CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 183(FIN) am "An Act relating to the Village Safe Water Act; and providing for an effective date." 10:45:31 AM REPRESENTATIVE ALAN DICK, SPONSOR, discussed that for many years the Village Safe Water Act had done tremendous good throughout the state; however, four years earlier the city of Nenana had applied for and received a Village Safe Water grant for a water treatment plant, but they were informed later by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that they did not qualify. He believed that HB 183 strengthened the Act because it addressed needs across the state. He relayed that the bill had no fiscal note. He explained that the bill added new communities to the eligibility list. The new communities would not take precedence over others and would be evaluated according to existing priorities. He discussed that HB 183 was a companion bill to SB 96. The bill raised the maximum number of residents that were eligible for funding in a village or first class city from 600 to 1000, which allowed eight municipalities that faced clean water and sanitation issues to receive a grant. The bill added home rule municipalities that had a population of less than 1000 residents and included the City of Nenana and the City and Borough of Yakutat. The bill also included communities that were represented by a council that were organized under the Indian Reorganization Act or a Village Tribal Council. The bill also allowed an incorporated non-profit to act as a governing body that would provide ongoing maintenance. He emphasized that HB 183 would allow villages to get the help they needed and would ensure that there was a responsible entity to guarantee that the money would be spent how it was intended. He relayed that Nenana was waiting to do the construction on its treatment facility and that its system was currently so needy that the maintenance man was required to check the plant every four hours during the night. 10:49:06 AM Co-Chair Stedman requested a list of the communities that would be eligible under the legislation. Representative Dick responded that the eight villages that would be included were Akiachak, Kipnuk, Yakutat, Klawock, Hoonah, Ninilchik, King Cove, and Sand Point. Co-Chair Stedman relayed that there was a zero fiscal note from DEC. Senator Olson asked how communities with populations less than 600 had responded to the proposed legislation. He wondered what the response had been from second class cities that needed water and sewer facilities but were not able to tax residents to pay for them. He understood that there would only be a set amount of funding available. SHEILA PETERSON, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE DICK, replied that there had been no response from any communities. She explained that Bill Griffith the project manager at DEC had informed the sponsor that the process would not change and that the communities with the greatest needs would be at the top of the priority list and would be funded. The addition of ten more communities would not have much of a negative effect on any communities. 10:51:58 AM Senator Olson expressed concern about smaller communities that were vying for the same funding and did not have the ability to send a spokesperson down to testify. He discussed that water and sewer were needed in all communities and were very important from a medical standpoint in order to combat health problems such as otitis media and hepatitis. He was concerned that a decrease in federal and state funding would increase the competition for some of the contracts. Representative Dick expressed his confidence that most of the great needs had been met given that the Act had been in place for a very long time and that allowing the additional communities under the Act would not threaten the smaller villages. CSHB 183(FIN) am was HEARD and HELD in committee for further consideration. [Note: CSHB 183(FIN) am was heard again during the meeting and appears later in the minutes] 10:54:15 AM AT EASE 11:03:09 AM RECONVENED CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 183(FIN) am "An Act relating to the Village Safe Water Act; and providing for an effective date." 1:07:37 PM Co-Chair Hoffman MOVED to report CSHB 183(FIN) am out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. CSHB 183(FIN) am was REPORTED out of committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with previously published fiscal note: FN1 (DEC).