Legislature(2025 - 2026)BARNES 124
01/30/2025 01:00 PM House TRANSPORTATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation: Rural Aviation System Update | |
| Presentation: Overview and Update of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE
January 30, 2025
1:02 p.m.
DRAFT
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Ashley Carrick, Co-Chair
Representative Ted Eischeid, Co-Chair
Representative Genevieve Mina
Representative Louise Stutes
Representative Kevin McCabe
Representative Elexie Moore
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Cathy Tilton
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: RURAL AVIATION SYSTEM UPDATE
- HEARD
PRESENTATION: OVERVIEW AND UPDATE OF THE STATEWIDE
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
TROY LARUE, Director
Statewide Aviation
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided the Rural Aviation System Update
presentation.
KATHERINE KEITH, Deputy Commissioner
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-provided the Overview and Update of the
Statewide Transportation Improvement Program presentation.
DOM PANNONE, Director
Program Management and Administration
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-provided the Overview and Update of the
Statewide Transportation Improvement Program presentation.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:01:58 PM
CO-CHAIR CARRICK called the House Transportation Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:02 p.m. Representatives Moore,
McCabe, Mina, Eischeid, and Carrick were present at the call to
order. Representative Stutes arrived as the meeting was in
progress.
^PRESENTATION: Rural Aviation System Update
PRESENTATION: Rural Aviation System Update
1:02:41 PM
CO-CHAIR CARRICK announced that the first order of business
would be the Rural Aviation System Update presentation.
1:03:30 PM
TROY LARUE, Director, Statewide Aviation, Department of
Transportation & Public Facilities, began the Rural Aviation
System Update presentation [hard copy included in committee
packet], on slide 2, "Mission Statements," and stated that the
mission statement of Department of Transportation & Public
Facilities (DOT&PF) is "Keep Alaska moving through service and
infrastructure"; the statement of Alaska International Airports
Systems (AIAS) is "Keep Alaska flying and thriving"; and the
statement of Statewide Aviation (SWA) is "Sustain and improve
the quality of life throughout Alaska." To slide 3, he said
AIAS reports to the commissioner of DOT&PF while SWA reports to
the deputy commissioner. To slide 5, he emphasized that Alaska
has 82 communities that are off the road system and dependent on
aviation to receive supplies and transportation. He
transitioned to slide 6 and asserted that the operating budget
for SWA is shy of $50 million in costs and $11 million in
revenue attained through leasing and fuel taxes. The division
is looking at sand and chemical runway optimizations and doing
more work with federal funding rather than the general fund. He
emphasized the number of roles individuals perform in rural
airports and the amount of training that is required for each
person.
1:07:30 PM
MR. LARUE, in response to questions from various committee
members, stated that the Big Lake airport is a gravel runway and
doesn't require the amount of sand or chemical treatments that
paved runways do and instead ground crews are reshaping the
runway and clearing snow. He acknowledged that sometimes the
crews are unable to clear the runway as they are tending to
higher priority roadways and mark the airport as closed or
unattended. He alluded that a dashboard for pilots to monitor
which airports are open or closed is not available yet. He
stated that SWA is addressing the workforce challenges by using
remote training, job sharing, peer exchanges, and after a recent
wage adjustment from a collective bargaining agreement has seen
an increase in staffing. He provided his understanding that the
vacancy rate is improving and that most individuals who are
leaving are going to higher paying jobs.
1:15:05 PM
MR. LARUE returned to the presentation on slide 7, titled
"Federal Airport Funding," and professed that the increased
funding from the bipartisan infrastructure legislation (BIL) has
been used mostly to cover the increased costs from inflation.
The match rate for SWA is 5 percent until federal fiscal year
2026 (FFY 26) compared to the historic 6.25 percent and for
essential air service (EAS) airports the match rate remains at 5
percent. To slide 9, he broke down the categories of spending
between rural airports and AIAS airports under the Airport
Improvement Program (AIP) and BIL.
1:17:25 PM
MR. LARUE, in response to questions from various committee
members, explained that EAS was created to subsidize communities
that were financially unreasonable to access after former
President Reagan deregulated the aviation industry. He stated
that Chenega Bay Airport was the latest airport to be added to
the EAS list and the Seward Airport is currently waiting to be
added to the list. He explained that the $70 million increase
in FFY 26 was from discretionary allocations and outpaced
inflation.
1:23:29 PM
MR. LARUE transitioned to slide 10 and discussed the impact of
grant obligations on construction timelines in Alaska. He
commented on the graph presented on slide 11 that the number of
grants has increased over the last six years but the former
projects were larger. To slide 12, he stated that the list was
of all the upcoming airport projects in no specific order. He
stated that the biggest challenge to deliver programs is the
slow rollout in grants and that SWA has only received five years
of federal funding twice, the last time being in 2018. He
emphasized that having 84 percent of grants obligated in
September hinders construction due to needing to transport
materials during the summer and winter.
1:27:11 PM
MR. LARUE, in response to questions from Representative McCabe,
used Kipnuk Airport as an example to describe the process of
building an airport project. He emphasized the amount of
preparation that is required to transport materials through
barges and ice roads. He stated that SWA talks to congressional
delegates and federal departments about issues with the 4-year
funding cycle.
1:31:06 PM
MR. LARUE moved to slide 14 and stated the sources of federal
funding for AIP come from cargo entitlements, primary and non-
primary passenger entitlements, state apportionments, Alaska
supplemental, discretionary, and supplemental discretionary. To
slide 15, he stated that Alaska did not ask for enough funding
in the 2018 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Reauthorization but has seen significant improvements in the
most recent reauthorization and requested FAA to acknowledge the
Cold Weather Early Start form. In response to a question from
Representative McCabe, clarified that the Cold Weather Early
Start form has existed for a long time but nobody knows how to
use it.
1:35:57 PM
MR. LARUE returned to slide 15 and stated that the FAA weather
instruments reporting is opaque about whether a system is
functional, so SWA built its own public dashboard to monitor FAA
weather systems. He added that other states in the union also
expressed frustration with the current monitoring system and he
opined that weather instruments will move away from expensive
Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) or Automated Weather
Observing Systems (AWOS) to cheaper alternatives.
1:37:26 PM
MR. LARUE, in response to questions from various committee
members, agreed with Representative McCabe that aircraft flying
under instrument flight rules need to have a weather report from
ASOS/AWAS systems to file for a landing in an airport and that
SWA is requesting a federal aviation regulations change to ease
weather reporting requirements. He explained that in Yakutat
planes couldn't land due to the weather system being unavailable
and recently an alternative system to ASOS/AWOS was installed.
He clarified that the FAA is writing new regulations to allow
non-ASOS/AWOS systems to be used.
1:43:59 PM
MR. LARUE transitioned to slide 16 and discussed the Don Young
Alaska Safety Initiative (DYASI), which he emphasized Alaska
needs due to the state holding 44 percent of all mid-air
collisions in the United States. He stated that a section of
DYASI prevents the FAA from restricting funding to airport
rehabilitation, resurfacing, or reconstruction of the full
length and width of existing runways. To slide 17, he stated
the AIP Handbook restricts many eligibility requirements due to
advisory circulars changing from advisory to regulatory.
Discussions with FAA over changing the AIP Handbook have brought
forth the idea to create an Alaska specific handbook.
1:48:24 PM
MR. LARUE, in response to questions from various committee
members, stated that Alaska has received some extension to
continue the use of leaded aviation gas and acknowledged the
environmental impact of the fuel. He said SWA is not in charge
of looking at additional methods to reduce lead exposure, but is
supportive of industry changes.
1:51:34 PM
MR. LARUE moved to slide 18 and stated that new equipment would
be a priority purchase if SWA had the additional funding. He
said it is looking at rotating or refurbishing low-hour
equipment around the state and the biggest challenge is long
lead times and not receiving Buy America waivers. To slide 19,
he discussed the 22-69 percent increase in costs of equipment
and materials. To slide 20, he discussed the climate challenges
and solutions facing many rural airports in Alaska. To slide
21, he attested to the challenges of hiring new workers,
emphasizing electricians, and that SWA has improved recruitment
and retention.
1:56:20 PM
MR. LARUE, in response to a question from Representative Stutes,
said he did not have data on the difference in pay between
working for the State of Alaska and private industry.
1:56:54 PM
MR. LARUE transitioned to slide 22 and discussed the challenges
with maintaining the aging and expensive lighting systems. In
response to a question from Representative McCabe, provided his
understanding that vandalism of lighting systems has been
reduced to half.
1:59:08 PM
MR. LARUE moved to slide 23-24 and stated that advanced air
mobility in Alaska is improving the safety of the state's
airspace. To slide 25, he described the Strengthening Mobility
and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) grants and the two
awarded projects: Alaska Rural Remote Operations Workplan
(ARROW) and Scalable Operations with Advanced Remote
Technologies (SOAR). He stated that SOAR partnered with Native
and rural villages to improve mapping and access to tribal
transportation funding.
2:03:35 PM
MR. LARUE, in response to questions from various committee
members, stated that the cost of transporting graders is usually
not significant if the delivery is scheduled alongside other
projects. Mission critical incentive pay was only provided in
positions that demonstrated recruitment issues, which helped
reduce vacancy. He affirmed that airport rescue and fire
fighting trucks are required only in part 139 airports, which
serve aircraft with greater than 30 passenger seats. He
explained that Alaska was able to receive some Buy America
waivers during the COVID-19 pandemic but is unable to receive
more.
2:08:26 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 2:08 p.m. to 2:16 p.m.
^PRESENTATION: Overview and Update of the Statewide
Transportation Improvement Program
PRESENTATION: Overview and Update of the Statewide
Transportation Improvement Program
2:16:04 PM
CO-CHAIR CARRICK announced that the final order of business
would be the Overview and Update of the Statewide Transportation
Improvement Program presentation.
2:17:06 PM
KATHERINE KEITH, Deputy Commissioner, Department of
Transportation & Public Facilities, began the Overview and
Update of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program
presentation [hard copy included in committee packet] on slide
10, titled "Request for Written Clarification," and discussed
the communications the Department of Transportation & Public
Facilities (DOT&PF) has been having with the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA),
Alaska Railroad Corporation, metropolitan planning organizations
(MPO), and other stakeholders on correcting and clarifying
various corrective actions.
2:20:27 PM
MS. KEITH, in response to questions from various committee
members, explained that the process of designating urban area
through the U.S. Census requires the governor's signature to be
finalized, and that the current designations in process have
been submitted to DOT&PF in November 2023 and have not been sent
to the governor due to minor technical issues. She stated that
any change to MPO boundaries requires the approval of the
governor, and that DOT&PF is working towards collecting all
historical approvals. She clarified that the governor does not
have the power to dissolve MPOs as they are required to exist
under federal law, and that DOT&PF abides by the "three C"
process.
2:35:56 PM
MS. KEITH returned to the presentation on slide 17 and discussed
the communication with federal partners over pipeline readiness
for contracts. She clarified from the graphs that the depicted
decrease in obligations is within normal fluctuations and the
decrease in contract awards was intentional from DOT&PF. To
slide 18, she stated that the contractor payments are increasing
year-on-year while the program balance index is decreasing. To
slide 19, she explained that DOT&PF needs to use advanced
construction funds to maintain funding sustainability with
construction.
2:42:52 PM
DOM PANNONE, Director, Program Management and Administration,
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, further
explained the advantages of using advanced construction on slide
19. To slide 20, he compared the August redistributions of
Alaska to various other states.
2:46:04 PM
MR. PANNONE, in response to a question from Co-Chair Carrick,
stated that DOT&PF received $19.2 million out of the $71.4
million it applied for and emphasized that the funding was not
lost as it carries over. He explained the delta between the
received and applied funds as DOT&PF did not have projects that
met the specific requirements for some funding sources.
2:47:46 PM
MS. KEITH emphasized that the discrete fund sources are only
applicable to certain project goals, which DOT&PF did not have
ready.
2:49:27 PM
CO-CHAIR CARRICK commented that the delta between funding
applied for and received was greater in FFY 24 than any previous
year.
2:49:49 PM
MS. KEITH, in response to a question from Representative Stutes,
stated the lack of funding for the Cooper Landing bypass was due
to an estimated increase in cost and to allow smaller projects
to be awarded.
2:53:18 PM
MR. PANNONE, in response to a question from Representative
Stutes, described the delta between funding applied for and
received was caused by DOT&PF and the FHWA disagreeing on what
projects could be completed and various STIP issues.
2:55:29 PM
MS. KEITH, in response to a question from Representative McCabe,
stated that the new practice of requiring projects that fall
inside MPO boundaries to be included in local TIPs prevented
some projects to go forward. She stated that DOT&PF has
received a memo from FHWA that Alaska is eligible for up to $120
million for the upcoming year.
2:57:48 PM
CO-CHAIR CARRICK, in response to the question from
Representative McCabe, clarified the semantics that MPOs are not
outside influences and are partners per federal regulations.
She summarized the presentation that Alaska does not have
"shovel ready" projects in the scale seen in previous years.
2:58:38 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES expressed excitement for the Alaska Marine
Highway System presentation.
2:58:52 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE commented his desire for Advocates for
Safe Alaska Highways to look at the Interior gas utility
vehicles that drive up the Parks Highway.
2:59:55 PM
CO-CHAIR EISCHEID opined that DOT&PF should be more clear with
the public about the funding situation as infrastructure and
construction jobs are important to residents of Alaska.
3:01:40 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Transportation Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 3:01
p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| DOTPF Rural Aviation Overview 01.29.25.pdf |
HTRA 1/30/2025 1:00:00 PM |
|
| STIP Update Presentation 01.28.25.pdf |
HTRA 1/30/2025 1:00:00 PM |