[Senate Hearing 108-349]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 108-349
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS
IN ALASKA
=======================================================================
FIELD HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
on
OVERSIGHT OF THE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMS IN THE STATE OF
ALASKA
__________
APRIL 14, 2003--PALMER, ALASKA
__________
Printed for the use of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public
Works
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COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
one hundred eighth congress
first session
JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma, Chairman
JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont
CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri MAX BAUCUS, Montana
GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio HARRY REID, Nevada
MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho BOB GRAHAM, Florida
LINCOLN CHAFEE, Rhode Island JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut
JOHN CORNYN, Texaa BARBARA BOXER, California
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska RON WYDEN, Oregon
CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York
Andrew Wheeler, Majority Staff Director
Ken Connolly, Minority Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
APRIL 14, 2003--PALMER, ALASKA
OPENING STATEMENTS
Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska...... 1
WITNESSES
Anderson, Hon. Tim, Mayor, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska..... 20
Angasan, Trefon, Co-Chair, Board of Directors, Alaska Federation
of Natives..................................................... 10
Prepared statement........................................... 38
Barton, Michael, Commissioner, Alaska Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities........................... 6
Prepared statement........................................... 35
Boyles, Hon. Rhonda, Mayor, Fairbanks, AK, North Star Borough.... 17
Cooper, Hon. Jim, Mayor, City of Palmer, AK...................... 29
Prepared statement........................................... 52
Coppe, Cheryl, Executive Administrator for Development, Port of
Anchorage, Municipality of Anchorage, AK....................... 24
Prepared statement........................................... 50
Keller, Hon. Dianne M., Mayor, City of Wasilla, AK............... 30
Prepared statement........................................... 53
Leman, Hon. Loren, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska................. 2
Prepared statement........................................... 34
Masek, Hon. Beverly, Co-Chair, House Committee on Transportation,
Alaska House of Representatives................................ 12
Prepared statement........................................... 37
Reilly, Eileen, Vice President for Projects, Alaska Railroad
Corporation.................................................... 8
Staser, Jeffrey, Federal Co-Chairman, Denali Commission.......... 4
Prepared statement........................................... 36
Wuerch, Hon. George P., Mayor, Municipality of Anchorage, AK..... 15
Prepared statement........................................... 49
Zimin, Carvel, Jr., President, Bristol Bay Borough Assembly...... 27
Prepared statement........................................... 52
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Letters:
Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association........................ 45
Bristol Bay Native Association............................... 46
State Senator John J. Cowdery................................ 55
Memorandum, Alaskan Federation of Natives........................ 45
Statement, Loretta Bullard....................................... 55
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS IN ALASKA
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MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2003
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Environment and Public Works,
Palmer, Alaska.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. in
Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly Chamber, Palmer, Alaska,
Hon. Lisa Murkowski [acting chairman of the committee]
presiding.
Present: Senator Murkowski.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE
STATE OF ALASKA
Senator Murkowski. Good morning. I am Senator Lisa
Murkowski, and I will be chairing this morning's hearing of the
Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works.
My intention is to take testimony on needed changes to the
Federal highway program, and to provide the committee with
other information on Alaskan transportation issues.
I also want to record my thanks to the chairman of the
committee, Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, and to the ranking
member, for allowing us this opportunity to get Alaskans' views
on the record before the committee completes its work on a new
highway bill, which will provide a blueprint for Federal
programs for the next 6 years.
The chairman is represented today by Mr. James Qualters, a
member of the committee's professional staff. I am also
accompanied by Mr. Bill Woolf, my aide for transportation
issues and many other matters, by my Legislative Director, Mr.
Jon DeVore, by Pat Heller, who manages my Alaska offices, and
last but not least, by Carol Gustafson, who tells me what to do
when I'm here in the Valley.
We have a number of other distinguished guests this
morning, but since most of them are here to testify, I will
wait to introduce them when we reach that point.
Before we begin, I'd like to provide a few background notes
on how Congress is approaching the task of writing a new
highway bill. To date, the committee has held several hearings
on various aspects of the overall highway program. In June, the
committee will begin the process of marking up the various
sections of the bill, and the chairman hopes to have the
committee process complete by the end of June.
As most of you know, Congressman Young is the chairman of
the equivalent committee of the House of Representatives, and I
look forward to working with him, and with all of you, to
develop a highway bill that recognizes Alaska's many
transportation needs, from highways to snowmobile trails.
As you may also know, the House and Senate approach this
task in a slightly different way. While the House encourages
the inclusion of funding earmarks for certain high-priority
projects, the Senate typically does not. At the end of the day,
the two chambers will reach a compromise.
Let me be very candid, it will not be easy to craft a bill
that accomplishes everything that needs to be done. Many States
are already struggling to handle increasing demand with an
aging infrastructure, while we in Alaska are still trying to
build an adequate infrastructure. We had hoped to be able to
work with a figure totaling $255 billion over the next 6 years.
Unfortunately, we may not be able to reach that point. The
budget resolution adopted by Congress last week provides for
$231 billion in transportation spending over the 6 years. That
is considerably more than the current limit, but will still
mean fierce competition for scarce dollars, something we
already know and recognize on a daily basis in the State.
I have introduced a bill to establish the ``Denali
Transportation System'' and if adopted, it will provide a new
way for Alaska to meets its transportation needs. It would
allow the Denali Commission to construct roads and other
access-related facilities using a separate appropriation of
Federal funds.
The Denali Commission does not fall within the jurisdiction
of this Senate committee, and although this committee does not
encourage funding earmarks, I believe it is important for the
other members of the Senate committee to be made aware of the
extent of Alaska's transportation needs. For that reason,
today's comments will not be limited in that respect.
It would be impossible to accommodate everyone who has an
interest in this issue and would like to speak, but we are
doing our best, and have a long list of witnesses. Because of
the limitations we do have on our time, I would ask that all
the witnesses limit their testimony to no more than 5 minutes.
We will accept written comments of any length, not only from
today's witnesses but also from anyone in the audience who
would like to submit them. Written testimony can be submitted
by e-mail, and will be accepted up to 2 weeks from today.
With that, let us turn to our first panel today. I'm
pleased to welcome Alaska's Lieutenant Governor, Loren Lehman;
the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities, Mr. Mike Barton, and Jeff Staser, the
Federal co-chair of the Denali Commission.
Lt. Governor Lehman, would you lead off?
STATEMENT OF HON. LOREN LEMAN, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF ALASKA
Lieutenant Governor Leman. Thank you and good morning,
Senator Murkowski.
On behalf of Governor Murkowski and me welcome to Alaska
and he sends his special greetings to you.
Senator Murkowski. Hopefully he is feeling better this
morning.
Lieutenant Governor Leman. He was cantankerous the last
time I visited with him.
In Alaska, the vast distances and rugged terrain mandate
using multiple linked modes, including marine, air, and land
transportation systems. As you well know and we will learn even
better, Alaska is the largest State in the Union, comprising
one-fifth of the total area of the contiguous United States. I
say that because many on your committee are not as fully aware
of that. Yet, it has only 13,628 miles of roadways, less than
the State of Vermont.
Only a few communities in our State have full accessibility
the variety of travel modes common to most communities in the
Nation. Nearly 90 percent of Alaska's communities depend on
aviation for year-round access. These off-highway systems
communities rely entirely on aviation for food, groceries,
health care supplies, mail and transport to urban Alaska and
elsewhere in our country.
The State of Alaska plans to continue building and
upgrading our entire transportation infrastructure, including
roads, airports, marine highways, harbors, and railroad to
provide services to Alaskans and our visitors. Improvements
will offer benefits including safety, consolidation of health
and education services, access to resources, and work
opportunities and lower costs. These improvements are essential
to our economic growth and security.
It is difficult to convey to those for whom Alaska is not
home what it is like to rely on an airplane for a medevac in a
remote community. My chief of staff, who spent time in Cold
Bay, has had the experience of waiting and waiting while a
helicopter transporting a patient receiving CPR flew the
shoreline for 45 minutes in blowing snow because the pilot
could not see anything else. If the weather had been a little
worse the helicopter could not have made the trip. A road in
that region on the Alaska Peninsula would provide additional
access between those communities. When power and phone lines go
down because of high winds that reduces a remote community's
options for delivery of health care because not only will the
community likely be out of reach for advanced medical advice,
but the planes won't be flying either.
I was raised, as were you, in this beautiful State, and in
my professional life, especially before I became Lieutenant
Governor, I was actively involved as a consulting civil
engineer. I traveled extensively throughout Alaska and am quite
familiar with its transportation systems as well as its utility
systems. I will note that we face unique challenges but we are
up to the task.
One of our Administration's primary missions is to assist
in the building of a robust, growing economy that contributes
to our Nation's security, food and resource needs. We want good
job opportunities so families can care for their needs and our
young people may have opportunity to work and live in Alaska.
An essential part of this economic opportunity is new and
improved infrastructure across our State and access to our
resources. This includes acquiring historic transportation
rights of way, something we have actively pursued for years and
a topic I testified about before another Senate committee
chaired by another Senator Murkowski.
I am encouraged by the Department of Interior's new RS2477
agreement with Utah. That is good news for all western States.
We will continue to work the commitment to the Federal
Government has made to Alaska. Access improvements will bring
many benefits, expanded transportation will improve access to
health care and educational opportunities. It will also reduce
the cost of living, for example, for groceries, fuel, power,
building supplies and improvements in economies of scale
available through access will allow better and broader use of
government investments in schools, bulk fuel farms, health
clinics, airports and harbors.
In closing, thank you for your interest in our
transportation needs and for this field hearing. The Governor
and I will work cooperatively with you to resolve them and we
hope that you can share this information with your colleagues
so they will better understand the challenges Alaskans face
daily.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. I appreciate your comments
this morning.
Now let's go to Mr. Jeff Staser with the Denali Commission.
STATEMENT OF JEFFREY STASER, FEDERAL CO-CHAIRMAN, DENALI
COMMISSION
Mr. Staser. Thank you, Senator Murkowski and thank you for
coming home and this opportunity to hear from us.
I would like to offer my comments for the record in written
form and use whatever time I have to answer questions you may
have.
Senator Murkowski. If you could in as general terms as
possible describe the Denali Commission's approach to
addressing basic infrastructure needs and how this could be
applied in the transportation arena through collaboration and
sustainability?
Mr. Staser. The vision to date with about 4 years of
experience has succeeded in being a catalyst for positive
change by forming collaborations and our problem-solving
approach through community-based and regional supported
planning processes. We won't go where communities don't invite
us. One of the criteria to invite us is an acknowledgment of
our criteria for sustainability. It must be accepted that it's
a life cycle approach to any structure we build. To date we
have 50 clinics and hospitals under construction and about 25
fuel source facilities that all meet these criteria.
The collaboration of State, Federal and nonprofit and local
communities has been extraordinary. Alaskans have risen to the
challenges.
Senator Murkowski. In your written testimony, you mention
transportation infrastructure being the missing link and there
are a couple other references where you focus on transportation
as an integral part to effective and efficient delivery of
services across the State. Could you explain to the committee
what that really means here in Alaska.
Mr. Staser. Yes. A colleague of mine reported to Congress
earlier, his name was Sheldon Jackson. His report was dated
1886. He answered that question about page five or six of his
report. Talking about Alaska's transportation challenges, he
starts with the sentence, very few, even of the more
intelligent portion of American citizens comprehend its extent
and physical characteristics. He goes on to explain that in
part by saying, ``Alaska is as large as all of the New England
and middle States together with Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee combined or as
large as all of the United States east of the Mississippi River
and north of Georgia and the Carolinas.'' He goes on explaining
the impact that has on the need in his mission of education for
better transportation access. He was literally at the time
traveling tens of thousands of miles by sea by small boat and
it's not much different today. Small aircraft have helped but
the challenge is still there and well articulated by Mr.
Jackson. That was in 1886.
Senator Murkowski. It's a shame we haven't been able to
note any substantive differences since then.
The big challenge that we have in Congress is truly
educating our colleagues about the extent of Alaska's unique
geography. We will need the assistance of those of you in the
Denali Commission and those of you here to testify or listen
today to explain to the rest of the world that we don't have
the same concerns, the same problems that most other States
have because we just don't have the infrastructure yet.
Mr. Staser. That is absolutely the crux of the issue for
us. We have found in the last 4 years the two things that make
Alaska different are the climate and the isolation. The
isolation in terms of public policy is profound. Here we have
communities that are totally dependent on subsistence fisheries
and yet agencies don't allow any dollar value for that when
they do their benefit to cost analysis for whether or not they
should build a harbor. It seems to me we're missing something
in the same communities where maybe 40 percent of the diet
comes across a port are not qualified for assistance in
building that port because it is not recognized, there's not a
dollar value put on that subsistence. That is an administrative
change that could have a profound impact on economic self-
sufficiency in order to feed those folks to have access to the
sea and access to economic self sufficiency.
Another interesting quirk in Federal programs from my
perspective is what we learned on commissions, we have
unemployment statistics that disguise the true problem because
of the way the statistics are defined. If you are not actively
seeking a job or not receiving unemployment insurance, you're
not unemployed. So you go to a community where access to a job
may be 1,000 miles away by small boat or small plane, so the
worker can't get to the job. They are not actively seeking that
job, they don't have a job because maybe there's only five
paying jobs in the entire community. If all five jobs are
filled in a community of 250 people, does that mean they have
100 percent employment? Yes, according to Federal statistics.
I think there is a need to review how we measure the
problem so we can react to those kinds of issues. Access to
services that are taken for granted elsewhere, we assume our
veterans in Alaska, we have a very high percentage of veterans,
have access to the VA hospital. How do they get there? There
are no roads and no rail. The collaboration locally and regions
to have access to common fuel source facilities for three
communities, if they could drive to the gas station, that could
save tremendously on having to create separate, decentralized
facilities for all.
Senator Murkowski. Why is it going to be in the Federal
Government's best interest to address Alaska unique
transportation needs?
Mr. Staser. I think the Denali Commission has offered us
all an opportunity to see the comprehensiveness of it all, how
one issue affects another. I think it's in the Federal interest
to promote access to the marketplace to level the playing field
of other States and other economies. If you've got a work force
engaged in economic opportunity, there is an impediment to that
today and that's transportation.
We were looking at doing a power project in Bethel and the
regional authority for the corporation did some research on the
project and determined it is economically beneficial to import
coal from Canada because there is no infrastructure in Alaska
to get coal which Alaska has one-fifth of the world's known
resource of coal to its own communities.
When we started building bulk fuel facilities we looked at
where we get the steel and where we fabricate most cost
effectively and that was Seattle. Half the steel comes from
Canada, fabricated in Seattle and shipped to our rural
communities because of the lack of infrastructure.
Senator Murkowski. We have a long ways to go but I
appreciate what you and the Denali Commission are doing to help
spotlight some of the infrastructure needs. Thank you very much
for your comments. Is there anything you'd care to add?
Mr. Staser. The only success the commission has had is by
working with and through other agencies and helping to have
some flexibility in Alaska. That's one of the things we can do
is to collaborate an approach to problem solving. I think all
our partner agencies would say that seems to be working.
We'd like to encourage that the Administration, State and
Federal, work together in solving the access issues.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you.
At this time, let's bring to the table, Commissioner
Michael Barton of the Alaska Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities. Welcome, Commissioner.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL BARTON, COMMISSIONER, ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES
Mr. Barton. Thank you.
I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to discuss
some of Alaska's transportation needs.
As Lieutenant Governor Leman pointed out, due to the size
of the State and the relative immaturity of our infrastructure,
transportation plays a particular critical role in the lives of
Alaskans. No where else in the U.S. is the cost of an apple and
a trip to the doctor or the ability to access resources more
directly affected by transportation.
As you well know, the great scale of our State presents
some challenges but in addition to that, our geographic
diversity is also an opportunity for us. Because of this
diversity, Alaska is the leader i providing multimodal
transportation services to our residents. The Alaska Marine
Highway in southeast, the railroad, roads and highways of south
central interior and the snow machine trails of rural Alaska
and the ports and harbors of the coast as well as the many,
many airports that connect our State, this system remains an
essential element for growth and economic opportunity.
To that end, Governor Murkowski has pledged to develop new
transportation infrastructure while continuing to improve the
existing infrastructures. The Governor has identified four
projects that we recommend for high priority funding. Those
projects are: the Gravina Island Bridge in Ketchikan which
connects the community of Ketchikan with Gravina Island and its
airport. This direct link will improve travel times, costs, and
convenience, as well as remove the need to maintain and operate
two ferries. The bridge also provides access to new lands that
are suitable for residential, commercial, and industrial
purposes. This project received startup funding as a TEA-21
high-priority project.
Second is the Juneau Access Project which will improve
surface access to the State's capital. A 65-mile road along the
Lynn Canal is the State's preferred alternative. The project is
an essential link in the new regional transportation system.
Third, the Knik Arm Crossing will connect Anchorage with
the Matanuska-Susitna Valley via a new highway and rail bridge.
This project will significantly reduce travel times between the
State's three main population centers Anchorage, Fairbanks,
and the Mat-Su Valley and will help to spur economic
development.
The Bradfield Canal Road Project would provide road access
from Southeast Alaska to the Cassiar Highway in British
Columbia and on to the contiguous 48 States.
In addition to these four projects, the Governor has also
established two new programs to develop new roads in rural
Alaska. These programs will provide new transportation links to
and between communities and new access for the development of
the State's vast natural resources.
Federal assistance in funding these programs is also of
national importance since Alaska lands contain vast raw
materials needed for our economy.
In addition to high priority projects, I have submitted
some general principles which should be retained in the
reauthorization of TEA-21. There are several provisions that
are specific to Alaska which should be retained. I look forward
to working with you and Congress and Senator Stevens to address
those.
In closing, Alaska is a unique State with sizable and
varied transportation needs. The vast amount of Federal land in
Alaska has sometimes presented challenges in meeting those
transportation needs. lt is critical that we continue to
receive Federal support to expand and improve our
transportation systems so that the needs of Alaskans and the
country can be met.
I would be happy to answer any questions.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. I appreciate the focus the
Administration has placed on transportation infrastructure and
access to our resources. We know that is one of our big
development problems if you will. You can't have economic
development if you don't have transportation systems in place,
the workers to do it and the highly trained work force and
reliable energy. Transportation has got to be in there, so I
appreciate the focus and spotlight that has been placed there.
With regard to the community access roads and the economic
development roads, the two new programs that have been
instituted, how do you intend to prioritize? Where do you
start? Mr. Barton. That's a good question and we have been
working through that. The obvious answer is you start where the
highest payoff is and the quickest payoff. We have been looking
at a number of possibilities around the State, particularly in
the economic development category and focusing on those roads.
We are still in the process of identifying the highest
potential payoff.
Senator Murkowski. I imagine the Administration will be
working with the Denali Commission to identify and prioritize
and figure out how we make these access roads, the economic
development roads happen. As you say, we have to start
somewhere and you typically look to where the highest payoff
can be.
We look forward to many of these projects coming on-line.
We appreciate your time this morning and thank you for joining
us and for the information you provided to the committee. We
look forward to working together.
We will now move to the second panel which consists of: The
Honorable Beverly Masek, Co-Chair of the House Committee on
Transportation, Alaska House of Representatives; Ms. Eileen
Reilly, Vice President, Projects, Alaska Railroad Corporation;
and Mr. Trefon Angasan, Co-Chair, Board of Directors, Alaska
Federation of Natives.
I understand that Representative Masek may not yet be with
us this morning, so we will wait to hear her comments when she
arrives. Ms. Reilly, welcome. Mr. Angasan, if you would like to
joint Ms. Reilly at the table, that would be fine.
Ms. Reilly, why don't we begin with you. Welcome to the
committee this morning.
STATEMENT OF EILEEN REILLY, VICE PRESIDENT, PROJECTS, ALASKA
RAILROAD CORPORATION
Ms. Reilly. Thank you, Senator Murkowski.
Alaska Railroad is a vital component of the transportation
infrastructure for the entire State of Alaska. The railroad is
comprised of 611 miles of track from Seward to Fairbanks and
supports vital transportation needs for the entire State of
Alaska providing links to and from other modes of
transportation. The Alaska Railroad connects three major deep
water ports, Anchorage, Whittier and Seward complementing the
National Highway System.
Alaska Railroad supports the economic development of the
communities through which it travels. We have come to
understand our planning efforts must become more fully
integrated with community need and desires. We have tried to
integrate our planning efforts with many communities. Some of
those are the Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation
Committee, the Metropolitan Planning Organization of Fairbanks,
and are an active participant in the informal Regional
Transportation Planning Organization comprised of the
Municipality of Anchorage, the Borough, the Alaska Railroad,
the U.S. military and State legislature.
The railroad community outreach program ensures the public
has an opportunity to comment on railroad plans and projects.
We provide a lot of technical advice and support such as the
Palmer Urban Revitalization Project, Pt. McKenzie Road and Rail
Corridor Study, Meadow Lakes Long Range Plan, Wasilla Area
Intermodal Planning Study, the Fairbanks Rail Task Force and
the Knik Arm Crossing Study.
As you know, this is an important year for the TEA-21
reauthorization. The ARRC is very pleased that you have a key
committee position and support the leadership you have already
shown. We have applied for FHWA high priority funding to
support the growth of our communities for Fairbanks, Nenana and
Wasilla. We have provided under separate cover those projects.
The Alaska Railroad believes in our mission of being a
safe, high quality service and transportation provider to our
freight, passenger and real estate customers. We believe in our
mission to foster development of the Alaska's economy by
integrating railroad and railbelt community development plans.
The Alaska Railroad fully supports the Knik Arm Crossing as a
vital road/rail link which will dramatically expand opportunity
for development in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.
The Crossing will dramatically improve the velocity of
transportation movement throughout the entire region and its
effects will be felt statewide. The Crossing, however, is only
one piece of the total project. An equally critical component
will be the connector on each side of the Crossing. Adequate
transportation links will be vital to achieve all the benefits
this vital project makes possible.
As the State looks at other opportunities to grow the
Alaskan economy, the Alaska Railroad will take its lead from
State and Federal policymakers regarding rail extension
initiatives. The Alaska Railroad support extending and building
new railroad links and believes this falls under its mission to
foster State and community economic development.
The State will need congressional support to obtain capital
funding for these initiatives that are important to the growth
and development of the Alaska economy. A rail link joining
Alaska and Canada could serve vital national security interests
as well as developing a new transportation link to the lower
48. A rail link west of Nome will enable development of world
class reserves of mineral resources in the Kobuk Valley and
other deposits.
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to speak
about the Alaska Railroad as a vital transportation provider.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. I appreciate your coming and
do recognize what a key component the Alaska Railroad is in our
transportation system across the State.
You mentioned two potential rail projects, a link across
Canada as well as the spur to Nome. Is the railroad
contemplating anything else in terms of a rail link or a rail
spur?
Ms. Reilly. At this time, we don't have current plans.
We're working on some of the strategic planning options for
Canada. First, that might be to go Fort Greeley and Delta and
help provide support there. We are looking at the potential to
get to Nome but that is where our efforts are focused right
now.
Senator Murkowski. You mentioned the connector and the
Crossing and I am pleased that in your written testimony you
note the importance of not just the Crossing itself but
recognize once we get to the other side, you have to have the
transportation links happening over there. It doesn't do us any
good to put a bridge to the other side and not have it tie in
with anything else. I appreciate the focus you made to that
issue. Do you believe the connector Crossing should include
rail?
Ms. Reilly. We absolutely believe it should, it's a vital
part of the community, of the transportation infrastructure. If
you want to be a world class developmental resource community,
taking that step to connect with the railroad would keep an
awful lot of trucks off the highway.
Senator Murkowski. I know we are talking very preliminarily
at this point in time but our discussions perceive that the
Knik Arm Crossing, the railroad is a partner in those
conversations?
Ms. Reilly. We absolutely are. We've been working with the
different communities as well as the Hayes engineering firm
that's been working on the Knik Arm Extension. We've been
actively involved in looking at the options, making sure we
have identified the Corridor.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. I appreciate your testimony
this morning on behalf of the railroad and we look forward to
working with you.
At this time, let's go to Mr. Trefon Angasan, Co-Chair,
Board of Directors, Alaska Federation of Natives. Good morning.
STATEMENT OF TREFON ANGASAN, CO-CHAIR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES
Mr. Angasan. On behalf of the Alaskan Federation of
Natives, we'd like to take a few of our 5 minutes to extend our
congratulations to you as the new Senator. We look forward to
working with you in Washington as we address some of the issues
that we're going to be dealing with.
For the record, my name is Trefon Angasan, Co-chair, Board
of Directors, Alaska Federal of Natives. As you may already
know, AFN is a statewide Native organization formed in 1966 to
represent Alaska's 100,000-plus Alaska's Eskimos, Indians and
Aleuts on concerns and issues which affect the rights and
property interests of the Alaska Natives on a statewide basis.
On behalf of AFN, it's Board of Directors and membership,
thank you very much for inviting AFN to participate in this
process. It is a privilege and honor to testify in front of
your committee.
I'd like to note that you extended the opportunity for the
membership and the general public to submit testimony up to 2
weeks after today's hearing and we appreciate that opportunity
as well because we do have Federation membership who will be
submitting testimony to you in this regard.
Rural Alaska is home to more than 200 villages and in many
of those villages, unemployment ranges from 60 to 80 percent.
Many of the people in rural Alaska are unemployed and will
remain unemployed, not because they do not want to work, but
because for all practical purposes, there are no jobs other
than jobs provided by the village corporations, the IRAs and
other governmental agencies in rural Alaska.
Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act, enacted into law on December 18, 1971,
Congress authorized transfer of 44.3 million acres of land back
to the Alaska Natives through their ANCSA corporations. ANCSA
promised, in part, that the settlement of the claims of the
Alaska Natives against the Federal Government ``should be
accomplished rapidly with certainty in conformity with the real
economic and social needs of Natives.''
To date, none of the village and regional ANCSA
corporations created pursuant to ANCSA has received their full
land entitlements. One of the reasons for this delay is the
lack of funds needed for the survey of the lands selected by
the ANCSA corporations.
The ANCSA corporations, in particular the regional
corporations, selected their land entitlements based on natural
resources explorations they conducted on the withdrawn lands
from which they may select their land entitlements. Red Dog
mine on the NANA Regional Corporation is an example of a
successful land selection process by a regional corporation.
One of the primary reasons why the Red Dog Mine is a success is
access to the land where the zinc is located.
Not all of the ANCSA lands with natural resource potential
are being developed at the present time. Two of the primary
reasons for this are the lack of affordable electricity and
lack of infrastructure in place. The case in point on this is
the Donlin Creek properties. It is estimated that Donlin Creek
property has 11 million measured and indicates ounces of gold
with a cutoff of 1.5 grams of gold per ton.
New studies undertaken by the Alaska Federation of Natives
show that little has changed since 1994 when the Alaska Natives
Commission concluded in its final report that ``acute and
chronic'' unemployment was undermining Native society. Simply
put, Alaska Natives need more jobs and economic opportunities
in both the urban areas where many people have migrated because
of the depressed economic conditions in their home communities,
and in rural Native villages.
One of the means of creating jobs and economic development
opportunities in rural Alaska is access to affordable
electricity as well as development of transportation
infrastructure. I believe that improving the transportation
infrastructure in rural Alaska is a critical cornerstone to
promoting economic development opportunities in rural Alaska.
It will result in impressed access, lower cost of living where
it is really needed. In summary, we are excited about the
opportunities to participate. You are probably looking at the
most innovative way of infrastructure development in Alaska
with the Denali Commission and we appreciate sitting here
listening to his presentation as well.
On the last panel today is Carvel Zimin, Jr. from the
Bristol Bay Borough. He is probably going to advocate for a
bridge and I'd like to go on record in support of that effort.
Thank you very much.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you.
Tomorrow, I'm going to be speaking to the Tribal
Transportation Symposium, the first symposium of its kind
bringing representatives from across the State from various
tribes, various communities and I am excited to hear what they
have to say about the needs in their area. It will be a great
opportunity for me to learn more from the very remote areas
what we need to do from their perspective.
Before we let you off the hot seat, perhaps I will learn
this a bit more tomorrow, but does AFN have any mechanism for
prioritizing projects? You stated you are officially on record
supporting the bridge. How does AFN go about prioritizing?
Mr. Angasan. Part of a presentation that AFN prepared has
enclosed a process of how we develop our priorities. Every year
in October, AFN has an annual convention. At the convention,
the membership of 200 plus villages, 13 regions and the entire
Native community comes to Anchorage to attend the Alaska
Federation Convention. At the convention, they pass
resolutions. There are a number of resolutions that were
passed. I believe there were five resolutions passed that
addressed roads in rural Alaska specifically.
Senator Murkowski. Is that part of your written statement?
Mr. Angasan. As part of my presentation, there is a copy of
a February 7 letter from Mr. Demitri Philamala the president
and CEO the Aleutian Island Association. We also have a letter
dated February 14 from Mr. Terry Heperly, the Chief Operating
Office for the Bissil Bay Native Association. On March 11,
there is a letter from Loretta Bullock. I understand she's been
invited to participate here. In the letter, she defines the
transit needs so we do have a process to our madness in coming
here. We solicit input from our membership and we referee the
process. That's probably why I'm chairman of AFN because I'm a
good referee.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. I appreciate your testimony
and look forward to working with you.
Mr. Angasan. I will leave a copy of this with you.
Senator Murkowski. I appreciate you being here and look
forward to that written testimony.
Next let's go to the third member of panel two, the
Honorable Beverly Masek, Co-Chair, House Transportation
Committee. Beverly, it is wonderful to see you here this
morning. Thank you for joining us. It's always nice to see my
former colleagues and hear that all is well in Juneau.
STATEMENT OF HON. BEVERLY MASEK, CO-CHAIR, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION, ALASKA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Ms. Masek. Good morning. Thanks to the members of the
committee for being here today and welcome back to Alaska. I
know you have a very tough schedule and there is a lot to do.
For the record, my name is Beverly Masek. I am currently
the Co-Chair of the Alaska House Transportation Committee.
The opportunity to come before you today causes me to think
about what is the mission of the U.S. Department of
Transportation. In my mind it is to ensure a safe, accessible
and convenient transportation system that meets the national
interests, Alaska's statewide and local interests, and that
improves the quality of the life of everyone.
Transportation in Alaska is very unique. As a former
Iditarod Trail dog musher, I can personally attest that in this
year of 2003, modes of transportation here in Alaska remain
primitive on the one extreme, to reasonably modern on the
other. From the west coast of Nome to the interior city of
Fairbanks, the primary transportation link is either by boat,
four wheeler or walking int he summer, to snow machines and
sled dogs in the winter, or in the modern sense, by aircraft.
No roads exist.
From the north slope community of Dead Horse to the
southcentral community of Homer, the road transportation system
consists of gravel highways to two lane roads to a modern four
lane stretch of highway. Each is unique in both form and
structure.
In southeast Alaska, the marine highway system serves as
the primary mode of transportation that connects each
community, including the capital city of Juneau.
The primary method that brings everything together is
airports. Air service provides the vital link to most
communities in Alaska.
What can the U.S. Department of Transportation do to help
Alaska build and grow? There is no question that Federal
funding for transportation projects and infrastructure
development is vital to the growth of the State. Specifically,
the Knik Arm crossing connecting Anchorage with the Mat-su
Valley via a new highway and rail link, is by far the most
costly, yet the most important project that can and should be
completed.
Anchorage being bordered by mountains to the south, east
and north, and bordered by Cook Inlet to the west has pretty
much grown to capacity. Not only will this crossing reduce the
transit time into Anchorage, it will open the vast acreages of
the western peninsula to both business and residential
development. This link is vital to the future growth of
southcentral Alaska and I would encourage any venue for funding
available be pursued to make this great endeavor a reality.
In western Alaska, community access roads would be a big
step forward in starting to connect our remote communities.
Later on, these communities could hopefully be linked to the
Alaska highway system. These new links will also enhance
development of our vast resources, helping reduce dependence on
Canadian and other foreign minerals and resources.
In southeast Alaska, their economic survival depends upon a
road link to the Cassia Highway via Bradfield Canal is
critical. Also, a road link to our State capital via either the
Taku Channel or Lynn Canal is vitally important to connect all
Alaskans to the State government and to our capital which is in
Juneau.
Let's not just focus on roads. The airport system in Alaska
is crucial to our economic vitality, not just to provide
important links between communities, but to provide job
opportunities for Alaskans. For example, at Ted Steven's
Anchorage International Airport, cargo tonnage is fourth in the
entire Nation. This capacity can be increased substantially by
alleviating all cargo transfer restrictions among the airlines
utilizing the facility. This is a very high priority for us.
It will also enable aviation carriers to bring America's
imported commodities to other U.S. markets in a more timely
manner, thus holding the line on costs of goods. We are working
hard to create expanded opportunities for both U.S. and foreign
cargo carriers. Enhancements to Ted Stevens Anchorage
International Airport that will enable larger and more frequent
landings are crucial to the economic stability in Alaska.
As you consider reauthorization of TEA-21 funding, at a
minimum the Alaska exemptions and flexibility provisions must
be preserved. If not for those exemptions, most of the needed
transportation infrastructure in Alaska could never be built.
In closing, among your colleagues on the committee, the
word rural will have different meanings depending on where they
are from. For example, if I lived in Vermont, and took State
Route 4A from Castelton to Rutlant, I would consider that
rural. In Alaska, when you think and understand rural, you
think of how to hitch up the dog team, catch the next flight,
or find fuel for your snow machine. It is a vastly different
concept and with your understanding of this concept, will come
the understanding that without continued and substantial
Federal funding and support, Alaska is inhibited in its ability
to become a modern State by expanding and improving our
transportation system.
Thank you very much for coming to Alaska to listen and
understand the complexity of our transportation needs and
issues faced by all Alaskans. Thanks for being here and
allowing residents of this State to participate in this forum.
Having served on the Transportation Committee for about 9
years, I believe that transportation plays a very vital role in
every Alaskan's livelihood. I commend your efforts and your
staff for providing us with the venue to present to you.
If you have any questions, I would be glad to answer them.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you.
You point out a very clear example of part of the problem
we have in Alaska. Everyone has a different definition of what
rural is. To most of my colleagues, rural means you're on a
long, bumpy, dirt road that eventually takes you to a small
town. We would be happy to have a long, bumpy, dirt road but it
doesn't exist. As you point out, those means of connection are
simply not out there in the vast majority of the areas of our
State. So we need to be talking about the same definition of
rural. In Alaska, it is not consistent with the rural
definition in any other part of the country as far as I can
tell.
I appreciate your being here this morning on behalf of the
legislature. We had invited Senator Coudry to join us as well
from the Senate Transportation Committee but I understand his
legislative obligations didn't allow him to be here this
morning.
I appreciate your comments and I wish the legislature every
degree of success as you pursue the transportation priorities
because as you point out, if we don't have the adequate
transportation and the means to gain access to our communities,
we are no further ahead. I appreciate your coming.
Now let's go to Panel Three and with us this morning for
the third panel is the Honorable George Wuerch, Mayor,
Municipality of Anchorage. Since we only have room at the table
for two, let's have Mayor Wuerch joined by the Honorable Rhonda
Boyles, Mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough. We will take
you two first and move to the second half after that.
Good morning and welcome.
STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE P. WUERCH, MAYOR, MUNICIPALITY OF
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
Mayor Wuerch. Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the
committee staff.
My name is George Wuerch, Mayor of the Municipality of
Anchorage. I am here this morning to testify in support of
several changes in Federal law that impact public works and to
champion two specific projects that I believe will greatly
benefit the majority of Alaska State residents.
I also want to acknowledge from the outset the tremendous
impact that TEA-21 and its successor legislation has had and
will have on this State and on this Nation.
There is one particular Federal Act with which we wrestle
and that is the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA which
has had grave consequences for many of our local public works
projects. Because of Alaska's unique geography, practically
everything we undertake requires us to navigate this cumbersome
and costly process.
The Act is not the problem so much as its implementation.
It takes far too long, it is expensive to comply and it invites
litigation by organized, well funded environmental groups and
it is inconsistently implemented by many agencies of the
Federal Government.
I am sure the committee has heard these complaints aired
before, but from our standpoint, what's really missing is
recognition of the legitimate role for local government in the
decisionmaking process. NEPA was designed to protect the
integrity of the environment, but it has morphed into a
regulatory strait jacket which supplants the economic needs of
the community with agency preferences for environmental
preservation.
Let me very specific on this issue. The problem lies in the
application of NEPA to local decisions to expand or improve
facilities that already exist such as changing highway
intersections and adding traffic lanes to existing roads. In
Anchorage where you have only one road in and one road out,
when you have to go through a NEPA process to add a traffic
lane, that is absurd.
We are stewards of our own community and Congress ought to
recognize that by vesting communities with sufficient authority
and latitude to undertake certain types of projects of
transportation we can do it in a more efficient manner.
Now that I've outlined some of the difficulties we face in
working with one Federal law, let me move on to a more pleasant
topic, how the Federal Government can assist us in building the
infrastructure necessary for this region to grow and prosper.
A roadless State, such as Alaska, needs to be able to apply
traditional transportation to some non-traditional uses.
Specifically, we are requesting that TEA-21 funds be allocated
for expenditure on marine component infrastructure. I am not
talking about funding for one-time projects but rather we seek
a recurring revenue stream for marine projects. More than 80
percent of the goods that flow into the entire State of Alaska
pass over the docks of the Port of Anchorage.
Our municipality is currently pursuing a major
redevelopment program at the Port so that it can adequately
serve our community as well as the rest of the State for the
next half century. You'll hear more about this project from the
Port, but I wanted to touch on the need for programmed Federal
assistance on an ongoing basis, just like most MPOs receive for
roads. Our waterside facilities are critical to this community,
the State of Alaska and to the Federal Government.
I would also like to reinforce the critical need for a road
connection across Knik Arm to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Anchorage is a city hemmed in by geography and Federal land
ownership. While we continue to build our economy and city, we
are painfully aware of the diminishing amount of land available
for development in the Anchorage Bowl.
For example, Anchorage has less than 7,000 acres of
potential industrial land remaining within the entire
municipality. By comparison, the Mat-su Borough has hundreds of
thousands of undeveloped acreage just a short mile across the
Knik Arm. Our two economies are already linked because many of
that borough citizens are part of our workforce in Anchorage
but in order for the Mat-Su Borough to take advantage of our
existing infrastructure for its own economic development, it
needs this road/rail connection as much as we do.
As you are aware, Metropolitan Planning Organizations are
chartered by the Federal Government to make transportation
planning decisions within their geographic boundaries. Our MPO
is known as Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation
Solutions. It would be extremely valuable to our planning
process to be able to take into account the transportation
needs of local governments adjacent to our own.
In our case, that would be the Matanuska Borough and the
Kenai Peninsula Borough to the south. Unfortunately, neither of
our sister municipalities qualify for MPO status due to
population density and are not granted the same level of self
determination that we are. We need, therefore, Federal
recognition to assemble and seek funding for regional priority
projects in conjunction with our next door neighbors.
We also believe that the funded allocation to MPOs should
be directly transferred from the Federal Government. Passing
the money to State agencies is simply inconsistent with the
idea of local control in the planning and implementation of
transportation solutions.
In closing I want to say I certainly appreciate the
opportunity to address the committee and share some of our
ideas on transportation issues that affect not only Anchorage
but the entire State. I also want to express my appreciation
for the committee's work in Alaska.
If there are any questions, I'd be happy to respond.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I really
appreciate your being here this morning.
You mentioned NEPA and the difficulties inherent with that
regulatory process and the inflexibility with the regulation. I
admit it is a tough one. You point out specific examples that
are just not reasonable, not necessary, how can you get around
it. Do you have any suggestions, any specific language you
might recommend that we take back that would specifically help
you?
Mayor Wuerch. I think the fix here is to put into the
Transportation Reauthorization Act a definitional condition
that if there is an existing road or intersection where it's
clear that is really the preferred and only alternative that
going through the NEPA process is an unnecessary step.
When NEPA was originally passed, and I was in the
permitting business in those early days with a gas pipeline
company, I appreciated the impact on the Nation. It forced us
to look at committing natural resources and protecting the
environment but when we have an existing two, four, six lane
highway and we want to add an extra lane, a turn lane or a high
traffic lane, or where we have a road alongside the airfield
within a hundred yards and want to add a cuplet instead of
continuing to expand the existing corridor, we shouldn't have
to go through the NEPA process.
That is the biggest issue. Putting a definition in there
that clearly limits NEPA to where commitments were made in some
cases generations ago to a transportation corridor and to
continue to rehash that environmental assessment process is a
waste of everybody's time and a huge cost and only leads to
lawsuits.
Senator Murkowski. What about the MPOs? You mentioned the
recognition and it would be very beneficial to have some kind
of Federal recognition for these regional priority projects
with your adjacent neighbors. Any suggested language for that?
Mayor Wuerch. I think this is the kind of permissive
statute that could be included where if an MPO in conjunction
with their neighbors who are not MPOs want to jointly propose a
regional project, that funding stream could come through the
MPO. Right now the funding forks and it gets a little
complicated but permissive legislation is always preferable
when it comes to local implementation because it doesn't force
one answer on the country but lets those of us who can benefit
from this kind of option proceed more aggressively with
centralized funding and pursuit of Federal dollars.
Senator Murkowski. I appreciate your comments about the
recurrent funding streams for the marine component. In talking
with colleagues outside, we talk about the lack of uniformity
when we define rural, we tell people we have a marine highway
system and that's exactly what it is. This is our highway
system. It's not something that there is any degree of
recognition and appreciation of what it is we do. I appreciate
your putting those comments on the record this morning.
Thank you for your time.
Mayor Wuerch. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Murkowski. Now let's go to the Honorable Rhonda
Boyles, Mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
STATEMENT OF HON. RHONDA BOYLES, MAYOR, FAIRBANKS NORTH STAR
BOROUGH
Mayor Boyles. Good morning, Senator. Thank you for coming
here.
Although I'm relatively new in the political arena, I don't
remember a subcommittee coming to the State of Alaska for a
hearing that I have been invited to. Thank you.
My name is Rhonda Boyles. I am proud Mayor of the Fairbanks
North Star Borough. I appreciate the opportunity to testify
before this committee regarding the issue of importance to
Alaska and more specifically to the interior of Alaska related
to the reauthorization of TEA-21.
With approximately 84,000 residents, the Borough is the
second largest population area in the State of Alaska and
covers 7,400 square miles, including two cities, Fairbanks and
North Pole and numerous smaller entities.
Landownership in the Fairbanks North Star Borough includes
4.7 million acres and over 51 percent belonging to the Federal
Government or 2.4 million acres. The State has 35 percent, the
University of Alaska has 2 percent, the Borough has 3 percent,
the Corporation 1 percent, and privately held is 9 percent. It
is obvious to me that the Federal Government has the largest
interest and therefore I believe a larger obligation for
infrastructure development in the interior of Alaska.
As many have said before me, Alaska is a young State,
diversified in population, geography, culture and demographics.
It is undeveloped and compares to a Third World country in many
area when we discuss infrastructure. There is absolutely no way
that a sparsely populated State can afford to build the
transportation and utility networks needed to develop our
national assets for the benefit of the entire United States. We
need and our future residents deserve an intermodal approach to
facilitate economic development and quality of life that many
other Americans simply take for granted.
Alaska's resources are a critical part of the North
American energy market and specifically a major part of
domestic production. We pass 35 trillion cubic feet of known
natural gas reserves and upwards of 155 trillion cubic feet
resource potential. Alaska Gas has provided secure supply of
reliable natural gas to the United States and public
infrastructure upgrades are needed in order to continue
developing our abundant and demanded resources.
The State of Alaska, as our Lieutenant Governor noted, is
equal to 20 percent of the area of the entire United States. It
is geographically located to provide the Nation with a
strategic defense asset. Presently, at the border of the
Fairbanks North Star Borough, the Department of Defense is
building a defense system. This critical project is located on
the Richardson Highway. This highway was built, happy to say,
Lisa, before you and I were born, in 1943. It has had a series
of interesting patches over the last 60 years but it is still
two lanes wide and very narrow, not to mention the inferior
quality with permafrost and earthquake damage.
The upgrade of this highway is critical to defense, mining,
shallow gas leasing and the development of the railroad as well
as our No. 1 industry which is tourism.
The infrastructure projects mentioned here today as well as
the Dalton Highway, Richardson Highway, Alaska Highway and
Haines Highway are important projects needed to provide public
safety and convenience and to promote future development of
Alaska's resources. Improved transportation infrastructure
which coordinates airports, roads, ports, bridges, rail and
utilities will bring needed benefits to the State of Alaska,
its economy and its residents while benefiting the Nation as a
whole financially and economically.
Specific areas of concern to the interior are we have
thousands of miles of roads built by residents who tax
themselves in the form of service areas. These utilitarian
roads are inferior and unsafe and have not been upgraded for
many years. This year we have requested support to bring those
areas into local compliance.
I thank my counterpart Mayor Wuerch for mentioning NEPA.
Alaska's unique climate and land conditions make conforming to
burdensome rules and regulations cost prohibitive. The wetlands
issues are a major concern for the development projects and
often issuing the necessary permit holds up the project for
several very short construction seasons. Less restrictive
administrative requirements or less wetland designation would
decrease project costs and certainly improve productivity.
The entire State has a challenge under the Clean Air Act
amendments of 1990 and was designated as a nonattainment area
for carbon monoxide due to its unique climate and inversion.
The continuation and needed flexibility of the Seamack Grant
Program is critical.
Again, thank you, Senator, for being here and thank you for
providing me with the opportunity to represent my constituents
and their needs.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mayor Boyles. I appreciate
your being here this morning.
I appreciate the comment you made a couple different times
in your testimony about the recognition of tying the utilities
in. As has been pointed out repeatedly in the testimony this
morning, we lack a lot of basic things and we are hoping in
terms of the transportation infrastructure, we will be able to
move forward on them, but we also have an opportunity in that
because we are doing things in many areas for the first time,
we have an opportunity to tie some of this together. You
mentioned it in your quick overview of the intermodal project
up north, an opportunity to have a transportation corridor that
has with it utilities that are tied in.
Because we are starting from the ground up in many places,
we can have some enhanced efficiency, if you will, but we have
to be forward thinking about it and we have to work together.
We can't be doing the road and doing the rail and then
utilities come in separately. We need to be working together in
concert to get these efficiencies. We should view that as an
opportunity and I appreciate your bringing that up in your
comments.
With that, thank you for joining us this morning. I
appreciate hearing the views of the north.
Let's next bring on as the balance of panel three, the
Honorable Tim Anderson, Mayor, Matanuska-Susitna Borough as
well as Cheryl Coppe, Executive Administrator for Development,
Port of Anchorage, Municipality of Anchorage.
Good morning. Mayor Anderson, it is a privilege to be
within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough this morning. I will note
for the record that when we were determining where we were
going to have this field hearing this morning, it seemed to
make good sense to be here in the part of the State that is
growing probably the fastest, the most rapidly and as we look
outside, probably has some of the greatest transportation needs
of the area.
We are pleased to be here in your part of the State this
morning. With that, if you would like to proceed with your
comments?
STATEMENT OF HON. TIM ANDERSON, MAYOR, MATANUSKA-SUSITNA
BOROUGH
Mayor Anderson. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The comments you made are very true. We are kind of the
central region of the State and we have a very fast growing
population, the fastest in the State.
For the record, my name is Tim Anderson. I am the Mayor of
the Matanuska Borough.
Before I begin, I would like to welcome you on behalf of
the residents of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to our borough
and welcome your staff too. I have met them all now and am
looking forward to interacting more with them. I do hope you
have a little time to spend some time in our valley today.
It is an honor to host the hearing of the U.S. Senate
Committee on Environment and Public Works in the interest of
transportation. We are encouraged that you are recognizing the
unique needs of Alaska by your willingness to hear from our
residents.
My testimony today will highlight three transportation
related issues and part of what I will be talking about you
have already heard about and I will approach it from a little
different angle but it is kind of the same thing. It is nice to
sit here and hear that different governments have the same type
of feelings about what is going on.
The topics I would like to cover are the need for direct
involvement in Alaska's local government in the transportation
projects in the State, the undeveloped nature of Alaska's
transportation network and the importance of trails to the
Alaska way of life.
We believe there should be a much closer and direct working
relationship between the Federal transportation agencies and
the local governments in Alaska. As it stands today, there is
little if any interaction between these parties. In Alaska,
local governments must work through the State Department of
Transportation. While Alaska DOT does an admirable job, the
needs and messages of the local governments do sometimes become
lost and sometimes receive a lower priority than that of the
State and the national road systems.
We believe that the new transportation bill should provide
Alaska's local government with the same authority that is
provided to local governments in other States. There are
several benefits to doing this. Mayor Wuerch mentioned a few of
them and the Federal agencies would have a much better
understanding of what we need here at the local level. There
would probably be a reduction in the administrative costs the
State takes with the low costs we would have here for our local
governments. At the local level, that would allow us to put
more money directly into the transportation projects.
Local governments are the closest government to the State's
residents and therefore we have a better understanding of the
needs of our community and transportation has a locally elected
official and 75 percent of the calls I get are transportation
related.
Let me describe briefly how it might work if we had the
Federal Highway Administration providing funding directly to
local governments. The Federal law should allow a relationship
to be formed directly between the Federal Highway
Administration and the local government to allow Federal
officials to better understand our needs.
The Federal Highway Administration has already demonstrated
the desire for a closer working relationship with local
governments. We have established the Local Road Coordinator's
Program which consists of a representative from local
government from each of the 50 States to coordinate and discuss
local government issues. The Federal Highway Administration has
also established a local technical assistance program which
serves local and tribal governments in training technical
assistants in technology transfer. It is a very successful
program.
The Federal highway funds would be awarded directly to
local governments and would allow local governments to set
priorities for local projects based on the needs of the
residents. Local road construction projects could be completed
sooner by eliminating the State's requirement that forces
community roads to compete for funds with the national highway
system. Traffic congestion problems could be alleviated before
they reach crisis level. That is what most of my issues deal
with. It is reactive instead of proactive.
Federal Highway funding would relieve some of the burden
placed on the local property tax payers by allowing us to
improve roads that to the Federal level may seem minor but to
us they are roads of major importance to our community.
We also feel these same techniques could be used with other
Federal agencies such as the Federal Transit Administration,
some of the money we have for projects like our ports goes
through the FTA.
The second topic I would like to talk about today is the
undeveloped and underdeveloped transportation system in Alaska.
I have lived all over the State of Alaska and am familiar with
the bush as well as the road system. We have a few highways
connecting our major population areas and this area we call the
road system. Most of the State is not connected by roads. We
have two pipelines of significance, we have electrical and
natural gas lines mostly found near the State major highway
systems. We have a host of airports and airstrips with few
navigational aids and an assortment of docks and harbors, most
having minimal facilities.
This lack of a developed transportation system hinders the
boroughs and the State's economic development in many ways.
First, it increases the cost of doing business since it takes
longer for goods to be delivered to the business and to be
shipped from the businesses. Being a long time Alaskan, we all
know that you have to wait many times for things to get to us,
especially rural Alaska.
Increasing traffic congestion in our urban areas is causing
increased travel and delivery times or delays in these times,
increasing the cost of transporting our natural resources,
making them less competitive in the world markets. We are
seeing that now with the issue of the coal system where they
are trying to get the coal competitive. That makes it harder
because transportation is a large cost of moving that coal.
The higher transportation cost for natural gas and
electricity and the underdevelopment also hinders tourism and
tourism is one of our big developments in this State by not
having access to numerous State and national parks in our
historic and cultural destinations, so there is large down side
to this.
Basically, an efficient and effective transportation system
is necessary to a strong economy. Alaska's economy will grow
with an adequate transportation system.
I would also like to go on record at this point in saying
the Matanuska-Susitna Borough fully supports the Knik Arm
Crossing Project. We see this as a natural extension of the
transportation system. We are developing a port down there and
the Knik Arm Crossing will play directly into that with rail.
We are also developing a corridor that goes from the port to
Houston area to connect to the railroad and that will also be a
corridor that includes road and utility and rail. So we are
looking ahead and planning that now. That is very important to
economic development in this borough.
Last, I would like to touch on the importance of trails to
Alaskans. Trails are an important part of Alaska's
transportation system. Currently, the transportation projects
that come down are generally highway related and they have bike
and pedestrian trails along the major roads. We have some rail
to trails projects.
Alaska's trails are different. We use trails in a different
manner and being Alaskan, I know you are aware of that. Trails
are not considered a mere enhancement but are actually another
level of road, another way of commuting from one place to
another.
As you are aware, many of our residents use trails,
especially in the rural areas to access hunting areas or
landfills, the other communities in the area, to go shopping,
to get their groceries. You get on a snow machine or a four
wheeler instead of getting in your vehicle. Trails also provide
a more cost effective of linking communities since the cost of
construction and maintenance is much less than that needed for
roads.
I would also like to add that I think a good trail system
could and should become a public safety issue also. We have a
lot of people in the State that get lost each year and a good
trail system would prevent that. I have done a lot of trail
marking in my day for dog sled races and I know the trail is
very important to someone who doesn't know an area. They have
to follow the markers. That next marker is very reassuring to
know it's there, that you are still on the trail. Many of our
rural residents rely on snow machines and four wheelers as a
primary method of travel and trails are a much more appropriate
infrastructure for these areas.
In conclusion, I would ask that the reauthorization of TEA-
21 and other Federal transportation legislation allow local
governments more directly with the Federal agencies. I think
that is important.
As I mentioned, I would like to see more recognition for
trail systems.
We certainly request that TEA-21 continue to recognize the
unique transportation system for the State of Alaska.
Thank you again, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to
testify today. We are glad you will be taking this back to your
committee. We also are extremely happy that you selected
Matanuska-Susitna Borough as your location for this important
hearing.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. It is nice to be here this
morning.
I will take this opportunity right now to say that on
Friday I did introduce legislation that would address the snow
machine trail issue you brought up. As you point out, in so
many of our areas, snow machine as a means of transportation is
primary to some communities. We don't really do anything within
our existing transportation system to address that. So the
legislation I have introduced would work with the Secretary of
Transportation so that we identify the extent of the fuel tax
attributable to snow machines for use in that State. Then those
funds would be used within the State for maintenance, marking,
construction of snow machine trails.
In addition, there would be a specific amount that is
allotted toward snow machine education safety which, as we
know, things happen in this State and given the environment and
the climate, when things happen, we need to be prepared for
them. So it is an initiative in our State as well as so many
other northern States where snow machining is not only a
recreational sport but is a primary means of transportation for
so many.
I am hopeful that we will make good progress with this
because it is something whose time has definitely come in our
State, so we will be pushing that. I appreciate the opportunity
to talk about it this morning.
I do appreciate your comments about the Knik Arm Crossing
and your support for it. You made the comment that typically we
are in a reactive mode as opposed to a proactive mode. I would
like to think, particularly with the Knik Arm Crossing, that
the community on this side, and I live in Anchorage so I am
doing it from across the water this way but that it will be a
concerted, cooperative effort as we address what happens when
we get that bridge from one side to the other. Anchorage is
already developed and we have a lot of room to grow over here
but if we can coordinate it and be proactive about how we
develop it rather than reactive and just hope that it works.
The point was well made by the Alaska Railroad when Eileen
Reilly spoke earlier, the fact that once we get to the other
side, we have to know how the pieces are going to fit here. I
hope that is part of a long range plan for the borough.
Mayor Anderson. It most definitely is. We established what
we call an RTO which are regional transportation organizations
with members of the Municipality of Anchorage and the
Matanuska-Susitna Borough. We have been working together now
for over 2 years and recognize that as our top project. That is
exactly what we are doing, planning and putting together all
these details in a proactive manner to make it happen so it
works for both of us. So you are seeing very much a joint
effort between us with the regional project.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you for your comments this
morning.
Let's next go to Cheryl Coppe, Executive Administrator for
Development, Port of Anchorage, Municipality of Anchorage.
STATEMENT OF CHERYL COPPE, EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATOR FOR
DEVELOPMENT, PORT OF ANCHORAGE, MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE
Ms. Coppe. Good morning, Senator Murkowski. On behalf of
Governor Sheffield, of the Port of Anchorage, and myself and I
am also here representing Mayor Wuerch, so I must say we all do
terribly appreciate the tremendous level of interest you have
shown in such a short period of time. It is pleasing and it has
been very beneficial to us.
Madam Chairperson and members of the committee, thank you
for this opportunity to present testimony on behalf of the
Mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage, George Wuerch and the
Director of the Port of Anchorage, former Governor William
Sheffield.
I will discuss the regional and national importance of the
Port of Anchorage and the need for Federal funding to support
the rehabilitation and expansion of the Port through its Port
Intermodal Expansion Project.
The Port of Anchorage is a freight and passenger marine
transportation facility of approximately 130 acres. It is
Alaska's regional port, a department of the Municipality of
Anchorage, but self-supporting. The port receives no tax
support from the municipality and, in fact, pays an annual
assessment in lieu of taxes to the municipality from its net
profits.
The port is the keystone and hub of a massive multimodal
transportation system that helps Alaskan businesses remain
competitive with their counterparts in the lower 48. It is
estimated that the port contributes approximately $725 million
annually to the State's economy. For this reason, the port is
considered a major economic driver, serving not only the
Municipality of Anchorage.
Eighty percent of the State's geographical area receives
cargo from the port that is transshipped by truck, train, plane
and barge to final destinations throughout the State. The
population of the same area receives more than 90 percent of
its consumer goods through the Port of Anchorage. Additionally,
the Port of Anchorage weighs significantly on the economic
security of the Pacific Northwest. The flow of cargo to and
from the port wields potent indirect economic impacts that
affect the Puget Sound area of Washington because Port of
Anchorage operations drive more than one-third of all the cargo
operations at the Port of Tacoma.
Not large by international standards, the Port is
recognized as one of the most efficiently operated container
ports on the West Coast and consistently ranks in the top 25
container ports in North America for the volume of cargo moved
through its facilities. Four million tons of cargo move
annually across the docks and through its marine terminals.
The port's petroleum terminals serve the communities of
South Central and Western Alaska. Jet fuel used by Elmendorf
Air Force Base and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
also moves through the port's petroleum terminals and is
transported by pipeline to those facilities.
Local military planners, recognize the Port of Anchorage as
a ``critical node'' and a ``strategic port'' under certain
Department of Defense contingency planning scenarios. Because
of its strategic value, location and proximity to neighboring
military commands at Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort
Richardson, the Port of Anchorage is a critical component for
certain DOD strategic activities concerning mobilization
planning.
For these reasons, the Port of Anchorage entered into a
Federal Port Controller service agreement on April 27, 1987
which is still in effect. Additionally, the port maintains
close professional working relationships with the Military
Traffic Management Command, Military Sealift Command, and all
local and statewide military logistics and transportation
officials.
During March 2003, the Port of Anchorage received letters
from Lieutenant General Carrol Chandler, Commander of the
Alaskan Command, and Major General John Brown of the United
States Army, Alaska. These letters endorsed the Port Intermodal
Expansion Project. In particular, the Road and Rail, Barge
Terminal and Harbor Deepening phases of the project will
support the rapid deployment of the Army's new Stryker Brigade
Combat Team and enhance the Department of Defense's ability to
more rapidly process troops and equipment for any worldwide
deployment. These near term phases of the port's expansion
plans are especially important to the Stryker Brigade because
it so operational capability in Alaska is scheduled for May
2005.
This month, U.S. Army Alaska, with the support of the
Alaskan Command, began the process for designating the Port of
Anchorage as a national strategic port. There are 13 strategic
ports currently in the Nation. The Port of Anchorage would
become the 14th.
Stryker Brigade combat teams are cornerstone assets in the
new Department of Defense paradigm of rapid readiness and
deployment now considered critical to the Nation's security.
Therefore, port expansion planning will include designs for the
necessary security, operation and maintenance infrastructure
that must support this critical responsibility.
The port is preparing for the near and long term future
needs such as the ones I just described of both the State and
the Nation by initiating extensive rehabilitation and new
construction in multiple phases over an expedited schedule from
2003 through 2008 under its Port Intermodal Expansion Project.
The Maritime Administration recently became the Federal lead
agency for this project through special legislation passed in
the 2003 Consolidated Appropriations Resolution.
The port states with pride that the port expansion
development and administrative concepts it and MARAD will
employ are unique and audacious, especially when compared to
the customary U.S. Department of Transportation project
delivery process. This is the first major marine transportation
infrastructure project ever sponsored and supported by MARAD
and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Maritime Administration and the port sought to make
this arrangement an ``innovative partnership'' that integrates
modes of transportation, water, road and rail, into a cohesive
system, exemplifying the type of intermodal, public, private,
commercial-military initiative that will define the U.S. Marine
Transportation System in the 21st century.
Also, in consideration of the collectively unique
combination of characteristics the Port Intermodal Expansion
Project possesses, MARAD and the U.S. Department of
Transportation plan to nominate the port expansion as a high
priority, major transportation infrastructure demonstration
project of this Administration.
The phases of this project include but are not limited to:
road and rail access development that will provide direct
loading of containers from vessels onto rail cars; barge
terminal facility and storage areas that will accommodate
military high speed sealift capability, movement of heavy
equipment and oil field module construction; a 1,200 foot
multipurpose dock designed to handle a variety of vessels
including cruise ships, and the dock also features new
petroleum piers designed for deeper draft, double-hull tankers
that will call at the port; rehabilitation and widening of the
existing dock to meet increasing weight requirements and
accommodate three new 100-foot gauge container cranes;
reconfiguration of all cargo transit, storage yards and
terminals and deepening of the authorized dredge depth of the
Anchorage Harbor and Navigation Channel from--35 feet at low
tide to--45 feet. This project phase will occur in partnership
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The total cost for all phases of the Port Intermodal
Expansion Project is estimated to be approximately $227
million. Proposed project shares are 38 percent nonFederal, 27
percent appropriations earmarks and 35 percent from TEA-21
reauthorization. The Port currently has $55 million available
as its contribution toward the anticipated nonFederal portion
of port expansion costs.
In conclusion, implementation of the Port Intermodal
Expansion Project will provide the major transportation
infrastructure necessary to move Alaska's regional port, the
Port of Anchorage, into the future, meeting commercial and
military needs of the State, the region and the Nation. This
project can also become the benchmark for Marine transportation
system development throughout the Nation.
However, the ultimate success of this project relies on the
support of the members of this committee, their colleagues in
both houses of Congress and their collective commitment to
provide the Federal financial resources necessary to make it a
reality.
Madam Chairperson, this completes my statement. I again
thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the
Municipality and the Port of Anchorage. I will be pleased to
answer any questions you may have.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. I appreciate your testimony
and it is exciting to hear about the opportunities that are
presented to us with the Port of Anchorage. I am very familiar
having represented this areas in my 4 years in the legislature
as well as being a native. The good Mayor knows that I am
always watching what is going on down below and when
appropriate, I give my two cents worth. It is good to see that
it is being recognized for its strategic location and all that
we are able to accomplish within the port.
The one concern that I have always had is the geographic
confines of the port. We are just tucked away in there between
Elmendorf on one side, the water on the other in kind of a
bottleneck that we have often talked about.
I am pleased that the port project is underway and it looks
like Governor Sheffield will be able to accomplish what he is
seeking with this. I have always encouraged a good, cordial and
friendly relationship between the Port of Anchorage and the
Matsu port because in my mind that is where I see the future.
There is a recognition we can only go so far given the physical
limitations of the Port of Anchorage. I want to encourage on
the record the continued working relationship because as
Anchorage grows, as the Port of Anchorage itself grows and we
agree to take on some of these other initiatives there is a
recognition that at some point we run out of room. The next
natural place to go is right across the water to a very
convenient spot where I understand there is great cooperation.
So take that back as my only concern to the continuing
communication and good working relationship.
Thank you for your testimony this morning.
Let us then move to the last panel for the morning and this
consists of Mr. Carvel Zimin, Jr., President, Bristol Bay
Borough Assembly; and then we will pick up our two mayors from
Palmer and Wasilla once Mr. Zimin has concluded his testimony.
Good morning. Welcome to the committee. Thank you for
joining us all the way from Bristol Bay.
STATEMENT OF CARVEL ZIMIN, JR., PRESIDENT, BRISTOL BAY BOROUGH
ASSEMBLY
Mr. Zimin. Thank you, Senator Murkowski. Thank you for the
opportunity. I am in awe of all the company here.
My name is Carvel Zimin, Jr., an Alaskan Native born in
South Naknek, lived there all my life. I serve as President of
the Bristol Bay Borough Assembly. We have five assemblymen, a
mayor and a manager. We were the first borough municipality to
form in the State of Alaska in 1962.
My focus today will be on the Bristol Bay Borough
Resolution 2002-16, priorities one and six.
First, the Naknek River Bridge Project, the borough
assembly agrees that the single most important thing that could
happen to enhance economic growth of the borough is a bridge
across the Naknek River, thus its No. 1 ranking.
I personally hand delivered our request to our delegation
in Washington, DC. as you see before you in a letter to the
Honorable Don Young dated March 1, 2003, and a transportation
project evaluation criteria form.
We believe this project will bring real benefits to both
the region and the State as a part of the State of Alaska's
Southwest Alaska Transportation Plan. Residents of the region
are in strong support of the project. Bristol Bay has some of
the world's largest returns of wild, natural salmon, including
the much prized Sockeye or Red Salmon. Commercial harvesting
for Sockeye has occurred since the 1890's. There are still
numerous large fish processing facilities that will benefit
from completion of a bridge. Also residents of Bristol Bay
would benefit greatly.
Currently, school children from South Naknek, sixth through
twelfth grades are flown daily to and from South Naknek to
attend high school in Nakanek. Employment opportunities for the
Bristol Bay residents would improve along with health care
access and the availability of an all weather airport by South
Naknek residents. Public works, public safety, fire and EMS,
community development and support services, solid waste,
schools, ports, libraries, and quality of life things would
benefit from combining services at a cost savings to the
borough, region, and industry.
We would like to see exploration for shallow natural gas
development and transfer to our local utility for cheap
electrical generation.
Finally, on No. 6, improvements to our existing borough
dock would help tremendously as we are spending close to $200
million per year in upkeep to our main port of entry for
freight. Normal life span of a concrete and steel piling dock
is 20 to 25 years. We are experiencing normal wear at 22 years.
We average 21st in the ranking for pounds and dollars of
all U.S. ports. This is only canned fish and does not include
containers of frozen salmon shipped to Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
In conclusion, thank you very much.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Zimin. I appreciate your
testimony here this afternoon and this morning. I think many
people would be shocked to know that school kids are
transported via air, and perhaps might think what an
extravagance, but for your constituents, the people in your
community, it is not an extravagance, it is a necessity.
Mr. Zimin. It is a necessity. I was, like I said, born and
raised into the community and I've done the same airplane trip
every day all the way through high school. We almost think it
is normal to do that, that that's what we have.
I have a conclusion, I guess. In giving an analogy for
transportation projects in the U.S., if you want to
respectfully think about the continental U.S. as a dart board
and you have two darts and you threw the two darts at the dart
board, you could probably drive between the two darts, whereas
in Alaska you've got to be a pretty good shot to be able to do
that.
Senator Murkowski. I couldn't do it, I can guarantee you
that. That's a good analogy though.
We've had a little bit of discussion this morning about
roads connecting villages within a region. Would you care to
comment on that within the Bristol Bay area?
Mr. Zimin. I think roads within the regions are really
important. It's really what ties communities together. We know
that at some point every road will be connected, and we really
do need the resources, but we would like to concentrate on
things that could actually benefit the community immediately,
and with the bridge, hopefully, they can also do shallow gas
exploration and possibly resource development to bring to our
community the three communities--connecting the three
communities with cheap electrical generation for the local
utility.
Senator Murkowski. OK. We appreciate your comments this
morning and your joining us. Thank you.
Mr. Zimin. Thank you.
Senator Murkowski. Let's now bring to the table our last
two this morning, not last for any reason other than as local
mayors of the city of Palmer and the city of Wasilla. We knew
you were going to be here for a while and appreciate your
patience this morning, The Honorable Jim Cooper, Mayor of the
city of Palmer, and The Honorable Dianne Keller, Mayor of the
city of Wasilla. Welcome and good morning. Thank you for having
us in your community.
Mayor Cooper?
STATEMENT OF HON. JIM COOPER, MAYOR, CITY OF PALMER, ALASKA
Mayor Cooper. Thank you, Madam Chair, for providing this
opportunity for testimony on transportation infrastructure
needs in Alaska. On behalf of the city of Palmer, I welcome you
to our community and hope this hearing and your time in our
community is fruitful and informative. It is nice to see you
again.
The city of Palmer is not a large community, but it is
representative of so many communities in the United States that
are experiencing growth and trying to meet the challenges of
building and improving local transportation infrastructure.
Palmer has the highest population density of mid-sized Alaska
cities by a factor of two. Palmer is experiencing an annual
growth rate of 7 percent, and the capacity of our
transportation infrastructure is not keeping up with that
growth.
Palmer is served by the Glenn Highway from the north and
south, the Old Glenn Highway from the east, and the Palmer-
Wasilla Highway from the west. The Glenn Highway, a Federal
interstate highway, passes directly through Palmer. All of
these road,s including local Palmer city streets, have
experienced tremendous increases in usage in recent years, and
all of these roads are in need of capacity and safety
improvements.
Traffic on the Glenn Highway south of Palmer has increased
100 percent in 10 years and has reached levels that suggest it
be improved from its present two lanes to four lanes. Traffic
on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway has increased 50 percent in 10
years, creating the need for either a major capacity
improvement or construction of another parallel route.
The need for these projects has been identified for some
time. These projects and many others are listed in the State of
Alaska's statewide Transportation Improvement Program, STIP;
yet years pass, traffic and congestion increase, and these
projects are bumped back again and again in the STIP schedule,
often due to an overall level of funding that is not sufficient
to address transportation needs on a timely basis. We believe
that the current level of Federal highway funding is not
adequate to meet the growing--and increasingly deferred--
transportation needs of our area.
As we plan for improvements to the Glenn Highway through
Palmer, a Federal interstate highway, there is a compelling
need to design those improvements so that they enhance, rather
than divide, our community. Also, the Glenn Highway has
recently been designated as a National Scenic Byway. Because of
this designation and to recognize the needs of our community,
the city of Palmer, in cooperation with the State of Alaska,
hopes to develop an urban boulevard design for the Glenn
Highway through Palmer. This approach will combine pedestrian
facilities and landscape improvements with roadway capacity
improvements so this project fits into our community.
In regards to local roads, Palmer has had several local
projects listed in the STIP. The city has worked with the
Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to
construct some of these projects. Our success in some of these
projects has been due to a high level of local participation.
The city believes some local projects can be done on a more
timely, cost-effective and efficient basis if project funds are
transferred to the local municipality through a memorandum of
agreement.
There are other important transportation elements that
deserve continued attention and funding. The city of Palmer is
involved in a project funded through a Federal Highway
Administration Transportation and Community and System
Preservation--TCSP--program grant to improve the Alaska
Railroad right-of-way through Palmer. This urban revitalization
project, made possible by a partnership of State and Federal
agencies and the Alaska Railroad, will construct pedestrian and
bicycle pathways, parking areas, and other improvements to
enhance alternate means of local transportation in our
community. This is also a project which will be an important
part of an area-wide system of trails connecting Sutton to the
north, the Butte and Knik River areas to the east, and Wasilla
and Big Lake to the west. To the south, the project will
connect to a new park-and-ride facility soon to be constructed
at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, using Federal Transit
Administration funds.
In summary, we stress the need for continued and increased
levels of Federal funding for transportation improvements in
Alaska, and for the continuation of programs that allow close
coordination of transportation improvement planning with the
needs of local communities.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today,
and thank you again for convening this hearing in our
community.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. It is a privilege to be here.
You point out that the transportation infrastructure is
simply not keeping up with the growth of this area. Again, we
have been reactive rather than proactive. Do you have any
suggestions on how to get ahead of the curve?
Mr. Cooper. Well, that's a great question. You know, we
have some plans on the drawing board. We do need another north-
south connection that will allow the folks that live halfway
between Palmer and Wasilla to access the Glenn Highway. We also
need another east-west corridor, which we refer to as the
Boulevard East extension, which will reduce the traffic
congestion on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.
I think that those two are probably critical in the very
near future to help resolve some of these problems.
Senator Murkowski. OK. Well, I appreciate your coming.
Let's now go to the Mayor of Wasilla, the Honorable Dianne
Keller. Welcome and good morning.
STATEMENT OF HON. DIANNE M. KELLER, MAYOR, CITY OF WASILLA,
ALASKA
Mayor Keller. Thank you, and welcome home.
Madame Chairman, my name is Dianne Keller. I am the Mayor
of the city of Wasilla, one of the fastest growing cities in
the fastest growing region of Alaska. The 2000 census shows
that Wasilla has grown 35.7 percent since 1990, and 15 percent
last year. This is more than double the statewide Alaska growth
rate of 14 percent during the same decade. That growth rate is
predicted to continue at least 20 years into the future. With
that growth comes an unprecedented demand for basic services,
including roads and water and sewer, the provision and funding
for which this committee has direct oversight.
This unprecedented growth has also led to a major commuting
phenomenon from Wasilla to Anchorage, where many of the
residents of Wasilla and the surrounding borough work.
Approximately 38 percent of the borough workforce commutes, and
this affects Wasilla greatly. Much of this workforce commutes
directly through Wasilla twice a day. The growth and
accompanying congestion is situated in Wasilla and the core
area, as well as north of Wasilla. These commuters have no
choice but to commute directly through our city due to the
current infrastructure that is in place today.
Madame Chairman, my message to you is simple. We need help
and we need it quickly. I know that the State has its
responsibilities under the Highway Trust Fund formula, but it
is clear that the State has its hands full. Wasilla is ground
zero for traffic congestion and I would request that the
committee help the State and local governments to solve this
problem. Here is how I urge this committee to provide the
necessary assistance.
First, fully fund the Highway Trust Fund under the
reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act. This includes
ensuring that 5-year funding will be available for projects in
our area.
Second, provide a fair formula for ``small States'' which
have large needs, even though they may have smaller
populations.
Third, fund construction of the Knik Arm Crossing.
And fourth, provide funding for some local projects which
will assist cities like Wasilla, Palmer, and Houston. One such
project is the transportation corridor that will allow traffic
to travel around Wasilla, with exits into the city of Wasilla.
The transportation corridor should include road and railroad
access that will allow all forms of transportation to travel
through the Wasilla area more safely.
What does this mean for Wasilla? No population in the State
has a greater stake in passage of a 5-year Transportation
Equity Act reauthorization than Wasilla. We can only have some
hope to deal with our local traffic congestion if this bill
passes and is passed on time. If the Knik Arm Crossing is
built, then an even greater congestion problem in and out of
Wasilla may be avoided. Right now, every car which travels from
Anchorage to Fairbanks has no alternative except to commute
directly through Wasilla. This local commuting provides
unmanageable traffic congestion during the morning and
afternoon rush hours. The stream of traffic is long and
dangerous for drivers and pedestrians.
Additionally, this makes it very hard for merchants to
develop a well-managed economy because traffic becomes
gridlocked and people want to avoid these areas. Employment has
grown 73.6 percent in the area in the last decade. We need your
assistance to help plan and manage this traffic today and into
the future.
Madame Chairman, I have submitted for the record two
projects which appear to be local projects; however, they will
assist with the regional transportation needs of the Mat-Su
Valley. The first, Mack Road Drive construction and
improvements, will be the principal exit and approach from
Wasilla to the Knik Arm bridge crossing. This project will also
provide access to the newest major regional project, the city
of Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex. The city is very proud of
this project; it is a $14.7 million project that was locally
bonded. This complex will also be an emergency evacuation
center for residents of the core area in case of a disaster. We
have just begun the land clearing for this project, and after
completion, Mack Road will open up a new access point to this
project, as well as creating a new access point to the Knik Arm
bridge crossing. The Mack Road project has been nominated to
the STIP.
The other project the city of Wasilla has requested funding
for is the upgrading of Lucille Street. This project is also a
major road upgrade which will reduce the amount of traffic on
the Parks Highway and Main Street in Wasilla. I have discussed
this project with the Mat-Su Borough and we all agree that we
need more north-south road corridors for the public to use for
daily commuting, as well as for evacuation routes in case of
emergencies like the Miler's Reach fire in 1996. Again, it is
critical that the committee provide some mechanism for projects
such as these to be included in the Transportation Equity Act.
Madame Chairman, I do not want to take too much of this
committee's time. I know you have had a lot of witnesses.
However, as a resident of the Mat-Su Valley and as Mayor of
Wasilla, I want to thank you for taking the time to come to the
Mat-Su Valley to see our infrastructure needs in person. We
believe that the future of South Central Alaska is critical to
the future of our State and where the majority of growth will
continue in the near and far future.
Thanks again for holding this hearing and allowing me to
make written and verbal testimony on the transportation needs
of the city of Wasilla and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Senator Murkowski. OK. I appreciate your comments about how
some of the projects that you named may appear to be local in
nature, which they are, but the impact that they have on the
transportation corridor as a whole, which accesses literally, I
mean, going from the furthest south that you can go, you've got
to be going through Wasilla. Until we do something with the
Knik Arm Crossing, there's no way to avoid that, and so we've
got a bottleneck right in the middle of the State in your
community. We do need to figure out a way to address that.
We are kind of in an interesting situation, though, with
the prospect of the Knik Arm Road and what that may or may not
bring to your community. There are some who follow the logical
progression up north to be intersecting or coming into the
parks highway right about Houston. That's bypassing Wasilla,
which for probably many of your residents would be a blessing,
although for some it will be a concern. It will be a
consideration. I know that the new highway, with the
reconstruction that's going on out there, there are those that
have had their businesses literally pushed off to the side of
the road and may or may not be able to make it. So I hope that
it's not something that your residents are fearful of in terms
of being kind of scooted off the main highway system. I think
that that's probably the direction we're taking with the Knik
Arm Crossing initially.
Mayor Keller. I believe that this is an opportunity to add
depth to our community in that the borough is pretty much laid
out in a certain form because of the evolution of development
along the highway, and this is a golden opportunity to add the
depth to our community that I have been hearing people talk
about.
One of the projects, though, that I would like to request
that is not on the STIP is a project that we have talked about
with DOT as well as the Alaska Railroad would be a
transportation corridor that would go around Wasilla to allow
people that do not want to stop at Wasilla to travel through
the area in a safer manner without having to go directly into
our city limits. That would be a wonderful aspect to our
community, and the business centers of our community also have
agreed that this would be a good thing because people just
don't like to stop and shop. That is one of the things that we
would like to look at and have been talking to the railroad as
well as DOT to provide that.
But I look at the Knik Arm Crossing as a wonderful
opportunity for Amasa Borough, for the city of Wasilla, and for
the city of Houston.
I would like to note--I think it was an oversight--that
Mayor Dell Adams from Houston was not added to our agenda, and
I do know that he has a written testimony. If you would please
accept his written testimony, I think he would be very
appreciative of that.
Senator Murkowski. We certainly will be doing that. As we
recognize, there are a lot of people who were not here today to
testify simply because we couldn't accommodate every community
within the State, and I think they would have appreciated the
opportunity to personally give their comments. I thank you for
coming back to Washington last week and bringing out some of
the priorities that we've heard here today.
That does conclude the testimony from our invited
witnesses. I would remind all of those who are here who think
that there are others who should present written testimony, you
are certainly welcome and encouraged to do so. The record will
be kept open for 2 weeks for additional testimony to come in.
Mr. Qualters has apparently posted at the front door where you
are to submit the testimony. I believe the details are there.
We've heard testimony on a wide variety of transportation
projects, not just the highways. We've heard about the ports,
marine, a little bit, a little bit on aviation, a little bit on
the trail system. And so I would encourage you, as you present
your proposed additional comments or testimony, not necessarily
limited to just these issues. If there's something, specific
projects that you think need to come before the committee, I
would certainly welcome and encourage that. We in Congress--
certainly the colleagues who will never have an opportunity to
come up here and really view firsthand Alaska's situation and
our transportation infrastructure need to have a better
understanding of the breadth and scope of our transportation
needs, so the more details that we can present to the committee
I think the better we will all be.
I would like to note we have been joined by the Wasilla
Lake Christian School students. They joined us to watch the
proceedings. They didn't get to watch the full bit of it, but I
welcome you and thank you for spending a little bit of your
school day to come and join us.
With that, again, I would like to personally thank all of
you who have come to give your testimony this morning, those
who have come to listen. What we're talking about right now is
so vital, is so critical to the economic development of this
State.
As I've stated and as was reiterated by many people here
this morning, we simply can't have economic development in
Alaska if you don't have adequate transportation systems,
adequate access, if you don't have affordable energy. Quite
often we can't get to affordable energy unless we have access
and unless we have the skilled workers. It is truly the three-
legged stool for development.
It is important that we get our message out loud and clear
that first things have to be put first, and that's the
transportation. So to hear the testimony this morning, to hear
the areas of need, and to have that presented to the record for
the committee to take up as we address this in the legislation
that will be coming forward has been more critical, most
important, and certainly most welcome.
I thank all of you and look forward to the opportunity to
speak more about the individual projects in your respective
areas.
With that, we will conclude the hearing. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 12 o'clock noon, the committee was
adjourned, to reconvene at the call of the chair.]
[Additional statements submitted for the record follow:
Statement of Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman, State of Alaska
On behalf of Governor Murkowski and I welcome to Alaska! Senator
Murkowski. Welcome home! Thank you for taking your time to hear about
Alaska's transportation infrastructure needs.
In Alaska, the vast distances and rugged terrain mandate using
multiple linked modes, including marine, air, and land transportation
systems. Alaska is the largest State in the Union, comprising one-fifth
of the total area of the contiguous United States, yet is has only
13,628 miles of roadways, less than the State of Vermont.
Only a few communities in our State have the variety of travel
modes common to most communities in the Nation. Nearly 90 percent of
Alaska's communities depend on aviation for year-round access. These
non-roaded communities rely entirely on aviation for food, groceries,
health care supplies, mail and transport to urban Alaska and elsewhere
in our country.
We must continue building and upgrading our entire transportation
infrastructure, including airports, marine highways, harbors, roads and
railroad to provide services to Alaskans and our visitors. Improvements
to transportation in Alaska should offer benefits including access to
resources, work opportunities, lower costs, safety and consolidation of
health and education services. These improvements are vital to our
economic growth and security.
It is difficult to convey to those for whom Alaska is not home what
it is like to rely on an airplane for a medevac in a remote community.
My chief of staff has had the experience of waiting . . . and waiting .
. . while a helicopter transporting a patient receiving CPR flew the
shoreline for 45 minutes in blowing snow because the pilot could not
see anything else. If the weather had been a little worse, the
helicopter could not have made the trip. A road in that region would
provide additional access between those communities. When the phone
lines go down because of high winds, that reduces a remote community's
options for delivery of health care--because not only will the
community likely be out of reach of advanced medical advice, but the
planes won't be flying either.
I was raised in this beautiful State and in my professional life
before becoming Lieutenant Governor practiced actively as a civil
engineer. I have traveled extensively throughout Alaska and am quite
familiar with our transportation needs.
At its core, our Administration's primary mission is to build a
robust, growing economy that contributes to our nation's security, food
and resource needs. We want good job opportunities, so families can
care for their needs and our young people may stay in Alaska. To do so
new and improved infrastructure is needed across our State. This
includes the State acquiring historic transportation rights of way.
This is something we have been actively pursuing for years.
Access improvements will bring many benefits to Alaskans, which
most communities in the 48 contiguous States take for granted. Expanded
access to and through Alaska's communities, on a regional basis, will
make a difference in the quality of life of Alaskans by improving
access to health care and reducing the cost of living (groceries, power
costs, building supplies). The economies of scale built through access
will allow government investments in schools, bulk fuel farms, health
clinics, airports and harbors to serve multiple communities.
In summary, thank you for your interest in Alaska's transportation
needs. Governor Murkowski and I look forward to working with you to
resolve them. Thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony and
for taking your time to visit Alaska. It is my hope your experiences
while here will help you understand the challenges Alaskans continue to
face daily.
__________
Statement of Commissioner Mike Barton, Alaska Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities
Senator Murkowski, thank you for giving us the opportunity to share
with you and your committee some of Alaska's transportation needs.
As Lt. Governor Leman pointed out, due to the size of the State and
the relative immaturity of our infrastructure, transportation plays a
more critical role in the lives of Alaskans than in any other State.
Nowhere else in the United States is the cost of an apple, a trip to
the doctor, or the ability to access raw materials more directly
affected by transportation.
We Alaskans like to tell everyone about how unique our State is. A
common story that we like to tell those from the other 49 States is
that if Alaska were cut in half, Texas would be the third largest State
in the Union. As you can imagine, this geographic scale presents some
difficult challenges for those of us responsible for building,
operating, and maintaining our State's transportation systems.
In addition, geographic diversity is an opportunity for us. Because
of our diversity, Alaska is, by far, the leader in providing multi-
modal transportation services to our residents. From the Alaska Marine
Highway System in Southeast Alaska, to the roads and highways of
Southcentral and Interior Alaska, to the snowmachine trails in Rural
Alaska, to the ports and harbors of our Coastline, to the many airports
that connect our State, Alaska's transportation system remains an
essential element of growth and opportunity.
To that end, Governor Murkowski has pledged to develop new
transportation infrastructure while continuing to improve the existing
infrastructure. The Governor has identified four key projects that we
recommend for high priority funding. Those projects are: The Gravina
Island Bridge in Ketchikan, the Juneau Access Project, the Knik Arm
Crossing in Anchorage, and the Bradfield Canal Road Project in
Southeast Alaska.
The Gravina Island Bridge project connects the community of
Ketchikan with Gravina Island, where the Ketchikan Airport is located.
This direct link will improve travel times, costs, and convenience, as
well as remove the need to maintain and operate two ferries. The bridge
also provides access to new lands that are suitable for residential,
commercial, and industrial purposes. This project received startup
funding as a TEA-21 high-priority project.
The Juneau Access Project will improve surface access to the
State's capital. A 65-mile road along the Lynn Canal is the State's
preferred alternative. The EIS for the project is expected to be
completed in early 2004. The project is an essential link in the new
regional transportation system. It will improve shipping and travel
times, while reducing costs to the State and the public.
The Knik Arm Crossing will connect Anchorage with the Matanuska-
Susitna Valley via a new highway and rail bridge. This project will
significantly reduce travel times between the State's three main
population centers Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Mat-Su Valley and will
help to spur economic development. The Department is currently
conducting an engineering feasibility and cost estimate study on this
project. The department seeks funding to move this project through the
environmental and permitting phases.
The Bradfield Canal Road Project would provide road access from
Southeast Alaska to the Cassiar Highway in British Columbia and on to
the contiguous 48 States.
In addition to these four projects, the Governor has also
established two new programs to develop new roads in rural Alaska.
These programs develop Community Access Roads and Economic Development
Roads. These programs will provide new transportation links to and
between communities and new access for the development of the State's
vast natural resources. Federal assistance in funding these programs is
also of national importance since Alaska lands contain vast raw
materials needed for our economy.
In addition to high priority projects, Alaska has other needs that
could be addressed during reauthorization. It is critical that several
provisions of TEA-21 be retained, including:
Firewalls and Funding Guarantees
Congress should retain the existing firewalls and funding
guarantees for the highway and transit programs, but refine the Revenue
Aligned Budget Authority mechanism to prevent negative adjustments as
long as there is a positive balance in the Highway Trust Fund.
Alaska Flexibility [23USC118(e)] Federal law allows Alaska to spend
Federal highway funds on any public road. This provision is important
for providing basic road improvements in rural Alaska.
Interstate Design Standards and Maintenance Exemption [23USC103(c)]
TEA-21provided exemptions for Alaska's non-conforming interstate
system. Without these exemptions, Alaska would not be able to receive
Federal highway funds.
Ferries Several provisions provide funding for ferries and
terminals and should be retained. Alaska would also benefit from
Congress addressing several new issues during reauthorization,
including:
Expedited Permitting Congress should build on the efforts of TEA-21
by reforming the NEPA process, clarifying the responsibilities of
participating Federal agencies, and adopting a flexible approach to
wetlands protection associated with highway development in Alaska where
there is a high proportion of the watershed that is already wetlands.
Planning and Conformity Congress should provide more flexibility
with regard to update cycles for planning and funding documents
required by the State and its Metropolitan Planning Organizations.
Maintenance The State's obligation to the FHWA and Federal
Government for maintenance oversight should extend no more than the
design life of the project for roads other than interstate and NHS.
This is particularly important for the smaller communities in Alaska
that receive a one-time Federal-aid funded upgrade.
Funds Transferability Transferring funds from one Federal
transportation agency to another is often the most efficient means to
manage a large complex project with funding from two or more agencies.
Alaska has intermodal needs that often use funds from two or more
agencies.
For the benefit of the committee, I have submitted comments with my
written testimony on general principles that are important to Alaska
with respect to reauthorization. I also look forward to working
separately with the Alaska delegation on specific provisions.
In closing, Alaska is a unique State with sizable and varied
transportation needs. It is critical that we continue to receive
Federal support to expand and improve our transportation systems.
__________
Statement of Jeffrey B. Staser, Federal Co-Chairman, Denali Commission
Thank you Senator Murkowski, for the opportunity to add my
observations to your deliberations on transportation infrastructure in
Alaska.
Nowhere is establishing an integrated transportation system more of
a challenge than throughout the remote regions of Alaska with no access
except by plane or boat. 223 of Alaska's 227 remote communities are
federally recognized tribes, representing some 20 separate Native
American cultures[1]. Many of these communities are over 1,000 miles
from their State capitol, dispersed along 38 percent of the nation's
shoreline and over 20 percent of its total landmass. All face a major
physical impediment to economic self-sufficiency isolation.
Recognizing that isolation has retarded basic community development
throughout Alaska since statehood, in 1999 the Denali Commission Act
created a partnership among State and Federal agencies to address the
most persistent rural infrastructure problems. The Denali Commission
seeks to implement its discrete goals through effective collaboration,
and recognizes that private capital investment and lucrative jobs are
attracted by competitive economic advantage. And everyone knows that
such investment is rarely attracted to communities which lack access to
the marketplace.
I urge the committee to work with the Administration to bring
national leadership into focus on Alaska's transportation challenges
and would encourage the committee to consider how the Denali Commission
might play a role in developing and implementing an effective overall
State-Federal combined strategy for transportation in Alaska.
Transportation is the tie that binds an economy together. A strong
and efficient transportation system provides businesses with access to
materials and markets, and provides people with access to goods,
services, recreation, jobs and other people.
As most members of this committee know, Alaska's communities have
experienced severe economic distress as a result of job dislocation due
to business closures and job layoffs in the timber and fishing sectors,
and disincentives to development of Alaska's world class mineral, oil
and gas resources. Even the seasonal and lower paying tourism sector
has been impacted by world and national events beyond anyone's
expectations. Quite simply, large groups of people, in some cases
overnight, have found themselves out of work.
To address this dramatic downturn, the Governor and his cabinet,
and the Denali Commission is working with Federal agencies in an effort
to help the most dramatically impacted communities get back on their
economic feet.
The President and Governor Murkowski have charged all agencies to
focus on coordinated efforts, greater accountability for results, more
efficient delivery of services and more effective execution of budget
priorities. I am happy to report that coordination between the Denali
Commission and its many government, non-profit and private sector
partners is working. However, a missing link to achieving adequate
health care, lower energy costs, and access to jobs across Alaska
remains the State's challenges to developing an integrated
transportation infrastructure.
Transportation is a strategic investment that is essential to
strengthen Alaska and enable its people to become economically self-
sufficient. I believe Alaska's rural communities can attain real
economic improvement with an integrated transportation system that
moves people, goods, information and services safely and efficiently.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony. Your
continued interest and first hand experience with Alaska's unique
challenges provides hope and encouragement to hundreds of the Nation's
most isolated communities.
__________
Statement of Alaska State Representative Beverly Masek
Senator Murkowski, members of the committee, welcome to Alaska! For
the record, my name is Beverly Masek, and I am currently the co-chair
of the Alaska House Transportation Committee.
The opportunity to come before you today causes me to think about
what is the mission of the U.S. Department of Transportation. In my
mind it is to ensure a safe, accessible and convenient transportation
system that meets the national interests, Alaska's statewide and local
interests, and improves the quality of life of everyone.
Transportation in Alaska is very unique. As a former Iditarod Trail
dog musher I can personally attest that in this year of 2003, modes of
transportation here in Alaska remain primitive on the one extreme, to
reasonably modern on the other.
From the west coast of Nome to the interior city of Fairbanks, the
primary transportation link is by either boat, 4 wheeler or walking in
the summer, to snow machines and sled dogs in the winter, or in the
modern sense, by aircraft. No road exists.
From the north slope community of Deadhorse to the Southcentral
community of Homer, the road transportation system consists of gravel
highways to two lane roads to a modern four lane stretch of highway.
Each is unique in both form and structure.
In Southeast Alaska, the marine highway system serves as the
primary mode of transportation that connects each community, including
the capital city of Juneau.
The primary method that brings everything together is airports. Air
service provides the vital link to most communities in Alaska.
What can the US Department of Transportation do to help Alaska
build and grow? There is no question that Federal funding for
transportation projects and infrastructure development is vital to the
growth of this State. Specifically, the Knik Arm crossing, connecting
Anchorage with the Mat-su valley via a new highway and rail link, is by
far the most costly, yet the most important project that can and should
be completed. Anchorage, being bordered by mountains to the south, east
and north, and bordered by cook inlet to the west, has pretty much
grown to capacity. Not only will this crossing reduce the transit time
into Anchorage, it will open the vast acreages of the western peninsula
to both business and residential development. This link is vital to the
future growth of Southcentral Alaska and I would encourage any avenue
for funding available be pursued to make this great endeavor a reality.
In western Alaska, community access roads would be a big step
forward in starting to connect our remote communities. Later on, these
communities could hopefully be linked to the Alaska highway system.
These new links will also enhance development of our vast resources,
helping reduce dependence on Canadian and other foreign minerals and
resources.
In Southeast Alaska, their economic survival depends upon a road
link to the Cassia Highway via Bradfield Canal is critical. Also, a
road link to our State capitol, via either the Taku Channel or Lynn
Canal is vitally important to connect all Alaskans with their State
government.
But lets not just focus on roads. The airport system in Alaska is
crucial to our economic vitality, not just to provide important links
between communities, but to provide job opportunities for Alaskans. For
example, at Ted Steven's Anchorage International Airport, cargo tonnage
is 4t'' in the entire nation. This capacity can be increased
substantially by alleviating all cargo transfer restrictions among the
airlines utilizing the facility. This is a very high priority for us.
It will also enable aviation carriers to bring America's imported
commodities to other U.S. markets in a more timely manner, thus holding
the line on costs of goods. We are working hard to create expanded
opportunities for both U.S. and foreign cargo carriers. Enhancements to
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport that will enable larger and
more frequent landings are crucial to economic stability in Alaska.
As you consider reauthorization of TEA-21, at a minimum the Alaska
exemptions and flexibility provisions must be preserved. If not for
those exemptions, most of the needed transportation infrastructure in
Alaska could never be built.
In closing, among your colleagues on the committee, the word rural
will have different meanings, depending on where they are from. For
example, if I lived in Vermont, and took State Route 4a from Castleton
to Rutland, I would consider that rural. In Alaska, when you think and
understand rural, you think of how to hitch up the dog team, catch the
next flight, or find fuel for your snow machine. It is a vastly
different concept and with your understanding of this concept, will
come the understanding that without continued and substantial Federal
funding and support, Alaska is inhibited in its ability to become a
modern State by expanding and improving our transportation systems.
Thank you all very much for coming here to Alaska to listen to and
understand the complexity of transportation needs and issues faced by
all Alaskans.
__________
Statement of Trefon Angasan, Co-Chair, Board of Directors, Alaska
Federation of Natives
INTRODUCTION
Madam Chair, Honorable members of the U. S. Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works, ladies and gentlemen:
For the record, my name is Trefon Angasan, Co-chair, Board of
Directors of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN). As you may already
know, AFN is a statewide Native organization formed in 1966 to
represent Alaska's 100,000+ Alaska's Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts on
concerns and issues which affect the rights and property interests of
the Alaska Natives on a statewide basis.
On behalf of AFN, it's Board of Directors and membership, thank you
very much for inviting me to submit my comments regarding the
transportation infrastructure needs in Alaska, and in particular, as
these needs impact rural Alaska. It is a privilege and honor to testify
in front of your committee.
I ask that this written statement and my oral comments be
incorporated into the record of this public hearing. I further request
that the record of this hearing remain open for at least 2 weeks so
that representatives of the Alaska Native Community may submit their
comments regarding this issue as well.
Rural Alaska is a home to more than 200 villages; and in many of
these villages, unemployment ranges from 60 to 80 percent. Many of the
people in rural Alaska are unemployed and will remain unemployed, not
because they do not want to work; but because there, for all practical
purposes, no jobs, other than jobs provided by the village
corporations, IRAs, and other governmental agencies in rural Alaska.
ANCSA CORPORATE LANDS
Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (ANCSA), enacted into law on December 18, 1971, Congress
authorized transfer of 44.5 million acres of land back to the Alaska
Natives through their ANCSA Corporations. ANCSA promised, in part, that
the settlement of the claims of the Alaska Natives against he Federal
Government ``should be accomplished rapidly, with certainty,
inconformity with the real economic and social needs of Natives . . .''
[1]
To date, none of the village and regional ANCSA corporations
created pursuant to ANCSA has received their full land entitlements.
One of the reasons of this delay is the lack of funds needed for the
survey of the lands selected by the ANCSA corporations.
The ANCSA Corporations, and in particular, the regional
corporations selected their land entitlements based on natural
resources explorations they conducted on the withdrawn lands from which
they may select their land entitlements. Red Dog mine on NANA Regional
Corporation is an example of a successful land selection process by a
regional corporation. One of the primary reasons why the Red Dog mine
is a success is access to the land where the zinc is located.
Not all of the ANCSA lands with natural resources potential are
being developed at the present time. Two of the primary reasons for
this are lack of affordable electricity and lack of infrastructure in
place. The case in point on this is the Donlin Creek properties. It is
estimated that Donlin Creek property has 11 million measured and
indicated ounces of gold with a cutoff of 1.5 grams of gold per ton.[2]
CREATING JOBS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
New studies undertaken by the Alaska Federation of Natives show
that little has changed since 1994, when the Alaska Natives Commission
concluded in its final report that ``acute and chronic'' unemployment
was undermining Native society. Simply put, Alaska Natives need more
jobs and economic opportunities, in both the urban areas (where many
people have migrated to because of the depressed economic conditions in
their home communities) and in rural Native villages.
DEVELOPING TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
One of the means of creating jobs and economic development
opportunities in rural Alaska is access to affordable electricity as
well as the development of transportation infrastructure.
I believe that improving transportation infrastructure in rural
Alaska is a critical corner stone to promoting economic development
opportunities in rural Alaska. It will result in improved access; lower
the cost of living where it is really needed; increases export
opportunities, enhances mineral, oil and natural gas exploration and
will help to stimulate economic activities in rural Alaska.
2002 ANNUAL CONVENTION OF ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES
The Alaska Native Community recognizes that the transportation
needs of rural Alaska are one of the paramount needs that exist and
should be addressed in such a manner that their best interests are
addressed. To that end, the delegates to the 2002 Annual
CONVENTION OF AFN PASSED THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTIONS UNANIMOUSLY:
1. RESOLUTION 02-08, NEW ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGE TRANSPORTATION
INITIATIVE: This resolution, in part, requests Alaska's congressional
Delegation to consider the inclusion of a new Alaska Native Village
Transportation Initiative in the Congress's TEA 21 Reauthorization. The
creation of this initiative would guarantee, in part, that Sec. 2(b) of
ANCSA is implemented for the best interests of the Alaska Natives.
2. RESOLUTION 02-34, A RESOLUTION REAFFIRMING THE DIRECTION OF THE
ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES STAFF TO TAKE ACTION TO RELAX THE U.S.
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS POLICY: One of the
biggest impediments of construction of navigational systems that would
provide safe travel to and from the villages is the Cost/Benefit
Analysis Policy of the Corps of Engineers. This resolution calls the
Corps of Engineers to view the projects in rural Alaska with a more
relaxed approach they use when they view projects in the rest of the
United States.
3. RESOLUTION 02-38, INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS PROGRAM REGULATIONS,
POLICIES, FUNDING AND MANAGEMENT: The Delegates to the 2002 Annual
Convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Inc, urges that the
Secretary of the Interior to issue fiscal year 2003 IRR program funds
in the same manner as fiscal year 2002 including administrative
capacity building funds; that the funding method for distribution of
IRR program management and oversight funds to the 12 BIA Regional
offices, including the Alaska Region, must be equitable distributed so
that all federally Recognized Tribes can expect to receive a comparable
level of BIA service from the ``6 percent'' IRR program management and
oversight funds; and finally, the establishment of a policy that
requires BIA Department of Transportation to collect required data for
the fair and equitable implementation of the IRR formula from all
Regions, and requiring it assist and/or gather the required information
for non responsive, non-reporting Regions prior to the implementation
of the IRR funding formula for any given year.
4. RESOLUTION 02-39, DISTRIBUTION METHODOLOGY FOR fiscal year 2003
INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS (IRR) PROGRAM: The Delegates to the 2002
Annual Convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Inc., that the
method for distributing IRR program funds in fiscal year 2003 should
include Administrative Capacity Building funds in the amount of $35,000
per tribe; and
5. RESOLUTION 02-40, Reauthorization of the Transportation Equity
Act for the 21St Century (TEA-2 1) Including the Indian Reservation
Roads (IRR) Program: The delegates to the 2002 AFN convention urges
that the reauthorization legislation clearly specify that the IRR
Program is fully subject to PL 93-638 contracting/compacting at all
levels and that the program may be contracted according to tribal
formula shares; that the delegates support an increase in the
Department of the Interior Appropriations for the IRR Road Maintenance
Program to no less than $127 million annually in a manner which does
not reduce appropriations to other BIA programs; and that the funding
method for distribution of IRR program management and oversight funds
to the 12 BIA Regional offices, including the Alaska Region, must be
equitable distributed so that all federally Recognized Tribes can
expect to receive a comparable level of BIA service from the ``6
percent'' IRR program management and oversight funds.
I ask that my statement and all its attachments be incorporated
into the record of this hearing. The attachments are as follows:
1. Copies of the resolutions I cited in this testimony;
2. Copy of February 7, 2003 letter from Mr. Dimitri Philemonof,
President and CEO of the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Inc.
(APIA) to Julie Kitka, President of AFN. In this letter, Mr. Philemonof
defines the transportation and transit needs of APIA region;
3. Copy of February 14, 2003 letter from Mr. Terry Hoefferle, COO
of Bristol Bay Native Association (BBNA) to Julie Kitka, President of
AFN. In this letter, Mr. Hoefferle defines the transportation and
transit needs of BBNA region; and,
4. Copy of March 11, 2003 letter from Ms. Loretta Bullard,
President of Kawerak, Inc. to Julie Kitka, President of AFN. In this
letter, Ms. Bullard defines the transportation and transit needs of
Kawerak region.
Finally, please review each of the letters I attached to my
statement as they define the transportation and transit needs of these
regions of Alaska.
Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions
concerning this statement, I can field them now.
ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES, INC.
2002 annual convention
RESOLUTION 02-08
TITLE: NEW ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGE TRANSPORTATION INITIATIVE
WHEREAS: Rural Alaska is decades behind the rest. of the United
States in regard to basic community road infrastructure; and
WHEREAS: Many villages have totally unimproved road infrastructure,
experience annual flooding, dust control problems, and other problems;
and
WHEREAS: The existing Indian Reservation Roads program has never
adequately served Alaska or met more than a small fraction of the road
construction. needs of Alaska Native villages; and
WHEREAS: Having adequate road infrastructure is essential to any
economic development and for health and safety; and
WHEREAS: The State of Alaska encompasses about 1/5 the land mass of
the rest of the United States but has the least mileage of roads; and
WHEREAS: Two-thirds of the communities of Alaska have no outside
roads access.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Delegates to the 2002 Annual
Convention of the Alaska Federation Natives, Inc., that it requests the
Alaska congressional Delegation to include a new Alaska Native Village
Transportation Initiative it the reauthorization of the national
highways bill.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that.the Alaska Native Village.
Transportation Initiative should, to the maximum extent feasible,
provide for the following:
1. Local tribal or regional control of planning, project selection,
and construction.
2. Native contracting authority pursuant to PL 93-638.
3. An annuitized maintenance fund for village roads projects.
4. Adequate training for construction and maintenance of village
transportation infrastructure.
ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES
2002 annual convention
RESOLUTION 02-34
TITLE: A RESOLUTION REAFFIRMING THE DIRECTION OF THE ALASKA
FEDERATION OF NATIVES STAFF TO TAKE ACTION TO RELAX THE U.S. ARMY CORPS
OF ENGINEERS COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS POLICY
WHEREAS: The Alaska Federation of Natives Convention adopted
resolution 99-48 which called for the Alaska Federation of Natives to
work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Alaska
congressional Delegation to relax the cost benefit policy, and
WHEREAS: Efforts were undertaken to implement resolution 99-48,
however, the process requires a renewed effort to change the Federal
cost benefit policy and its application to rural Alaska Native
Villages, and
WHEREAS: A similar resolution was adopted by the AFN Convention in
2001; and
WHEREAS: That the AFN staff report to the AFN Board of Directors on
the progress in the implementation of this resolution, and
WHEREAS: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grants funding based on a
cost/benefit analysis policy, and
WHEREAS: Rural Alaska communities that need projects to protect
their communities infrastructure or to enhance economies are denied
funding based on the cost/benefit analysis, and
WHEREAS: Rural Alaska communities with predominantly small
populations and economies will not qualify for projects funded by the
UPS Army Corps of Engineers based on the cost/benefit analysis, and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the Convention of the Alaska
Federation of Natives calls for action to relax of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers cost/benefit policy; and, .
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Alaska Federation of Natives works
closely with the Alaska congressional Delegation, U.S Army Corps of
Engineers, National Congress of American Indian and other Federal,
tribal, regional, and State agencies to relax the cost/benefit analysis
of the Corps to permit the construction of the rural Alaska
infrastructures.
SUBMITTED BY: NATIVE VILLAGE OF UNALAKLEET
COMMITTEE ACTION: DO PASS TIER 2
CONVENTION ACTION: PASSED
______
ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES
2002 annual convention
RESOLUTION 02-38
TITLE: INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS PROGRAM REGULATIONS, POLICIES,
FUNDING AND MANAGEMENT
WHEREAS: Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, the
highway legislation enacted in 1998, tasked the Secretary of the
Interior to develop the Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) program
regulations and a funding distribution formula under a negotiated
rulemaking process; and
WHEREAS: The IRR program can provide funding to Alaska Native
villages and communities which traditionally have been particularly
underserved in regards to transportation and road infrastructure; and
WHEREAS: A Federal notice for proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the
IRR Program, 25 CFR Part 170, was published in the Federal Register on
August 7, 2002; and
WHEREAS: The final rule regarding the IRR program funding formula
is unlikely to be implemented until fiscal year 2004; and
WHEREAS: Several provisions of TEA-21 directly affect the Indian
Self Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA), Public Law
93-638, as amended by tribes to contract Indian Reservation Road
projects,
WHEREAS: The Secretary of the Interior may only release fiscal year
2003 IRR funds in accordance with a formula established under a
Negotiated Rulemaking which includes representation from Alaska; and
WHEREAS TEA-21 authorizes $1.6 billion for the Indian Reservation
Roads Program for fiscal years 1998-2003,
WHEREAS: The IRR program management and oversight funds are
provided to the 12 Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Regions to provide
for inherently Federal IRR functions including IRR program technical
assistance; and
WHEREAS: The BIA has historically distributed funds for IRR program
management and oversight to the 12 BIA Regional Offices based on the
old relative need formula, a method that does not take into account the
difficulty in providing services to the 228 Alaska Native Villages; and
WHEREAS: The Alaska Native Villages have not received an equitable
level of BIA inherently Federal services when compared to the Tribes
from other BIA regions; and
WHEREAS: The BIA Alaska Region Office have been unable to provide
Central Office all required IRR road inventory and construction cost
data for Alaska's tribes as required for fair and equitable
distribution of IRR funds nationally; and
WHEREAS: The IRR Negotiated Rulemaking committee did not consider
the method for distributing IRR program management and oversight funds;
and
WHEREAS: The BIA has a policy currently in place that limits the
number of miles at can be added to the BIA's IRR Inventory to 2 percent
per year; and
WHEREAS: Most Native Villages in the State of Alaska do not have an
IRR inventory that identifies at a minimum all community streets or,
primary access routes; and
WHEREAS: The most current IRR Inventory Update for Alaska has 57
tribes with a Cost-to-Improve of zero; and
WHEREAS: The amount of funding to Alaska Native, Villages for 2
percent tribal transportation planning is less than $3,000 per year as
distributed by the region; and
WHEREAS: The IRR Maintenance Program is grossly under funded;
WHEREAS The purpose of the Indian Reservation Roads Program is to
provide safe and adequate transportation and public road access to and
within Indian reservations, Indian lands, and communities for Indian
and Alaska Natives, and others, while contributing to economic
development, self-determination, and employment of Indians and Alaska
Natives,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Delegates to the 2002 Annual
Convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Inc, that the Secretary
o the Interior be urged to issue fiscal year 2003 IRR program funds in
the s me manner as fiscal year 2002 including administrative capacity
building funds; and
LET BE IT RESOLVED that the delegates support the Tribal
Transportation Allocation methodology developed by the IRR negotiated
rulemaking committee which provides for a minimum allocation of IRR
Program funds to all federally Recognized Tribes and the establishment
of High Priority Projects to provide for tribes that would not generate
enough funding under the funding distribution formula to construct
their highest priority project within the period of the transportation
authorization; and
BE IT RESOLVED that the delegates support the elimination of the
BIA policy to limit increases to the IRR inventory for funding purposes
to 2 percent o per year, and that at a minimum all IRR Inventories
should include for funding purposes all community streets and all
primary access roads or trails; and
BE IT RESOLVED that the delegates support an increase of no. less
than. $100 million annually in the Department of the Interior
appropriations for IRR road maintenance without harming other BIA
programs, and that a method .for equitable distribution should be
tasked to the IRR program coordinating, committee identified within the
NPRM; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the funding method for distribution of
IRR program management and oversight funds to the 12 BIA Regional
offices, including the Alaska Region, must be equitable distributed so
that all federally Recognized Tribes can expect to receive a comparable
level of BIA service from the ``6 percent'' IRR program management and
oversight funds; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the delegates support, the
establishment of a policy that requires BIA Department of
Transportation to collect required data for the fair and equitable
implementation of the IRR formula from all Regions, and requiring it
assist and/or gather the required information for non-responsive, non-
reporting Regions prior to .the implementation of the IRR funding
formula for any given year.
SUBMITTED BY: KAWERAK INC., ASSOCIATION OF VILLAGE COUNCIL
PRESIDENTS
COMMITTEE ACTION: DO PASS TIER 2
CONVENTION ACTION: PASSED
______
ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES, INC.
2002 annual convention
RESOLUTION 02-39
TITLE: DISTRIBUTION METHODOLOGY FOR fiscal year 2003 INDIAN
RESERVATION ROADS (IRR) PROGRAM
WHEREAS: The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-
21), the highway legislation was enacted in 1998 and is valid through
fiscal year 2003; and
WHEREAS: TEA-21 required the development of a distribution formula
for the IRR program through a Negotiated Rulemaking process; and
WHEREAS: The final rule for an IRR funding formula is not yet
available and is not expected to be available for fiscal year 2003; and
WHEREAS: In fiscal year 2000, fiscal year 2001, and fiscal year
2002 the distribution methodology for the IRR program was done on an
interim basis as negotiated by the IRR Neg-Reg committee; and
WHEREAS: The amount of 2 percent Tribal Transportation Planning
funds available to tribes within the State of Alaska has been
insufficient to perform viable transportation planning; and
WHEREAS: The method for distribution for both fiscal year 2001 and
fiscal year 2002 included special funding for Administrative Capacity
Building in the amount of $35,000 per tribe to those tribes that
applied; and
WHEREAS: The Administrative Capacity Building funds were
desperately needed and greatly appreciated by the Native Communities
within Alaska;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Delegates to the 2002 Annual
Convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Inc., that the method
for distributing IRR program funds in fiscal year 2003 should include
Administrative Capacity Building funds in the amount of $35,000 per
tribe; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Delegates to the 2002 Annual
Convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Inc. direct the Alaska
Contingent of the IRR Neg-Reg Committee to negotiate for the
continuation of the $35,000 Administrative Capacity Building funds and
provide this resolution as formal comment to the IRR Co-Chairs, the IRR
Neg-Reg committee, the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs, and the
Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration.
SUBMITTED BY: KAWERAK INC
COMMITTEE ACTION: DO PASS TIER 2
CONVENTION ACTION: PASSED
______
ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES
2002 annual convention
RESOLUTION 02-40
TITLE: REAUTHORIZATION OF THE TRANSPORTATION EQUITY ACT FOR THE
21sT CENTURY (TEA-21) INCLUDING THE INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS (IRR)
PROGRAM
WHEREAS: The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-
21) is the current highway transportation legislation through which
federally funded road construction is authorized; and
WHEREAS: TEA-21 was enacted in 1998 and is valid through fiscal
year 2003, but must be reauthorized by Congress in 2004; and
WHEREAS: TEA-21 includes authorization for the Indian Reservation
Roads (``IRR'') Program, which is the Federal program appropriated to
the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) and administered by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that provides roads construction funds
to Indian tribes, including Alaska Native tribes; and
WHEREAS: TEA-21 required the development of IRR program regulations
and funding formula through a negotiated rulemaking process, and the
work product of this process was published in the Federal Resister as a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (``NPRM'') on August 7, 2002; and
WHEREAS: Alaska Natives tribes have been historically underserved
by the IRR program due to lack of IRR road inventory data, incorrect
application of cost data by the BIA, and other problems with the
administration of the program by the BIA; and
WHEREAS: The NPRM addresses many of the problems in the operation
of the IRR program, but the Federal members of the committee blocked
development of regulations for several significant areas of concern,
and not all problems related to the funding distribution were
addressed; and
WHEREAS: Some of the remaining problems in the IRR construction
program are:
The IRR inventory the BIA uses to distribute funding does
not include even minimally complete road inventories from Alaska Native
villages;--BIA has effectively ``locked out'' Alaska tribes by imposing
a policy limiting the miles that can be added to the BIA's IRR
Inventory to 2 percent per year;
Alaska's actual road construction costs are not applied
in the ``cost to construct'' portion of the IRR funding formula;--The
amount of funds available to the BIA Regions for program management and
oversight is inequitably distributed;
The ``2 percent tribal transportation planning'' funding
has been on average less than $3,000 per tribe per year in Alaska and
is inadequate to address even basic planning;
BIA continues to resist full applicability of PL 93-638
to IRR funds; and
WHEREAS: The BIA Roads Maintenance Program, which is currently
outside of TEA-21 and funded in the Department of the Interior
appropriations, is grossly under funded nationally at $26 million per
year; and
WHEREAS: There are other programs within the reauthorization of
TEA-21 that could better serve the tribes through direct access of the
programs at the U.S. Department of Transportation; and
WHEREAS: A national TEA-21 Reauthorization Task Force sponsored by
the National Congress of American Indians has developed a national
tribal position on TEA-21 reauthorization, that includes:--increasing
IRR appropriation to $500 million per year;
Additional tribal set-asides for the Federal Transit
Authority and other programs within FHWA;
Increases to bridge funding;
Various technical corrections to the administration of
the IRR program;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Delegates to the 2002 Annual
Convention of the Alaska Federation of Natives, Inc., that they
support, in general, the national position of the NCAI Reauthorization
Task Force in regard to funding increases, additional tribal set-aside
programs, and technical corrections to the administration of the IRR
program; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Delegates request specific
legislative changes to the IRR program that require the BIA to:
1) Develop IRR road inventories for each Alaska Native village,
including at a minimum all village streets, primary access roads and
trails, and economic enhancement projects identified by the tribe, and
to use such inventories in the funding distribution for the IRR
program;
2) Use actual construction cost data from Alaska when applying the
IRR funding formula and to update such data annually;
3) Continue the allocation of Administrative Capacity Building
funds at $35,000 per tribe throughout the authorization period; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the reauthorization legislation clearly
specify that the IRR Program is fully subject to PL 93-638 contracting/
compacting at all levels and that the program may be contracted
according to tribal formula shares; and.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the delegates support an increase in
the Department of the Interior Appropriations for the IRR Road
Maintenance Program to no less than $127 million annually in a manner
which does not reduce appropriations to other BIA programs; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the funding method for distribution of
IRR program management and oversight funds to the 12 BIA Regional
offices, including the Alaska Region, must be equitable distributed so
that all federally Recognized Tribes can expect to receive a comparable
level of BIA service from the ``6 percent'' IRR program management and
oversight funds.
SUBMITTED BY: KAWERAK, INC
COMMITTEE ACTION: DO PASS TIER 2
CONVENTION ACTION: PASSED
__________
Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, Inc.
201 E. 3d Avenue
Anchorage, Alaska 99501, February 7, 2003
Ms. Julie Kitka, President
Alaska Federation of Natives
1577 ``C Street, Suite 300
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
Re: Rural Alaska Transportation Needs/Projects Dear Ms. Kitka:
The Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association is pleased to respond to
your request for a list of high priority transportation needs in the
Aleutians and Pribilofs region. Attached to this letter you will find a
list of priority projects by community, but which have not been
prioritized on a region-wide basis.
As you are aware, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal
Highway Administration have made planning funds available to tribes
under the Indian Reservation Roads Capacity Building program. The
tribes in our region have utilized this temporary funding to address
long-range transportation planning, update and correct roads into the
BIA road inventory system, and do cooperative' inter-agency planning at
the local, State and Federal level. In addition, to the projects listed
on the enclosed priority list, our villages have identified a need for
continued funding for transportation planning at the local level.
Efficient, viable and safe transportation is vital to the well-being of
the residents of our region who live in some of the most remote and
difficult to access' areas of Alaska.
We look forward to working with you on the transportation needs for
Alaska Natives. Please feel free to contact Bobby Jo Kramer,
Transportation Planner, at (907) 276-2700 if you have any questions
regarding transportation issues in our region.
Sincerely,
Dimitri Philemonof
President and CEO
__________
ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES, INC.
1577 ``C Street, Suite 300 Anchorage, Alaska 99501
MEMORANDUM
TO: AFN Board of Directors
FROM: Julie Kitka, President
RE: Rural Alaska Transportation Needs/Projects
DATE: January 22, 2003
AFN staff held a Roads Strategy Meeting on January 21, 2003 to
continue our efforts in creating employment and economic development
opportunities for Alaska Natives and Alaska Native organizations in
transportation and related fields. One major discussion was to find
ways and means to assist The Honorable Don Young, Chairman of the U. S.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to establish highway
and transit projects in the State of Alaska.
AFN is willing to consider incorporating the transportation needs
of the Alaska Natives into the Alaska statewide high priority
transportation plans; however, we think that it is in the best
interests of the Alaska Natives to work directly with Chairman Don
Young of Alaska in establishing the high priority transportation needs
of the Alaska Natives on their own merits. In doing so, we feel that
the Alaska Native Community would be able to establish local and Native
control leading to Alaska Native hire in the development of
transportation needs of the Alaska Natives in rural Alaska.
Please furnish AFN your existing high priority transportation needs
from your respective region. In defining the transportation needs of
your region, include where they are needed, a brief description of such
needs and include a brief justification for each need. We will
incorporate what you send us into what we would characterize as
statewide Alaska Native Highway and Transit Needs. Once this is
established, we will submit this package to the Honorable Don Young for
his consideration.
During the course of this meeting, the participants decided that
Alaska Federation of Natives would act as a clearinghouse for the high
priority transportation needs of the Alaska Natives, and Julie Kitka,
President would be in charge of this clearinghouse on behalf of
AFN.
A major priority of the Denali Commission in 2003 is to establish a
statewide transportation system for Alaska. To this end, then Senator
Frank Murkowski introduced S. 3106, the ``Denali Transportation System
Act.'' This bill would have amended the Denali Commission Act of 1998
such that it would be authorized to deal with statewide transportation
infrastructure by incorporating the urban and rural highway and transit
projects in the State of Alaska.
Attached, please find the following for your review:
1. TEA 21 REAUTHORIZATION: This is a copy of a letter written by
Congressman Don Young and James L. Oberstar to the U. S. House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure requesting the committee
members to identify specific surface transportation projects that would
improve surface transportation in the districts of the committee
members.
2. TRANSPORTATION NEEDS SUMMARY: This document summarizes the
various transportation needs throughout the State of Alaska.
3. Rural Transportation Plans: This document was used by the Alaska
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities in briefing the
Denali Commission on its rural transportation plans.
4. Denali Commission Quarterly Meeting: This is briefing paper on
Rural Transportation Plans for Alaska on the issue of Community and
industrial transportation needs in rural Alaska. The last three pages
of this document lists the Department of Transportation's High-Priority
List and identifies the projects under the Project Title.
5. Copy of S. 3106: This is a copy of a bill that was introduced
during the second Session of the 107th Congress. This bill would amend
the Denali Commission Act of 1998 by establishing the Denali
transportation system in Alaska. This bill died when the 107th Congress
adjourned. This bill may be reintroduced in its present form during the
108th Congress.
I am looking forward to hearing from you concerning the high
priority transportation needs of your respective regions as soon as
possible.
Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions
concerning this memo, please call me at AFN. In my absence, please ask
for Nelson N. Angapak, Sr. of my staff. He is working with me on this
issue.
__________
BRISTOL BAY NATIVE ASSOCIATION
Dillingham, AK 999576, February 14, 2003
Julie Kitka, President
Alaska Federation of Natives
1577 ``C'' Street, Suite 300
Anchorage, AK 99501
Re: Bristol Bay's Transportation Needs Dear Julie:
Please consider this letter a summary of our region's
transportation needs.. We're pleased to see that AFN will be working
with Representative Don Young and the Denali Commission to address
transportation infrastructure needs in our State.
We view improving transportation in our region as a critical comer
stone to promoting economic development. It results in improved access;
lowers the cost of living; increases export opportunities; enhances
mineral, oil, and natural gas exploration and development (which will
lower our region's extremely high energy costs), and will help to
stimulate economic activity in our region. With the Bristol Bay area
having been declared an economic disaster four out of the last 6 years,
there's,a strong need for employment opportunities in our region.
Our highest transportation priority is to address our region's
fisheries transportation needs. Despite our fishery experiencing severe
economic problems, we anticipate our fishery to play a vital role in
our region's economy.
A. All-tide docks, boat ramps, and staging areas:
Our region's salmon fishery once had as many as 24 salmon buyers
(many of whom were floating processors) however we're now down to about
7 or 8 salmon buyers (now mostly shored-based processors). If Bristol
Bay's salmon runs begin to rebound and the returns come back strong, we
envision the need to move salmon as quickly as possible from tenders to
either on-shore processing plants or airports for shipment to world
markets.
Improving access for cargo and fish delivery is essential for our
coastal fishing communities--not only to stimulate local economic
activity and create jobs, but to also improve upon raw fish landing
taxes. The region's lack of all-tide docks, boat ramps, and staging
areas also has a direct impact on salmon quality. At times, salmon
tenders must wait up to six (6) hours on Bristol Bay's high tidal
conditions before they can deliver salmon to shore-based processing
plants. Many of our coastal villages that get freight via barges during
the summer months need larger facilities and staging areas to
accommodate the transfer of freight.
1. Togiak Dock & Staging Area: $ Unavailable
The city of Togiak would like to construct a dock and staging area
in their village to enable barges to offload cargo in their community.
This facility will be constructed near the community's old cannery.
2. Togiak All-tide Boat Ramp, Staging Area, and Access Road: $
Unavailable
The city of Togiak has plans to construct an access road to a
deepwater site located west of the village and would like to construct
an all-tide boat ramp and staging area at the site. This project would
enable the community to improve their access to the fishing grounds to
help diversify their fishing economy. The Togiak fishing district not
only produces salmon and herring but is rich with shrimp, crab,
yellowfin sole, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and other species.--Without
these combined projects, Togiak fishermen must wait on tidal conditions
to access shore-based plants and their community
3. Dillingham All-tide Dock: $4.1 million
The city of Dillingham has plans to construct an all-tide dock.
This dock will be build where the old Dillingham Cold Storage dock
currently exists and is no longer being, used. It will be located
adjacent to the existing container dock. It will extend seaward 100
feet beyond where the old cold storage existed, and the face of the
dock will reach the minus 4 foot tide mark for the area. It will be
build out of steel and be 5 feet lower than the old cold storage dock
to facilitate greater cargo handling for the community--determined at
up to 18 hours per day.
4. Chignik Public Dock: $4 million
Despite being a hub community for 5 communities in the Chignik
area, this community does not have a public dock. This project will
construct a new public dock/port facility that consists of an all tide,
deep draft, 300 foot heavy capacity dock, boat lifts, eight acres of
uplands for storage, cargo handling, fish processing and boat repair,
and facilities to accommodate the Alaska Marine Highway System. The
design and permitting process are nearly complete.
5. Naknek All-Tide Dock: $5 million
The Bristol Bay Borough wants to construct an all-tide dock in
Naknek. Plans for this facility will include temporary boat mooring
accommodations. The face of the dock structure will extend to the edge
of the existing river channel to accommodate limited capacity low tide
access. Basic services provided at the facility will include fuel,
water, ice and electricity to the dock structure. It will also provide
upland development facilities that will include as a minimum: Public
parking, restrooms, laundry, showers and fish processing. The site
should ideally be located such that additional land area is available
to include future expansion and development for value-added fish
processing and other related commercial development. Preliminary
project design and construction cost goals are to be about $5 million.
6. Perryville Cargo Dock: Estimated @ $1.8 million
The community of Perryville has been trying for years to obtain
funds to construct a cargo dock near their community. To date the
community uses a towed landing craft that is park on the beach in front
of the village to haul cargo, however this barge cannot be used during
windy onshore conditions. The community would prefer to use steel
pilings to construct the dock, however is willing to utilize
interlocking metal sheets filled with cement to haul cargo on. The
construction of this dock would enable the ferry, system that travels
between Chignik and Sand Point to stop at their community.
B. Airports: 6,000-foot runways in each commercial fishing
district:
Area communities want 6,000' runways so goods can be flown in
directly from Anchorage instead of being shuttled through hub
communities, and salmon can be flown directly to both domestic and
international markets. These 6,000' runways are considered critical to
communities in the western part of the region because the State
Department of Transportation (DOT) has no long-term plans for
construction of roads between these communities. Every major fishing
district in our region should have at least one 6000' airstrip, paved
and lighted to enable the movement of fish and heavy cargo into and out
of that district.
Many villagers pay in excess of 200 percent for the same loaf of
bread or gallon of milk, etc, when compared to Anchorage's store prices
(most ``fresh items'' are simply not available). Fuel oil and gasoline
follow suit with costs per gallon well in excess of $2.50 to $4.00.
Extremely high electrical costs are yet another direct result of short
airstrips, due to limitations on the number of gallons smaller
aircrafts are able to transport on a ``per flight'' basis. Additional
flights have to be made to fly in fuel in sufficient quantities to get
the smaller communities through the winter months. This drives the
costs up dramatically.
Villagers in our region who live only a few miles apart are unable
travel to the village ``next door'' due to costs of flights or lack of
scheduled air transportation. Not only is this a safety issue, the lack
of adequately sized runways limits the size/capacity of aircraft that
can be used to provide needed fuel, groceries and deliver and/or
backhaul freight (fish). The result is a lower standard of living due
to a much higher than average ``cost of living''
To date, Dillingham has a 6,400-foot airport; King Salmon has a
cross-strip airport that measures 4,000 feet and 8,500 feet
respectively; and Egegik recently had a 5,600-foot airport constructed.
1. Togiak Airport Extension and Cross-strip Completion: $
Unavailable
The community of Togiak, which is the second largest community in
the region, would like to complete the extension of the cross-strip
that is currently closed. The Bureau of Indian Affairs recently
upgraded the roads in the community, and began to construct a cross-
strip however did not complete the project because funds were
exhausted. The cross-strip is only 1,920 feet long. The community has a
4,400-foot east and west airport that should be extended to 6,000 feet
to accommodate ``Herc-able'' cargo planes to fly salmon out from the
community.
2. Chignik Airport Lighting & Resurfacing: $1.4 million
The community of Chignik would like to install airport lighting and
resurface its 2600'x 60' runway, taxiway and apron with 9'' of new
gravel.
3. Clark's Point Airport Completion & Extension: $ Unavailable
In 2002, DOT began constructing a new airport in this community,
which is located in the hub of Nushagak's commercial fishing district,
however had to stop its construction because a section of the airport
kept settling. This particular airport should be completed and extended
to accommodate large cargo planes to land in the community and fly fish
out.
4. Pilot Point Airport Extension: $ Unavailable
The community of Pilot Point serves as the hub community for the
Ugashik commercial fishing district. It recently had a new 3,280-foot
airport constructed, however the community needs an airport that is at
least 6,000 feet long to enable large cargo planes to fly salmon out.
C. Roads:
Roads should be constructed from hub or regional airports to
villages nearby. Villages need to be & deserve to be connected by road,
if not to the outside `road system'' at least to the closest hub or
regional airport. In many cases, four wheeler trails exist between
villages and usually follow the best routes due to local knowledge of
the terrain, impacts from rivers, winds, etc. Many of these trails
should be examined and where possible, improved and made into at least
seasonal roads adequate enough to transport fuel and freight over
during the summer and fall.
1. Williamsport/Pile Road: Roads $10 million/(including port
facilities) Corps $3.9 million
The Lake and Peninsula Borough has been working to get the
Williamsport/Pile Bay road and bridge upgraded. This one-lane road has
been used to haul Bristol Bay commercial fishing boats between the Cook
Inlet area and Bristol Bay, however the bridge is too small to
accommodate most of today's larger 32' vessels. Plans are to make it a
two-lane road and increase the size of the bridge to accommodate larger
boats. To improve on accessing the road at Williamsport on the Cook
Inlet side, the Army Corps of Engineers would need to dredge the area.
Once this route is upgraded, freight costs to the Iliamna Lake area
communities is expected to decrease substantially. The Lake and.
Peninsula Borough has agreed to maintain the road.
2. Iliamna/Nondalton road: $5 million
This DOT project will complete the road link between the
communities of Iliamna, Newhalen, and Nondalton. The project has been
``work in progress'' since the 1970's and the road is substantially
complete for 13 miles to the proposed bridge site at the Newhalen
River. The project consists of road improvements from the Iliamna
airport to the bridge site (13 miles), a one-lane bridge over the
Newhalen River, and significant improvements for the remaining 2 miles
to Nondalton. Engineering and permitting activities are almost
complete.
3. Anchorage to Bristol Bay road/railroad feasibility study:
Many in Southwest Alaska support some type of ground transportation
connection to Alaska's road system or rail-belt. Such a connection is
discussed in the Southwest Alaska Transportation Plan and should be
pursued with Federal dollars as soon as practical. If the mineral
exploration now occurring within the region proves to be viable,
serious consideration must be given to a transportation inter-tie to
either the road system or the railroad. The community of King Salmon
fully supports the construction of a road or railroad from Anchorage to
their community. This particular feasibility study should include
documentation of village support from communities that are expected to
be impacted (i.e. resolutions of support from all the Iliamna
communities).
D. Expand the Alaska Ferry\1\ System in Bristol Bay.
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\1\1Sec. 2(b) of P.L. 92-2031
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While Southeast, Southcentral, and Alaskan Peninsula communities
located on the Gulf of Alaska enjoy the benefits of the Alaska Ferry
System, no benefits are realized in Bristol Bay. Once the Williamsport/
Pile Bay road and bridges have been upgraded, and dredging is completed
at the Williamsport site, then the Alaska Ferry System can offload
passengers and vehicles at Williamsport.
In the future, there's a need to take a serious look at expanding
the Alaska Ferry System into Bristol Bay served by the ``Blue Canoe''
to Naknek's deepwater dock. From that deepwater dock, smaller, 'high-
speed ferries can be utilized accessing communities around Bristol Bay
and up the Kvichak River to Iliamna Lake area. It makes sense to
incorporate more, smaller, high-speed ferries to enable service to the
Bristol Bay area.
By-pass Mail:
Other than improving transportation needs, there's a need to
protect ``by-pass mail''. Communities depend upon the bypass mail rates
to help keep the cost of living down. Tons of groceries an supplies are
mailed annually to all the villages. It is imperative that the intent
of' the original by-pass mail provision to reduce cost be maintained.
Thank you for your attention on this matter. If you have any
questions, please don't hesitate to call me at 1-800-478-5257 or email
me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Terry Hoefferle, Chief of Operations
Bristol Bay Native Association
__________
Statement of George P. Wuerch, Mayor, Municipality of Anchorage
Good morning madam chair, members of the committee, my name is
George Wuerch and I am the Mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage. I am
here this morning to testify in support of several changes to Federal
laws that impact public works and to champion two specific projects
that I believe will greatly benefit the majority of State residents. I
also want to acknowledge from the outset the tremendous impact that
TEA-21 and its successor legislation has had on this State and this
Nation.
One particular Federal act with which we wrestle is the National
Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, which has had grave consequences for
many of our local public works projects. Because of Alaska's unique
geography, practically every project we undertake requires us to
navigate this cumbersome and costly process.
The Act is not the problem so much as its implementation. It takes
far too long, it is expensive to comply, it invites litigation by
environmental groups, and it is inconsistently implemented by each
agency of the Federal Government. I'm sure the committee has heard
these complaints aired before. But from our standpoint, what's really
missing is recognition of the legitimate role for local government in
the decisionmaking process. NEPA was designed to protect the integrity
of the environment, but it has morphed into a regulatory strait jacket
which supplants the economic needs of the community with agency
preferences for environmental preservation.
Let me be very specific on this issue. The problem lies in the
application of NEPA to local decisions to expand or improve on
facilities that already exist; such as changing highway intersections
and adding traffic lanes to existing roads.
We are stewards of our own community and Congress ought to
recognize that by vesting communities with sufficient authority and
latitude to undertake certain types of transportation projects in a
more efficient manner.
Now that I've outlined some of the difficulties we face in working
with one Federal law, let me move on to a more pleasant topic--how the
Federal Government can assist us in building the infrastructure
necessary for this region to grow and prosper.
A roadless State, such as Alaska, needs be able to apply
traditional transportation funding to some non-traditional uses.
Specifically, we are requesting that TEA-21 funds be allocated for
expenditure on marine component infrastructure. I am not talking about
funding for one-time projects, but rather we seek a reoccurring revenue
stream for marine projects. More than 80 percent of the goods that flow
into Alaska pass over the docks of the Port of Anchorage. Our
municipality is currently pursuing a major redevelopment program at the
Port so it can adequately serve our community, as well as the rest of
the State, for the next half century. You'll hear more about this
project from the Port, but I wanted to touch on the need for programmed
Federal assistance on an ongoing basis, just like most MPOs receive for
roads. Our waterside facilities are critical to this community, the
State and the Federal Government.
I would also like to reinforce the critical need for a road
connection across Knik Arm to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Anchorage
is a city hemmed in by geography and Federal land ownership. While we
continue to build our economy and city, we are painfully aware of the
diminishing amount of land available for development in the Anchorage
Bowl. As an example, Anchorage has less than 7,000 acres of potential
industrial land remaining within the entire
Municipality. By comparison, the Mat-Su Borough has hundreds of
thousands of undeveloped acres just a short mile across the water. Our
two economies are already linked because many of that borough's
citizens are part of our workforce in Anchorage. But in order for the
Mat-Su Borough to take advantage of our existing infrastructure for its
own economic development, it needs this road/rail connection as much as
we do.
As you are aware, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, or MPOs, are
chartered by the Federal Government to make transportation-planning
decisions within their geographic boundaries. Our MPO is known as
Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions, or AMATS. It
would be extremely valuable to our planning process to be able to take
into account the transportation needs of local governments that are
adjacent to our own. In our case, that would be the Matanuska Susitna
Borough and the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Unfortunately, neither of our
sister municipalities qualify for MPO status due to population density
and are not granted the same level of self-determination that we are.
We need, therefore, Federal recognition to assemble and seek funding
for regional priority projects in conjunction with our next store
neighbors.
We also believe that the funded allocation to MPOs should be by
direct transfer from the Federal Government. Passing the money through
State agencies is simply inconsistent with the ideal of local control
in the planning and implementation of transportation solutions. As part
of the State budget process, the non-Federal share could be provided by
statute for any community with an approved MPO.
I certainly appreciate the opportunity to address the committee and
share some of our ideas on transportation issues that affect the State.
I also want to express my appreciation for the committee's work in
Alaska.
__________
Statement of Cheryl Gardner Coppe, Executive Administrator for Port
Development Municipality of Anchorage, Port of Anchorage
Madame Chairperson and members of the committee, thank you for this
opportunity to present testimony on behalf of the Mayor of the
Municipality of Anchorage, George Wuerch and the Director of the Port
of Anchorage, Former Governor William Sheffield. I will discuss the
regional and national importance of the Port of Anchorage and the need
for Federal funding to support the rehabilitation and expansion of the
Port through its Port Intermodal Expansion Project.
Introduction
The Port of Anchorage is a freight and passenger marine
transportation facility of approximately 130 acres. It is Alaska's
regional port a department of the Municipality of Anchorage, but self-
supporting. The Port receives no tax support from the Municipality and,
in fact, pays an annual assessment in lieu of taxes to the Municipality
from its net profits.
Economic Impact
The Port is the keystone and hub of a massive multimodal
transportation system that helps Alaskan businesses remain competitive
with their counterparts in the Lower 48. It is estimated that the Port
contributes approximately $725 million annually to the State's economy.
For this reason, the Port is considered a major economic driver,
serving not only the Municipality of Anchorage. 80 percent of the
State's geographical area receives cargo from the Port that is
transshipped by truck, train, plane and barge to final destinations
throughout the State. The population of this same area receives more
than 90 percent of its consumer goods through the Port of Anchorage.
Additionally, the Port of Anchorage weighs significantly on the
economic security of the Pacific Northwest. The flow of cargo to and
from the Port wields potent indirect economic impacts that affect the
Puget Sound area of Washington because Port of Anchorage operations
drive more than one third of all the cargo operations at the Port of
Tacoma.
Not large by international standards, the Port is recognized as one
of the most efficiently operated container ports on the West Coast and
consistently ranks in the top 25 container ports in North America for
the volume of cargo moved through its facilities. Four million tons of
cargo move annually across the docks and through its marine terminals.
The Port's petroleum terminals serve the communities of South
Central and Western Alaska. Jet fuel used by Elmendorf Air Force Base
and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport also moves through the
Port's petroleum terminals and is transported by pipeline to those
facilities.
National Security Impact
Local military planners recognize the Port of Anchorage as a
``critical node'' and a ``strategic port'' under certain Department of
Defense (DOD) contingency planning scenarios. Because of its strategic
value, location and proximity to neighboring military commands at
Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson, the Port of Anchorage is
a critical component for certain DOD strategic activities concerning
mobilization planning.
For these reasons, the Port of Anchorage entered into a Federal
Port Controller service agreement on April 27, 1987, which is still in
effect. Additionally, the Port maintains close professional working
relationships with the Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC),
Military Sealift Command (MSC), and all local and statewide military
logistics and transportation officials.
During March, 2003, the Port of Anchorage received letters from Lt.
General Carrol Chandler, Commander of the Alaskan Command, and Major
General John Brown of U.S. Army Alaska. These letters endorsed the Port
Intermodal Expansion Project. In particular, the Road and Rail, Barge
Terminal and Harbor Deepening phases of the project will support the
rapid deployment of the Army's new Stryker Brigade Combat Team and
enhance the Department of Defense's ability to more rapidly process
troops and equipment for any worldwide deployment. These near-term
phases of the Port's expansion plans are especially important to the
Stryker Brigade because its operational capability is scheduled for May
2005.
Port Intermodal Expansion Project
The Port is preparing for the near and long-term future needs of
both the State and nation by initiating extensive rehabilitation and
new construction in multiple phases over an expedited schedule from
2003 through 2008 under its Port Intermodal Expansion Project. The
Maritime Administration (MARAD) recently became the Federal Lead Agency
for this project through special legislation passed in the 2003
Consolidated Appropriations Resolution.
The Port states with pride that the Port Expansion development and
administrative concepts it and MARAD will employ are unique and
audacious especially when compared to the customary U.S. Department of
Transportation project delivery processes. This is the first major
marine transportation infrastructure project ever sponsored and
supported by MARAD and the U.S. Department of Transportation. For this
reason, the Maritime Administration and the Port sought to make this
arrangement an ``innovative partnership'' that integrates modes of
transportation water, road and rail into a cohesive system,
exemplifying the type of intermodal, public-private, commercial-
military initiative that will define the U. S. Marine Transportation
System in the 21st century.
The phases of this project include but are not limited to:
Road and rail access development that will provide direct
loading of containers from vessels onto rail cars;
Barge terminal facility and storage areas that will
accommodate military high-speed sealift capability, movement of heavy
equipment and oilfield module construction;
A 1,200-foot multipurpose dock designed to handle a
variety of vessels, including cruise ships. The dock also features new
petroleum piers designed for deeper-draft, double-hull tankers that
will call at the Port;
Rehabilitation and widening of the existing dock to meet
increasing weight requirements and accommodate three new 100-foot gauge
container cranes;
Reconfiguration of all cargo transit, storage yards and
terminals and
Deepening of the authorized dredge depth of the Anchorage
Harbor and Navigation Channel from--35 feet at low tide to--45 feet.
This project phase will occur in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers.
The total cost for all phases of the Port Intermodal Expansion
Project is estimated to be approximately $227 million. Proposed project
shares are: 38 percent NonFederal; 27 percent Appropriations Earmarks
and 35 percent from TEA-21 Reauthorization. The Port currently has $55
million available as contribution toward the anticipated nonFederal
portion of Port Expansion costs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, implementation of the Port Intermodal Expansion
Project will provide the major transportation infrastructure necessary
to move Alaska's Regional Port--the Port of Anchorage--into the future,
meeting commercial and military needs of the State, the region and the
Nation. This project can also become the benchmark for Marine
Transportation System development throughout the Nation. However, the
ultimate success of this project relies on the support of the members
of this committee, their colleagues in both Houses of Congress and
their collective commitment to provide the Federal financial resources
necessary to make it a reality.
Madame Chairperson and members of the committee, this concludes my
statement. I again thank you for the opportunity to testify today on
behalf of the Municipality of Anchorage and the Port of Anchorage. I
will be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
__________
Statement of Carvel Zimin, President, Briston Bay Borough Assembly
I serve as President of Bristol Borough Assembly. We have five
assemblymen, a mayor, and a manager. We were the first Borough
municipality to form in the State of Alaska, in 1962.
My focus today will be on Bristol Bay Borough resolution 2002--16,
priorities one and six.
First the Naknek River Bridge Project. The Borough Assembly agrees
that the single most important thing that could happen to enhance
economic growth of the borough is ``a bridge across the Naknek River.''
Thus its No. 1 ranking.
I personally hand delivered our request to our delegation in
Washington, DC. As you see before you in a letter to the honorable Don
Young dated March 1, 2003, and a Transportation Project Evaluation
Criteria Form.
We believe this project will bring ``real benefits to both the
region and the State'' as a part of the State of Alaska's ``Southwest
Alaska Transportation Plan.''
Residents of the region are in strong support of the project.
Bristol Bay has had some of the world's largest returns of wild,
natural salmon, including the much-prized Sockeye or Red Salmon.
Commercial harvesting of Sockeye has occurred since the 1890's. There
are still numerous large fish processing facilities that will benefit
from completion of a bridge.
Also residents of Bristol Bay would benefit greatly. Currently
school children from South Naknek, 6th through 12th grades, are flown
daily to and from South Naknek to attend high school in Naknek.
Employment opportunities for Bristol Bay Borough residents would
improve along with health care access, and the availability of an all
weather airport by South Naknek residents.
Public Works, Public Safety, Fire and EMS, Community Development
and Support Services, Solid Waste, Schools, Ports, Libraries and
Quality of Life things would benefit from combining services at a cost
savings to the borough, region, and industry.
We would like to see exploration for shallow natural gas,
development, and transfer to our local utility for cheap electrical
generation.
Finally on 6: Improvements to our existing Borough dock would help
tremendously as we are spending close to $200,000.00 per year in up-
keep to our main port of entry for freight.
Normal life span of a concrete and steel piling dock is 20 to 25
years. We are experiencing normal wear at 22 years.
We average 21st ranking for pounds and dollars of all U.S. ports.
This is only canned fish; it does not include containers of frozen
salmon shipped to Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
__________
Statement of Jim Cooper, Mayor, city of Palmer, Alaska
Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for providing this
opportunity for testimony on transportation infrastructure needs in
Alaska. On behalf of the city of Palmer, I welcome you to our community
and hope this hearing and your time in our community is fruitful and
informative.
The city of Palmer is not a large community, but it is
representative of so many communities in the United States that are
experiencing growth and trying to meet the challenges of building and
improving local transportation infrastructure. Palmer has the highest
population density of mid-sized Alaska cities by a factor of two.
Palmer is experiencing an annual growth rate of 7 percent, and the
capacity of our transportation infrastructure is not keeping up with
that growth.
Palmer is served by the Glenn Highway from the north and south, the
Old Glenn Highway from the east, and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway from
the west. The Glenn Highway, a Federal interstate highway, passes
directly through Palmer. All of these roads, including local Palmer
city streets, have experienced tremendous increases in usage in recent
years, and all of these roads are in need of capacity and safety
improvements.
Traffic on the Glenn Highway south of Palmer has increased one
hundred percent in 10 years and has reached levels that suggest it be
improved from its present two lanes to four lanes. Traffic on the
Palmer-Wasilla Highway has increased fifty percent in 10 years,
creating the need for either a major capacity improvement or
construction of another parallel route.
The need for these projects has been identified for some time.
These projects and many others are listed in the State of Alaska's
statewide Transportation Improvement Program, or STIR Yet years pass,
traffic and congestion increases, and these projects are bumped back
again and again in the STIP schedule, often due to an overall level of
funding that is not sufficient to address transportation needs on a
timely basis. We believe that the current level of Federal highway
funding is not adequate to meet the growing, and increasingly deferred
transportation needs of our area.
As we plan for improvements to the Glenn Highway through Palmer, a
Federal interstate highway, there is a compelling need to design those
improvements so they enhance, rather than divide our community. Also,
the Glenn Highway has recently been designated as a National Scenic
Byway. Because of this designation and to recognize the needs of our
community, the city of Palmer, in cooperation with the State of Alaska,
hopes to develop an urban boulevard design for the Glenn Highway
through Palmer. This approach will combine pedestrian facilities and
landscape improvements with roadway capacity improvements so this
project fits into our community.
In regards to local roads, Palmer has had several local projects
listed in the STIR The City has worked with the Alaska Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities to construct some of these
projects. Our success in some of these projects has been due to a high
level of local participation. The City believes some local projects can
be done on a more timely, cost effective and efficient basis if project
funds are transferred to the local municipality through a memorandum of
agreement.
There are other important transportation elements that deserve
continued attention and funding. The city of Palmer is involved in a
project funded through a Federal Highway Administration Transportation
and Community and System Preservation (TCSP) program grant to improve
the Alaska Railroad right-of-way through Palmer. This Urban
Revitalization project, made possible by a partnership of State and
Federal agencies and the Alaska Railroad, will construct pedestrian and
bicycle pathways, parking areas, and other improvements to enhance
alternate means of local transportation in our community. This is also
a project which will be an important part of an area-wide system of
trails connecting Sutton to the north, the Butte and Knik River areas
to the east, and Wasilla and Big Lake to the west. To the south, the
project will connect to a new park-and-ride facility soon to be
constructed at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer using Federal Transit
Administration funds.
In summary, we stress the need for continued and increased levels
of Federal funding for transportation improvements in Alaska, and for
the continuation of programs that allow close coordination of
transportation improvement planning with the needs of local
communities.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today, and
thank you again for convening this hearing in our community.
__________
Statement of Mayor Dianne M. Keller, city of Wasilla, AK
Madame Chairman, and members of the committee, my name is Dianne
Keller. I am the Mayor of the city of Wasilla, one of the fastest
growing cities in the fastest growing region of Alaska. The 2000 census
shows that Wasilla has grown 35.7 percent since 1990 and 15 percent
last year. This is more than double the statewide Alaska growth rate of
14 percent during the same decade. That growth rate is predicted to
continue at least 20 years into the future. With that growth comes an
unprecedented demand for basic services including roads and water and
sewer, the provision and funding of which this committee has direct
oversight.
This unprecedented growth has also led to a major commuting
phenomenon from Wasilla to Anchorage where many of the residents of
Wasilla and the surrounding borough work. Approximately 38 percent of
the Borough workforce commutes and this affects Wasilla greatly. Much
of this workforce commutes directly through Wasilla twice a day. The
growth and accompanying congestion is situated in Wasilla and the core
area as well as north of Wasilla. These commuters have no choice but to
commute directly through our city due to the current infrastructure
that is in place today.
Madame Chairman, my message to you is simple. We need help and we
need it quickly. I know that the State has its responsibilities under
the highway trust fund formula, but it is clear that the State has its
hands full. Wasilla is ground zero for traffic congestion and I would
request that the committee help the State and our local governments to
solve this problem. Here is how I urge this committee to provide the
necessary assistance:
1. Fully fund the Highway Trust Fund under the reauthorization of
the Transportation Equity Act. This includes insuring that 5 year
funding will be available for projects in our area.
2. Provide a fair formula for ``small States'' which have large
needs even though they may have smaller populations.
3. Fund Construction of the Knik Arm Crossing.
4. Provide funding for some local projects, which will assist
cities like Wasilla, Palmer and Houston. One such project is the
transportation corridor that will allow traffic to travel around
Wasilla with exits into the city of Wasilla. The transportation
corridor should include road and railroad access that will allow all
forms of transportation to travel through the Wasilla area more safely.
What This Means for Wasilla
No population in the State has a greater stake in passage of a 5-
year Transportation Equity Act reauthorization than Wasilla. We can
only have some hope to deal with our local traffic congestion if this
bill passes and passed on time. If the Knik Arm Crossing is built, then
an even greater congestion problem in and out of Wasilla may be
avoided. Right now, every car which travels from to Anchorage to
Fairbanks has no alternative except to commute directly through
Wasilla. This local commuting provides unmanageable traffic congestion
during the morning and afternoon rush hours. The stream of traffic is
long and dangerous for drivers and pedestrians. Additionally, this
makes it very hard for merchants to develop a well-managed economy
because traffic becomes gridlocked and people want to avoid these
areas. Employment had grown 73.6 percent in the area in the last
decade. We need your assistance to help plan and manage this traffic
today and into the future.
Madame Chairman, I have submitted for the record two projects which
appear to be local projects, however they will assist with the regional
transportation needs of the Mat-Su Valley. The first, Mack Road Drive
construction and improvements will be the principal exit and approach
from Wasilla to the Knik Arm bridge crossing. This project will also
provide access to the newest major regional project, the city of
Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex. The City is very proud of this
project; it is a $14.7 million project that was locally bonded. This
complex will also be an emergency evacuation center for residents of
the core area in case of a disaster. We have just begun the land
clearing for this project and after completion Mack Road will open up a
new access point to this project as well as creating a new access point
to the Knik Arm bridge crossing. The Mack Road project has been
nominated to the State Transportation Improvement Plan (STEP).
The other project the city of Wasilla has requested funding for is
the upgrading of Lucille Street. This project is also a major road
upgrade that will reduce the amount of traffic on the Parks highway and
Main Street in Wasilla. I have discussed this project with the Mat-Su
Borough and we all agree that we need more North-South road corridors
for the public to use for daily commuting as well as for evacuation
routes in case of emergencies like the Miller's Reach Fire in 1996.
Again, it is critical that the committee provide some mechanism for
projects such as these be to be included in the Transportation Equity
Act.
Madame Chairman, I do not want to take too much of this committee's
time. I know you have had a lot of witnesses. However, as a resident of
the Mat-Su Valley and the Mayor of Wasilla, I want to thank you for
taking the time to come to the Mat-Su valley to see our infrastructure
needs in person. We believe that the future of South Central Alaska is
critical to the future of our State and where the majority of growth
will continue in the near and far future. Thanks again for holding this
hearing and allowing me to make written and verbal testimony on the
needs of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
__________
Alaska State Senator John J. Cowdery
April 8, 2003.
TO: The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before this committee, and
thank you for taking the time to hold this field hearing here in
Alaska.
Economic development is critical for Alaska. The foundation of this
development is transportation infrastructure: roads, railroads,
seaports and airports.
I strongly support the goals of the Denali Commission as expressed
to you by Lt. Gov. Loren Leman.
I respectfully request that you especially consider the value a
Knik Arm Crossing will have for Alaska in connecting two of its largest
population centers: Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Today, these regions remain largely separated because of lengthy
travel time and road choke points. A highway and rail bridge from the
heart of Anchorage to the open land of Point Mackenzie will permit the
kind of environmentally sound development Alaska needs.
In addition, I believe it is important to complete ``the last
transcontinental railroad'' by extending the Alaska Railroad to Fort
Greely, with the final goal being a complete connection to the North
American rail system.
I also strongly support: 1. the construction of pioneer roads,
beginning with a road from Nenana to McGrath, and 2. the expansion and
upgrade of the harbor at Whittier. I believe pioneer roads can prove
valuable in improving the lives of many rural Alaskans. With road and
rail connection in place, and proximity to Anchorage, a world-class
harbor at Whitter could prove a gateway to the export of Alaska's
resources and import of goods from across the Pacific Rim.
Submitted by:
Senator John J. Cowdery, Chair,
Senate Transportation Committee,
Senator for Lower Hillside-South Anchorage.
__________
Statement of Loretta Bullard, President of Kawerak, INC.
Thank you Senator Murkowski and members of the committee for the
opportunity testify. My name is Loretta Bullard and I am President of
Kawerak, Inc. Kawerak is a regional Native non-profit corporation and
consortium of 20 federally recognized tribes in the Bering Straits
Region of northwestern Alaska.
Let me open my testimony by saying thank you. Thank you for holding
this hearing in Alaska and for giving us this opportunity to present
our needs and recommendations. We're pleased that Congress is focusing
attention on our rural Alaska transportation needs.
Kawerak is one of the few tribal organizations nationally and the
only tribal consortium which has contracted to perform the entire
Bureau of Indian Affairs ``Indian Reservation Roads'' (IRR) program
under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. There
is a distinct difference between contracting to construct a particular
Transportation project and compacting to provide the entire IRR
Program. Basically, when you compact the entire program, the compactor
is responsible for the full spectrum of the program, from planning,
inventory and long term transportation plan development, to project
selection, design, scheduling and construction. Kawerak contracted the
entire IRR program in 2001. Effective in 2003, we rolled the IRR
program into our self-governance compact.
I served as one of Alaska's tribal representatives to the national
negotiated Rule-making Committee for the IRR program. This committee
was tasked to develop program rules and a funding formula. We just
completed the final meeting in late March, 2003 and anticipate the
final regulations will be published in time for the 04 BIA IRR fund
distribution.
Alaska's ground transportation system is very undeveloped in
comparison to the rest of the United States. Most villages in rural
Alaska are not connected to the highway system. By noting this,
however, we are not suggesting that the leading transportation need in
rural Alaska is for large-scale connecting routes between villages
(though the need may exist in some areas). Rather, we see the greatest
need in the area of basic infrastructure development at the village
level.
Many rural Alaska village streets are no more than unimproved dirt
paths, and are Third World compared to similarly sized communities in
the Lower 48 States. Virtually any development a village wants to do,
whether it is new housing units, a new landfill, or bulk fuel tanks,
access to a water source, a new sanitation lagoon or gravel site,
requires road development. Unimproved village streets with no winter
snow removal not uncommon in our smaller villages turn into impassable
quagmires during the spring. Once the roads/beaten paths dry out, the
mud turns to dust. Dust from traffic on gravel and unimproved streets
fouls subsistence meat racks, berries and other vegetation and is a
major health hazard for children and the elderly in many of our
villages. I have attached photos of ``streets'' in our villages
(attachment 1) just to give you a sense of what is actually on the
ground in rural Alaska.
Because there are no roads between communities, snow machines are
routinely used for inter-village long distance winter travel. There is
a huge need in Alaska for winter trail staking. Each year lives are
lost due to snow machiners simply losing the trail, falling through
river or sea ice, or freezing to death in arctic blizzard conditions.
Unfortunately, our small city governments have little tax base and
our tribal governments have none at all. Capital improvements are
dependent on outside funding. Village road projects are rarely
constructed by the State DOT, because in many instances, villages are
not able to meet the match requirement.
We respectfully request your assistance to help our villages
develop local infrastructure and to literally get us out of the mud and
into the 21st century. Following are our recommendations.
Indian Reservation Roads Program
We encourage Congress to make amendments to the Indian Reservation
Roads program during the reauthorization process. IRR funding, when it
is available, is an ideal funding source for village Alaska because it
can be used for a local match to leverage other funding sources. IRR
funds and projects can also be administered through Indian Self-
Determination Act contracts, which means that Native hire rules apply
and the project can be run locally. However, there are many unresolved
problems with the IRR program, not least of which is insufficient
funding and unequal access to the program.
The IRR Negotiated Rulemaking Committee worked very hard to develop
rules that would correct some of the problems in the program, including
inventory problems. However, we were not able to address all the
problems in the negotiated rulemaking process and so are presenting
recommendations for your consideration. .
Inventory Amendment. One of the major problems with the existing
IRR program is that the funding formula used to distribute funds
nationally is based primarily on an inventory of IRR routes, and the
inventory has gaping holes. For Alaska villages, a true inventory has
never been prepared. Alaska's ``inventory'' comes from a 1993 BIA Area
Plan, which was a planning document compiled from project requests
submitted by the villages. At the time, the villages were told to
identify one needed project. About 70 villages were not even included
in the 1993 Area Plan. In addition to missing entire Native
communities, the BIA's inventory data has other flaws such as simply
not having complete or current construction cost data for large parts
of Alaska.
We were not able to reach consensus on major changes to the
existing IRR funding formula, but one of our successes was that for the
years fiscal year 2000 through 2002, additional funds were made
available to tribes for planning, capacity building, and related
transportation activities. This was $32,500 per tribe in 2000 and
$35,000 in 2001 and 2002. Prior to this allocation, Alaska Native
Villages received less than $3,000 per year to do transportation
planning from the 2 percent Tribal Transportation Planning funding
pool, which wasn't enough to do much of anything.
This influx of funding meant our villages were finally able to
begin to fully participate in the IRR program--most villages that
received the funds used them to develop their first true inventory of
roads and transportation needs. Kawerak did this collectively for our
villages, but many other villages hired consultants or did the work
themselves.
However, once inventory updates began to be submitted to BIA on a
large scale, we found that the BIA was applying a ``2 percent'' limit
to inventory increases. Having made funds available specifically for
inventory updates and transportation planning activities, the BIA DOT
applied a 10 year old policy to accept only 2 percent of the submitted
inventory increases, calculated annually on a per BIA Region basis. In
Alaska we were limited to 365 miles in the 2001 update (2 percent
accumulated from 1993), and since then, it is about 45 miles per year.
Further, many of the inventory submittals made were not acted upon or
were returned. Imagine the frustration of the villages in Alaska that
used these funds to update their inventories--as they were supposed to,
only to learn after months of waiting that their inventory submissions
had not even been processed.
The current formula and inventory system is based on an implicit
BIA policy decision made more than 10 years ago which concluded the
basic BIA road system had already been built and that future IRR funds
would be used to improve the existing system. The system was defined as
a ``BIA'' system rather a tribal system. The premise was false, since
many Alaska villages had never received IRR funding or construction at
all, much less had their basic road needs identified or addressed.
Alaska Native village were just as eligible by law for IRR services as
any tribe in the Lower 48 States, but had barely been served at all. We
are concerned that, while we specifically excluded incorporating the 2
percent policy into the draft IRR regulations, BIA will continue to
apply the policy, therefore, limiting Alaska to receiving funds based
on an extremely incomplete and inaccurate inventory.
Accordingly, we are requesting Congress to enact a specific fix to
Alaska's inventory problem by requiring that village streets and
primary access routes be included in the BIA inventory, with a
limitation on access routes such that only the route segments within
the village corporation boundaries be included. I have attached a copy
of this language to my written testimony (attachment 2). We believe
this is necessary to put Alaska on an equal footing with tribes in
other areas. In the Lower 48 States the basic inventory of most tribes
had been developed by 1993. In Alaska it was not and the application of
the 2 percent policy, limit unfairly limits our villages to a miniscule
representation of actual need.
Appropriations. Kawerak strongly supports increasing the national
IRR appropriation to at least $500 million annually. The IRR program is
seriously under-funded. The BIA's data identifies the IRR construction
need across the country at $10.8 billion, yet under TEA-21, the IRR
authorization level was $275 million annually. It would take about 40
years to meet the need at that rate. Funding for IRR roads did not
proportionately increase as much as State funding did under TEA-21.
NCAI Proposal
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) sponsored a tribal
working group that developed a series of recommendations for
legislative improvement to the IRR Program. Kawerak staff participated
in this workgroup, even though we are not members of NCAI, as did
several other representatives from Alaska.
In addition to requesting funding increases to the IRR program and
the BIA Roads Maintenance program, which we support, the NCAI draft
makes a number of programmatic changes. We strongly support the
programmatic changes included in the NCAI bill, as well as the funding
increases.
To summarize these briefly, the NCAI bill would:
Establish a pilot program to enable tribal contractors to
contract directly with the Federal Highways Administration rather than
through BIA. We strongly support this, simply because it would
eliminate a ``middle man'' and reduce the bureaucratic processes
necessary to get things done.
Clarify that the IRR program is fully subject to PL 93-
638 contracting on the same basis as other BIA programs. This should
not be necessary after TEA-21, but it still is because the BIA
continues to take the policy position that it can simply label certain
functions as beyond the reach of PL 93-638 contracting without going
through the analysis of whether the activity is question really has to
be performed by a Federal employee. Normally under PL 93-638, a
function or activity of the BIA is subject to tribal contracting unless
it is inherently Federal for constitutional or statutory reasons.
Continue the $35,000 per tribe allocation for
administrative capacity building.
The above is just a portion of the NCAI proposal, which was
intended to be a comprehensive overhaul of the IRR program. It has wide
support nationally. Although much of the proposal deals with funding
increases, I would like to stress that the programmatic changes are
important as well.
Maintenance Funding. I would like to highlight maintenance funding.
The NCAI proposal would create a new IRR maintenance program within the
highway bill, funded at $70 million nationally. It also expresses
congressional intent to increases the DOI appropriation for roads
funding to $127 million nationally, a $100 million increase from
current levels.
Regardless of what amounts are reasonable to expect in funding
increases, poor maintenance of IRR routes is a critical problem. Both
Federal Lands Highways and BIA have a responsibility to ensure that
projects constructed with IRR funds are adequately maintained. On most
IRR facilities, the responsible party for maintenance is the BIA. But
the BIA road maintenance program is funded nationally at only $26-27
million per year. In Alaska very few communities even have access to
these maintenance funds. Road Maintenance is in the Tribal Priority
Allocation (TPA) part of the DOI budget, which means that it is
effectively buried within the overall BIA budget.
Obviously, the construction need for IRR roads is never going to go
down if they are not being adequately maintained. Nationally the IRR
construction program, which should be at least partially for new road
construction, ends up being spent on reconstruction projects that would
not be necessary if maintenance was adequate. We hope that some
increases can be targeted specifically for maintenance.
S. 295, Denali Transportation System Act
We support and appreciate S. 295, which would authorize
appropriations of $450 million per year to the Denali Commission to
develop rural road infrastructure in Alaska. The Denali Commission has
been very effective in targeting dollars to rural needs, and in cutting
through Federal red tape that often exists in regard to construction
projects.
However, we have some concern that if funding at this scale becomes
available, some of the political dynamics driving Denali Commission
activity may change. We would hope that the legislation, or the Denali
Commission itself through its internal processes, will ensure that
local decisionmaking drives the project decisions and that the funding
not be devoted simply to large-scale access projects. We recommend that
a major focus of these funds should be local village infrastructure
needs.
Rather than simply comment on S. 295, we participated in an Alaska
Federation of Natives workgroup that developed separate proposed
legislation, which we have captioned the ``Alaska Native Village
Transportation Program.'' We refer to this as our ``get us out of the
mud'' proposal.
Alaska Native Village Transportation Program
A conceptual version of new legislation for an Alaska Native
Village Transportation Program is attached to my written comments.
(attachment 3) We view this as something that might be melded into the
Denali Commission bill in some fashion, or which could be a new stand-
alone program essentially supplementing the IRR program.
Basically, the proposal would be to appropriate funding starting
with $8 million in 2004, $15 million in 2005, and increasing in $5
million increments until capping at $30 million in 2008 and 2009. Some
key features are:
It would establish Native transportation authorities in each of the
12 ANCSA regions, which could be the existing regional for profit or
non-profit corporations or a new regional tribal entity. The regional
transportation authorities would develop regional transportation plans
and prioritize projects.
It would establish a statewide Native transportation commission
made up of appointees from each of the regional transportation
authorities that would determine funding allocations among the regions
and coordinate transportation planning among the regions and other
government entities.
Funding would be administered by FHWA, but subject to PL 93-638
contracting rules, which would include Native hire, the ability to
match funds, etc.
Funding is phased in order to enable the transportation authorities
and statewide commission to get started and in recognition of the fact
there is a long lead-time in project development and design before
roads go to construction.
Up to 15 percent of funds for construction projects could be
retained for future maintenance.
In developing this proposal, one of our major concerns was simply
that if there is an additional influx of transportation funding for
Alaska, some portion of funds should be specifically targeted to local
village projects. At construction costs in excess of $1 million per
mile for new gravel roads built to Federal standards, even a large
influx of funds could be used on just a few large-scale projects.
Although the creation of regional transportation authorities and a
statewide commission may seem cumbersome, we feel that this is a
realistic balance between the need to spread funding to different parts
of the State, the huge size and differing topography and climate of the
State (map attachment 4), the need to preserve local control and
decisionmaking, while still effectively prioritizing funds and
retaining economies of scale.
We have attempted to keep the good features of the IRR program
without simply asking for an Alaska set-aside of IRR funds. We feel
that the latter would unduly disrupt the national IRR program, and a
set aside of IRR funding would still be subject to all of the BIA
bureaucracy.
In conclusion, thank you for the opportunity to testify. If we can
further explain our legislative proposals, please feel free to call on
us at any time. Thank you.