Legislature(2005 - 2006)BELTZ 211
04/26/2006 01:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB392 | |
| HB334 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 392 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 334 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
CSHB 392(L&C)am-SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES
CHAIR BERT STEDMAN announced HB 392 to be the first order of
business.
1:35:00 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PEGGY WILSON introduced Rebecca Rooney.
REBECCA ROONEY, Staff to Representative Peggy Wilson, introduced
HB 392 with the observation that the cost of managing solid
waste is a most compelling reason to enact HB 392. When shipped
to the super landfills in Washington State, the cost in
Southeast is upward of $220 per ton. In comparison, Anchorage
pays $40 per ton to manage the same type of solid waste.
HB 392 would provide a vehicle for communities to come together
to form a waste management authority - modeled after the Port
Authority statutes - to reduce the cost of dealing with solid
waste. Potentially, she said, money that is spent in the Lower
48 would stay in Southeast Alaska. HB 392 requires that voters
from each municipality approve joining the authority, which
would be legally independent from the municipalities and the
state. An authority could issue bonds, borrow money and enter
into contracts. Each participating municipality would have a
seat on the governing board that would create bylaws and
regulations. There are provisions for municipalities to withdraw
from the authority, but previous obligations would remain in
force.
MS. ROONEY advised that Southeast Conference has secured funds
for three studies. The first was to determine the type of legal
entity that would be used and the decision was to use the
authority model. The second study developed bill language and
the third, which is now in final review, looked at different
technologies for solid waste disposal. That information will go
to the authority for an ultimate decision on which technology
would be best for Southeast Alaska. She added that parameters
would also be defined to make the operation financially
feasible.
1:38:51 PM
SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked for an example of the kinds of
communities that might participate and where a facility might be
located.
MS. ROONEY responded the authority would decide on the location
and other specifics, but Southeast communities that have
indicated some interest include: Thorne Bay, Wrangell,
Petersburg, Sitka, and Kake. She advised that Mr. Pool from
Southeast Conference could provide additional information.
CHAIR STEDMAN asked for an explanation of how the authority
would work in the unorganized areas.
MS. ROONEY deferred to Rollo Pool.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked if this contemplates communities in
different boroughs joining to form an authority.
MS. ROONEY replied the hope is that a number of communities or
boroughs would go together for economy of scale so there would
be just one landfill for all of Southeast.
CHAIR STEDMAN commented that this issue has come up with great
frequency in the last 15-20 years since incinerators have been
demobilized in Southeast. Communities have gone back to burying
their garbage or using off-site disposal. The latter, he said,
is surprisingly expensive.
ROLLO POOL, Executive Director, Southeast Conference, mentioned
the time that's been spent working on both the grant and the
legislation and then reported that about one-third of the trash
generated in Southeast is shipped to the Lower 48. He said that
the cost of building a landfill is prohibitive, but building a
large one that would accommodate several communities wouldn't
cost much more than a small one. However, no community has
offered to be the entity that would build and operate a
landfill, which is why HB 392 is so important because
incorporated communities or boroughs could work as a single
entity to manage solid waste. Local pickup services wouldn't be
affected. Hopefully, he said, the landfill will be located in
one of the communities that has shown an interest.
Currently about 23,000 tons of solid waste is shipped from
Southeast Alaska, which doesn't include the 30,000 tons that is
generated by the City and Borough of Juneau and goes into a
local landfill. Those figures make it clear that a regional
landfill would be economical if startup grants were available.
MR. POOL said he is pleased to report that a number of
communities have indicated interest in serving as a regional
host site. This is encouraging since the more typical mantra is
"not in my backyard." This doesn't have to become a burden to a
community or borough, he said. The idea is that the facility
would be constructed through the authority and then operated
through a contract with a firm familiar with running landfills.
1:46:54 PM
CHAIR STEDMAN asked how many years Southeast Conference has been
working on the concept of regional waste management.
MR. POOL replied every city has done several recycling reports
since 1990 and each has acknowledged that communities should
work cooperatively, but because community landfills have reached
capacity at different times the cooperative effort hasn't become
a reality.
Ketchikan was the first community to ship solid waste to the
Lower 48 in about 1995. Sitka was next and Wrangell, Petersburg,
Craig and Klawock followed suit. The average cost is about $102
per ton with the maximum at $220 per ton and the minimum at
about $75 per ton. Costs to Ketchikan are cheapest because it is
closest to Washington State. He advised that this is the first
time that legislation has been introduced to create a solid
waste authority.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked what the options would be if the
consumer decided they were paying more than they though was
reasonable.
MR. POOL replied Southeast consumers have just one choice per
community for pickup and landfill. The landfill in Anchorage
charges $30-$35 per ton so if landfill costs for Craig and
Klawock could get down to double the Anchorage charge the
savings to those communities would be tremendous. Another
consideration is that a regional landfill would have associated
jobs, which would be particularly important to communities that
have lost jobs with the downturn in the timber economy.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked him to be more specific regarding
what a consumer could do if the manager of the landfill wasn't
satisfactory.
MR. POOL replied one individual probably couldn't do a lot, but
a group of individuals could make a decision to change. He
explained that authorities would strictly adhere to public
records and public meetings requirements and the various
communities would elect to join or to separate from an
authority.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked who would serve on the authority.
MR. POOL responded the positions are voluntary and unpaid and he
envisions that the authority would be composed of public
officials who are either elected or municipal employees.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked if the authority would provide pickup
service for participating communities.
MR. POOL replied solid waste is currently shipped to Washington
State via private tug and barge and a similar arrangement is
anticipated for a regional landfill in Southeast. The authority
would make decisions about what would be included in a regional
site in terms of recycling, waste energy, and size.
1:55:15 PM
CHAIR STEDMAN explained that communities that are currently
shipping waste to the Lower 48 have had to enter into long-term
shipping contracts, which is something the authority would have
to address.
SENATOR THOMAS WAGONER asked about the possibility of
establishing a regional site to facilitate backhauling for
economy of scale.
MR. POOL agreed that the more garbage there is the better the
economy of scale for the landfill and shipping costs.
SENATOR WAGONER remarked this might be an opportunity to
seriously look at the Bradfield Road and get off other projects
that don't do much for the economy in Southeast. He asked if
anyone had looked at that area for a landfill site.
MR. POOL responded the existence or lack of infrastructure is a
consideration. For instance, Wrangell has established docks,
roads and utilities. Another consideration is that the Bradfield
area is out of the way in terms of established barge routes,
which would affect shipping costs.
SENATOR WAGONER said his point is that if you're going to do
this then do it right and consider all the options for the long
term. He suggested looking at the Bradfield area because small
landfills aren't economical and nobody wants a big landfill in
their backyard.
MR. POOL agreed and said communities have been advised that a
regional site would require a minimum of 50 acres that are well
buffered and have room for expansion. A site would need to last
at least 50 years to be a viable option.
2:01:29 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON reminded members that all the communities
in Southeast are within the Tongass National Forest so available
land is very limited. Certain communities have stepped up, but
others don't have room.
Responding to Senator Steven's inquiry about protecting the
consumer, she directed attention to page 12, lines 18-22. If one
entity were providing the service and another wanted to come in
as well then, depending on population, the entities would be
under the authority of the RCA, which would provide protection
for consumers.
CHAIR STEDMAN said his impression is that the communities are
working through Southeast Conference so waste disposal sites
would be consolidated. Kake has been mentioned frequently
because of its central location, but he didn't know whether they
were interested.
SENATOR ALBERT KOOKESH stated that Kake isn't surrounded by
National Forest land so it has access to its own land as well as
Sealaska land.
2:05:16 PM
JOHN BOLLING, City Administer for the City of Craig and
Southeast Conference Board of Directors, testified in support of
HB 392. He reported that Craig currently pays $200 per ton to
dispose of solid waste. It has a contract with the City of
Klawock and solid waste from both communities is transported to
regional landfills in the Lower 48. It makes sense to band
together to address a common issue and this bill provides a
different opportunity that should be more economical.
He added that Craig is already a member of the Inter-Island
Ferry Authority, which was organized under the Port Authority
Act in Title 29. He described the structure and said it's
understandable and the community is comfortable with the format.
He suggested that the municipal solid waste authority would
provide similar benefit and he would hope that the committee
would pass the bill.
CHAIR STEDMAN asked about the reactions in Craig when solid
waste disposal went to $200 per ton.
MR. BOWLING replied it's been quite an adjustment since prices
went from $40 per ton to $200 per ton in just a few years. This
enabling legislation is the way to get that done and it
addresses the issue of skyrocketing costs..
SENATOR WAGONER asked what the average charge is for residential
garbage service.
MR. BOWLING replied the cost in Craig is $20 per month for one
can per week per household.
2:10:17 PM
KATHIE WASSERMAN, Deputy Director, Alaska Municipal League
(AML), reported that AML has been working with Southeast
Conference on this issue and it believes that this is a smart
thing to do and in the future it will probably become a
necessity; it's regional, it's environmentally smart, and
economy of scale works. She suggested that more communities
would join over time simply because their dumps will become
full.
Responding to the consumer question from Senator Stevens, she
advised that some communities already have private companies
that provide collection and disposal and so far she hasn't been
successful in finding a way to argue with a private company on
billing charges. She noted that the authority would be subject
to the Open Meetings Act and would be open to audit.
As communities become more strapped for money and are unable to
maintain their dumps, privatization will be the option if
authorities aren't in the lineup. That isn't necessarily a bad
thing, but communities tend to feel that they can keep rates
lower if the service isn't privatized.
2:13:28 PM
SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked how long this has been an issue.
MS. WASSERMAN replied the issue has been building for decades. A
number of options have been reviewed and over time, permitting
and cleanup bonding have become issues as well.
CHAIR STEDMAN mentioned that in years past some communities had
incinerators, but when they needed to be replaced the
regulations had changed to the point that the capital costs were
prohibitive. Due to economy of scale, it became less expensive
to off-site dispose than to build new incinerators in these
small communities. Now most of Southeast, with the exception of
Juneau, disposes off-site. He noted that dealing with those
long-term contracts is another issue.
SENATOR GARY STEVENS asked if there is a way for a community to
withdraw once it has joined the authority.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON replied yes, but the community would be
required to honor whatever commitment it made when it joined.
SENATOR WAGONER noted the $6.9 billion PERS/TRS liability and
stated that as a member of the CRA Committee he wanted it to be
clear that there should never be any liability assumed by the
State of Alaska for this authority.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON responded the bill says the State of
Alaska would not be held responsible.
SENATOR WAGONER motioned to report CSHB 392(L&C) am and attached
fiscal note(s) from committee with individual recommendations.
CHAIR STEDMAN noted the three zero fiscal notes and said the
Finance Committee would evaluate the potential obligation coming
back to the State. There being no objection, CSHB 392(L&C) am
moved from committee.
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