SJR 41-ALASKA HIGHWAY RECONSTRUCTION CHAIR KOHRING announced that the first matter before the committee was SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 41, Relating to reconstruction and paving of the Alaska Highway. Number 0075 PHELAN STRAUBE, Staff to Senator Randy Phillips, Alaska State Legislature, presented SJR 41 on behalf of the Senate Transportation Standing Committee, sponsor. He told members the resolution urges Congress to appropriate the final $45 million to finish the so-called Shakwak Project, which is the repaving of the Alaska Highway from the Canadian border [near Tok] to the Canadian border near Haines. The project has been ongoing for some time, and the $45 million would go toward paving the final 18 miles of road and fixing up four bridges. Number 0152 REPRESENTATIVE MASEK asked Mr. Straube when [the federal government] was supposed to appropriate the money. MR. STRAUBE answered that it was based on an agreement between the U.S. and Canadian governments made in 1973. REPRESENTATIVE MASEK asked if the last appropriation had been make in the last two or three years. MR. STRAUBE said he believed so, but would double-check. Number 0248 CHAIR KOHRING asked if it would be Canadian contractors or American contractors doing the roadwork if funds were secured. Number 0287 REPRESENTATIVE SCALZI asked if [SJR 41] was addressing a separate allocation from the ISTEA [Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act] funds or was part of the state's annual package. He asked if the request is for an additional appropriation. MR. STRAUBE reiterated that [the request] is based on a separate agreement made in 1973, and [the $45 million] represents the funds to finish the project. He said not all of the money was appropriated at once. Number 0384 SCOTT KENT, Minister; Energy, Mines, and Resources; Government of Yukon, testified via teleconference. He gave some background on the history of the Alaska Highway and the Haines Road. He told the committee the Shakwak Project was originally proposed by the U.S. and Canadian governments. The U.S. government funds the construction through the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), and the Canadian government is responsible for providing right-of-way access to granular materials for construction and maintaining the highway. MR. KENT said in 1998 Congress approved an additional $94 million for the project; next year's construction would exhaust that money. He said the $45 million [being requested in SJR 41] would be used to extend the road 18 miles at a cost of $19.6 million, and for four major bridge projects at a cost of $25.4 million. If it is funded, the anticipated completion date is 2006. He also expressed enthusiasm about an Alaska natural gas pipeline, saying that should such a project require an expedited timeframe for reconstruction of the Alaska Highway, [the Yukon government] would oblige. Number 0718 MR. KENT explained that either Alaskan or Canadian construction firms could place bids for the projects. He noted that for the current year, for example, one project had gone to a Yukon firm, one to a British Columbia firm, and the third was yet to be decided. CHAIR KOHRING asked if the bidding process was open to any American firms. MR. KENT said that it was open, and that the remoteness of the project favors Alaskan and Yukon firms. However, the recent highway funding cuts in British Columbia and Alberta have forced many of the firms from those areas into the market for contracts on the Shakwak Project. CHAIR KOHRING mentioned how the Alaska Highway is beneficial to both Alaska and Canada. MR. KENT concluded by talking about the status of the proposed natural gas pipeline and commenting on the cooperative nature of the Yukon and Alaska. Number 1093 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN moved to report SJR 41 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal notes. There being no objection, SJR 41 was moved out of the House Transportation Standing Committee.