HB 478: "An Act relating to the municipal harbor facility grant program; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 478 01 "An Act relating to the municipal harbor facility grant program; and providing for an 02 effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 29.60 is amended by adding new sections to read: 05 Article 10. Municipal Harbor Facility Grant Program. 06 Sec. 29.60.800. Municipal harbor facility grant fund. (a) There is 07 established the municipal harbor facility grant fund consisting of money appropriated 08 to the fund. Each fiscal year, the legislature may appropriate money from the 09 watercraft fuel tax account (AS 43.40.010(f)) to the fund. The legislature may make 10 other appropriations to the fund. The legislature may appropriate to the fund income 11 earned on money in the fund. 12 (b) Money appropriated to the municipal harbor facility grant fund may be 13 expended by the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities for municipal 14 harbor facility grants without further appropriation. Money in the fund does not lapse
01 and remains available for expenditure in successive fiscal years. 02 (c) Each fiscal year, the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities 03 shall use an amount equal to at least 50 percent of the balance of the municipal harbor 04 facility grant fund on June 30 of the preceding fiscal year for municipal harbor facility 05 grants. 06 Sec. 29.60.810. Grant applications. A municipality that owns a harbor facility 07 may submit to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities an application 08 for a municipal harbor facility grant to be used for construction, expansion, major 09 repair, or major maintenance of a harbor facility. The application must include 10 information about the project requested by the department. For a proposed project to 11 be eligible for a grant, the municipality must provide evidence acceptable to the 12 department that the 13 (1) proposed project should be a capital improvement project and not 14 part of a preventive maintenance program or regular custodial care program; 15 (2) municipality will provide 50 percent of the total project cost as 16 matching funds for the state grant; 17 (3) municipality has secured and will maintain adequate property loss 18 insurance for the replacement cost of the harbor facility or has an adequate program of 19 insurance; 20 (4) municipality has a preventive maintenance plan for the harbor 21 facility and will be adequately adhering to the preventive maintenance plan after 22 completion of the proposed project. 23 Sec. 29.60.820. Award of grants. (a) The Department of Transportation and 24 Public Facilities may award a municipal harbor facility grant during a fiscal year only 25 for a proposed project eligible under AS 29.60.810 based on a grant application filed 26 during the immediately preceding fiscal year before February 1. The total amount of 27 grant money made available to a municipality during a fiscal year may not exceed 28 $5,000,000. 29 (b) The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shall award a grant 30 for every proposed project eligible under AS 29.60.810 that is for repair and major 31 maintenance of a harbor facility that was transferred by the state to a municipality
01 before grants may be made for other proposed harbor facility projects during a fiscal 02 year. However, after the department makes a grant for the repair and major 03 maintenance of a harbor facility under this subsection, no other grants for the repair 04 and major maintenance of that facility may be made during the same or any other 05 fiscal year. 06 (c) The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities shall establish 07 priorities for the award of grants for proposed municipal harbor facility projects under 08 (b) of this section and priorities for the award of grants for other proposed harbor 09 facility projects, with new construction projects having the lowest priority. The 10 department shall award grants in the order of priority established. In establishing 11 priorities, the department shall include at least the following, in the order listed: 12 (1) the extent to which the municipality can demonstrate that it will 13 have sufficient revenue to operate and maintain the harbor facility in the future 14 without state aid; 15 (2) public safety and emergency factors; 16 (3) the amount spent by the municipality on maintenance of the harbor 17 facility; 18 (4) other options that would reduce or eliminate the need for the 19 proposed project; and 20 (5) whether alternative harbor projects would better serve the public 21 interest. 22 (d) The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities may suggest 23 modifications to a project request to achieve cost savings or to better serve the public 24 interest and, if the municipality agrees, award the municipal harbor facility grant for 25 the proposed project as modified. 26 * Sec. 2. This Act takes effect July 1, 2006.