05/02/2006 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE

      CSHB 392(L&C) am -SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  CON  BUNDE  announced  CSHB  392(L&C)  am  to  be  up  for                                                               
consideration.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE PEGGY  WILSON, sponsor  of HB 392,  introduced her                                                               
staff to comment on the bill.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
REBECCA ROONEY,  staff to  Representative Wilson,  explained that                                                               
each Alaskan  produces about  6.6 to  7 pounds  of solid  waste a                                                               
day, which amounts to 90 tons  per year in Southeast Alaska. Many                                                               
waste-to-energy  plants and  incinerators  have  closed over  the                                                               
past  10 years.  Some communities  have resorted  to shipping  by                                                               
barge  to the  Lower 48  super  landfills.   Recycling and  solid                                                               
waste disposal is  expensive here and people pay  between $77 and                                                               
$200  per ton  to ship  solid wastes  south while  Anchorage pays                                                               
only $40  a ton. HB  392 would provide  a way for  communities to                                                               
come together  to form an authority  to do what no  one community                                                               
has been able to do.  Working together, they can create economies                                                               
of scale, reduce administrative  costs and afford a state-of-the-                                                               
art  processing  facility.  The authority  would  also  help  the                                                               
region's   economy  by   keeping  jobs   in  Southeast.   Several                                                               
communities have agreed to be  part of the Solid Waste Authority.                                                               
Upon formation it would decide on  where the facility will be and                                                               
what technologies  would be  used. It  could include  things like                                                               
material  recovery  or   recycling,  state-of-the-art  landfills,                                                               
thermal  reduction  or  waste-to-energy type  processing  plants,                                                               
space for composting and a way to treat oily soils.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
The bill  is modeled after  the Port Authority and  requires that                                                               
each municipality's voters approve  joining it. The Authority has                                                               
an independent  legal existence from  the municipalities  and the                                                               
state.  It  may issue  bonds,  enter  into contracts  and  borrow                                                               
money. The  board would be  responsible for creating  by-laws and                                                               
regulations   that   would   govern  the   authority   and   each                                                               
municipality would representation on the  board. It would allow a                                                               
municipality to  withdraw from  the authority  without dissolving                                                               
it.  However, the  withdrawing municipality  would remain  liable                                                               
for  existing   obligations  to   the  authority  or   the  other                                                               
participating municipalities.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:44:56 PM                                                                                                                    
The Southeast  Conference has been  spearheading this  effort for                                                               
several  years and  they have  secured funds  for three  separate                                                               
studies. The  first study  was a recommendation  on what  was the                                                               
best  entity or  vehicle to  use  to create  this authority.  The                                                               
authority model  is used most often  in the Lower 48  and that is                                                               
what was  recommended to Southeast  Conference. The  second study                                                               
provided language  that is used  in HB  392. The third  study has                                                               
not been  delivered yet,  but they are  looking at  the different                                                               
technologies available  for this management. The  Authority would                                                               
ultimately  decide what  kind of  technologies  to implement.  It                                                               
would also  provide data  that would  be used  to make  sure that                                                               
operations are financially feasible.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR BUNDE said this would  put government in competition with a                                                               
private entity  that ran  a solid waste  enterprise and  asked if                                                               
she had heard opposition to this bill from them.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
MS. ROONEY replied  no; the only private entity that  has come to                                                               
her is the  Juneau Waste Management Facility and it  wanted to be                                                               
a bidder.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:46:08 PM                                                                                                                    
CINDY ROBERTS,  Liaison to the  Denali Commission,  Department of                                                               
Commerce,  Community  &  Economic Development  (DCCED)  said  her                                                               
interaction with this legislation is  that the Commission was one                                                               
of the funders  of the original study that looked  at the type of                                                               
vehicle  that  would  be  best   suited  to  put  together  these                                                               
authorities. She said  the Department is very  pleased to endorse                                                               
HB 392.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:49:06 PM                                                                                                                    
ROB  ALLEN,  Interim  Executive Director,  Southeast  Conference,                                                               
said  it has  been working  on bringing  communities together  on                                                               
this issue for several years.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     We see this as a mechanism  to take care of solid waste                                                                    
     in  a better  manner  than  we are  now.  We have  good                                                                    
     expectations of  this being  successful and  being able                                                                    
     to get more into recycling,  as well, by bringing a lot                                                                    
     more  volume  of material.  So  we  see it  on  several                                                                    
     levels as being very good for  the region with a lot of                                                                    
     potential,  then,  throughout  the rest  of  Alaska  if                                                                    
     we're successful.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
2:50:05 PM at ease 2:52:38 PM                                                                                               
SENATOR SEEKINS  moved to  pass CSHB  392(L&C) am  from committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and attached  fiscal  note(s).                                                               
Senators Ben Stevens,  Davis, Seekins and Chair  Bunde voted yea;                                                               
and CSHB 392(L&C) am moved from committee.