04/27/2006 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES

          HB 419-REPEAL UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK LAWS                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR   THOMAS   WAGONER  announced   HB   419   to  be   up   for                                                              
consideration.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
KAREN LIDSTER, staff  to Representative Coghill,  described HB 419                                                              
as a repealer  bill. She paraphrased the sponsor  statement, which                                                              
reads as follows.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
     In 1990 the Alaska Legislature passed HB 220 to create                                                                     
        the state Underground Storage Tank Program and a                                                                        
     Storage  Tank Assistance  Fund in order  to assist  tank                                                                   
     owners that  were required to meet the deadlines  set in                                                                   
     the   US    Environmental   Protection    Agency   (EPA)                                                                   
     Underground Storage Tank Program.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
     In  1999, the  year after  EPA's  deadline, the  program                                                                   
     began  to  phase  out  and was  formally  ended  by  the                                                                   
     Legislature on  June 30, 2004. A loan program  to assist                                                                   
     owners  with completing  cleanup was  established by  SB
, passed  in 1999. The  Storage Tank Assistance  Fund                                                                   
     was   converted   to  the   Underground   Storage   Tank                                                                   
     Revolving Loan  Fund in 2002. The original  legislation,                                                                   
     HB  220,  also   created  the  Board  of   Storage  Tank                                                                   
     Assistance  to  oversee  state  grants  and  loans.  The                                                                   
     Board is  no longer needed  since the grant  program has                                                                   
     been  terminated  and  no loan  applications  have  been                                                                   
     received.  SB 128  established  a June  30, 1999  sunset                                                                   
     date  for  the board.  Subsequent  bills  extended  that                                                                   
     date to June 30, 2007.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     HB 419 will  modify the end date for the  board in order                                                                   
     to  be   consistent  with   the  end  date   for  formal                                                                   
     termination of  the loan program. Additionally  the bill                                                                   
     lists  out the statutes  that relate  to the board,  the                                                                   
     reporting,  regulations,  fees,   revolving  loan  fund,                                                                   
     loan  program,  definitions,   uses  of  the  fund,  the                                                                   
     respective    administrative    codes,    the    orderly                                                                   
     completion  of the boards  obligations, and  renumbering                                                                   
     instructions related to those statutes repealed.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR WAGONER commented it's always nice to take a law off the                                                                  
books.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
4:03:39 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR RALPH SEEKIKNS moved to report HB 419 from committee                                                                    
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s).                                                                    
There being no objection, and it was so ordered.