HB 132: "An Act authorizing municipalities and nonprofit organizations to sponsor a program to encourage the safe use of bicycles as an alternative or supplement to motor vehicles; amending the duties of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development to include administration of state funds appropriated for that purpose; and amending provisions of the program by which state and federal aid allocated for highways may be used to support bicycle paths."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 132 01 "An Act authorizing municipalities and nonprofit organizations to sponsor a program to 02 encourage the safe use of bicycles as an alternative or supplement to motor vehicles; 03 amending the duties of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic 04 Development to include administration of state funds appropriated for that purpose; 05 and amending provisions of the program by which state and federal aid allocated for 06 highways may be used to support bicycle paths." 07 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 08 * Section 1. AS 29.55 is amended by adding a new section to read: 09 Article 2. Safe Bicycle Ridership. 10 Sec. 29.55.100. Safe bicycle ridership. (a) To encourage the safe use of 11 bicycles as an alternative or supplement to motor vehicle transportation, the governing 12 body of a municipality may establish a program within the municipality to encourage 13 the distribution, safe use, and maintenance of bicycles, bicycle helmets, and bicycle
01 trailers. 02 (b) The municipality may apply for a grant under AS 44.33.441 to receive 03 funds for the purchase, maintenance, and repair of bicycles, bicycle helmets, and 04 bicycle trailers by municipal residents. 05 * Sec. 2. AS 41.21.864(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) Within the limits of available appropriations, a city or borough of any class 07 is entitled to state grants for the purpose of acquiring land or rights-of-way over land 08 and establishing and maintaining trails, bicycle paths, and footpaths on that land or 09 those rights-of-way. 10 * Sec. 3. AS 41.21.864(b) is amended to read: 11 (b) Within the limits of available appropriations, the Department of 12 Transportation and Public Facilities is entitled to state grants for the establishment and 13 maintenance of footpaths, bicycle paths, and trails along certain designated existing 14 highways or when a highway, road, or street is being constructed, reconstructed, or 15 relocated [AFTER JUNE 7, 1972]. 16 * Sec. 4. AS 41.21.868(a) is amended to read: 17 (a) An amount of not less than three-eighths of one percent nor more than one 18 percent of the total yearly state and federal matching sum combined, under the federal- 19 aid highways program (23 U.S.C.), shall be appropriated annually from the general 20 fund to the department for the purposes of providing grants to eligible cities and 21 boroughs for trails, bicycle paths, footpaths, and shelter construction and maintenance 22 in appropriate areas, including [BUT NOT LIMITED TO] existing park and recreation 23 areas, and for the purpose of providing grants to the Department of Transportation and 24 Public Facilities for developing the program specified in AS 41.21.864(b) and 25 41.21.866. 26 * Sec. 5. AS 44.33 is amended by adding a new section to read: 27 Article 6A. Program to Encourage Safe Bicycle Ridership. 28 Sec. 44.33.441. Grant program to encourage safe bicycle ridership. (a) To 29 encourage the regular and safe use of bicycles and bicycling as alternative means of 30 transportation, a grant program is established in the department to allow municipalities 31 and nonprofit organizations within the state to apply for financial assistance to
01 establish programs for the purchase, maintenance, and repair of bicycles, bicycle 02 helmets, and bicycle trailers by residents of the community where the grantee is 03 located. 04 (b) The department shall develop regulations establishing criteria for issuing 05 grants to municipalities and nonprofit organizations for the program, giving priority 06 for receiving grants to municipalities and nonprofit organizations that actively 07 encourage safe bicycling as an alternative means of transportation. 08 (c) The commissioner shall appoint an administrator of the program. The 09 administrator shall 10 (1) educate communities and nonprofit organizations about the 11 program and the grant requirements; 12 (2) receive and evaluate grant applications; 13 (3) from money in the fund described in (d) of this section, award 14 grants to qualified applicants. 15 (d) There is established in the department a fund to encourage safe bicycle 16 ridership. The fund consists of 17 (1) money appropriated to the fund by the legislature to provide grants 18 for the program; 19 (2) gifts, bequests, contributions from other sources, and federal 20 money; 21 (3) interest earned on the fund balance; and 22 (4) investments to be managed by the Department of Revenue, which 23 shall be the fiduciary of the fund under AS 37.10.071. 24 (e) In this section, 25 (1) "department" means the Department of Commerce, Community, 26 and Economic Development; 27 (2) "program" means the grant program described in this section. 28 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 29 read: 30 PROGRAM SURVEY. Not later than 31 (1) December 31, 2010, the Department of Commerce, Community, and
01 Economic Development shall mail a survey to all Alaska residents who received a bicycle or 02 bicycle trailer under the program established in AS 44.33.441, added by sec. 5 of this Act, to 03 evaluate the effectiveness of that program; 04 (2) December 31, 2011, the department shall deliver a report to the legislature 05 with an evaluation of the program to encourage safe bicycle ridership and recommendations 06 for the program.