lake trout;                                                                                   
01                      (H)  landlocked coho, king, and sockeye salmon;                                                    
02                      (I)  northern pike;                                                                                
03                      (J)  rainbow trout;                                                                                
04                      (K)  sheefish; or                                                                                  
05                      (L)  whitefish.                                                                                    
06            (b)  The prohibition in (a) of this section does not apply to the renewal of a                               
07       municipal or village wastewater facility's mixing zone authorization during the useful                            
08       life of the wastewater facility for an area where spawning was not ongoing at the time                            
09       of the initial authorization and the mixing zone became a spawning area after the date                            
10       of the initial authorization.                                                                                     
11            (c)  The prohibition in (a) of this section does not apply to a mixing zone for a                            
12       suction dredge placer mine or a mechanical placer mine if                                                         
13                 (1)  the turbidity level of the mixing zone has been authorized by the                                  
14       Department of Environmental Conservation;                                                                         
15                 (2)  the mixing zone extends not more than 500 feet downstream of the                                   
16       point of discharge;                                                                                               
17                 (3)  the mixing zone is at least 500 feet away from the closest mixing                                  
18       zone in the same body of water; and                                                                               
19                 (4)  the Department of Environmental Conservation with the                                              
20       concurrence of the Department of Natural Resources, or, in an area designated under                               
21       AS 16.20, with the concurrence of the Department of Fish and Game,                                                
22                      (A)  restricts the discharge to periods when spawning is not                                       
23            occurring; and                                                                                               
24                      (B)  finds that the mixing zone will not adversely affect the                                      
25            present and future capability of the area for spawning, incubation, or rearing of                            
26            fish included in (a) of this section.                                                                        
27            (d)  In this section,                                                                                        
28                 (1)  "area" means the physical location where spawning occurs;                                          
29                 (2)  "lakes, streams, rivers, or other flowing fresh water" includes lakes,                             
30       streams, rivers, or other flowing fresh water that have been altered by remediation or                            
31       construction activities; the term does not include an artificially constructed facility for                       
01       water, wastewater, holding, or channeling, unless the artificial facility is constructed                          
02       for the purpose of facilitating fish spawning;                                                                    
03                 (3)  "mixing zone" means an area in a water body surrounding or                                         
04       downstream of a discharge where the effluent plume is diluted by the                                              
05       receiving water, within which water quality standards specified by the                                            
06       department under AS 46.03.050 - 46.03.120 may be exceeded;                                                        
07                 (4)  "village" has the meaning given in AS 46.07.080.                                                   
08    * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a                                           
09 new section to read:                                                                                                    
10       APPLICABILITY. AS 46.03.065, enacted in sec. 1 of this Act, does not                                              
11 apply to a suction dredge placer mine or a mechanical placer mine with a permit                                         
12 in effect on the effective date of this Act until the operator applies for a                                            
13 reauthorization of that permit.