FY2015-19 Adopting a Federal Capital Improvement Program and Priorities for FY2016 I Introduced by: Manager Cassidy
2 Requested by: Borough Assembly
3 Drafted by: Special Projects Support
Introduced on: 02/19/2015
f 4 Adopted on: 02/19/2015
5
6 KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH
7 RESOLUTION NO. FY2016-19
8
9 A RESOLUTION OF THE KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH ASSEMBLY
10 ADOPTING A FEDERAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AND
11 IDENTIFYING FEDERAL PROGRAM PRIORITIES FOR FEDERAL
12 FISCAL YEAR 2016
13
14 WHEREAS, a capital improvement program has been adopted by the Kodiak Island
15 Borough Assembly that identifies the needs of the community over the next five years; and
16
17 WHEREAS, the Kodiak Island Borough has identified a capital improvement project list
18 to submit to the Alaska Congressional Delegation for funding consideration; and
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20 WHEREAS, the Alaska Congressional Delegation has requested the views of the Kodiak
21 Island Borough on which federal programs should'be considered priorities for rural Alaskan
22 communities and their residents.
23
24 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ASSEMBLY OF THE KODIAK ISLAND
25 BOROUGH that:
26
27 Section 1: The Kodiak Island Borough's federal capital improvement project priorities for
28 federal fiscal year 2016 are as follows:
29
30 1. Kodiak Landfill Wastewater Treatment Plant
31 Total Estimated Cost of the Project: $16,000,000
32 Funding Sources: local and state $14,175,000
33 Federal Funding Request: $1,825,000
34
35 The Kodiak Island Borough's landfill is near the limits of its permitted capacity. To
36 address this problem a lateral expansion project constructing new cells adjacent
37 to the existing landfill is underway. Current Alaska Department of Environmental
38 Conservation regulations implementing the federal Clean Water Act require the
39 new cells to be fully lined to capture all leachate or fluids produced by the waste.
40 The captured leachate will be processed in a newly constructed wastewater
41 treatment plant on-site. This treatment represents an unfunded federal mandate.
42 Federal assistance to communities to comply with this federal mandate has been
43 available in the past through EPA's State and Tribal Assistance Grant Program
44 (the "STAG" Program). The Kodiak Island Borough is seeking the Alaska
45 Delegation's assistance for including a pot of money in the FY '16 Interior
46 appropriations bill to be used for a competitive grant program in rural areas to
47 provide a federal match with state and local funding which is being used to
48 comply with EPA's unfunded environmental mandates.
49
Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Resolution No. FY2015-19
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51 Section 2: The Kodiak Island Borough's views and recommendations on priority federal
52 programs are as follows:
53
54 1. Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes: There are over 2.8 million acres removed by the
55 Federal Government from taxation within the boundaries of the Kodiak Island
56 Borough. This is land that would otherwise be available to the private sector to
57 develop, creating jobs for the residents of Kodiak and the rural Kodiak Island
58 communities. This in turn would create tax revenues for the Kodiak Island
59 Borough. PILT was enacted by Congress to help offset the loss of revenues to
60 municipal entities caused by federal land withdrawals within local government
61 boundaries. The KIB uses these funds to provide basic social services, including
62 medical facilities, emergency fire and rescue services, roads, and schools. The
63 Kodiak Island Borough is seeking the Delegation's assistance in reauthorizing the
64 program for three to five years.
65
66 2. Refuge Revenue Sharing: The National Wildlife Refuge Fund is a critical source
67 of replacement revenue to communities like ours that have the presence of a
68 large Federal wildlife refuge within their boundaries. That presence removes
69 substantial amounts of property from the local property tax base. The share we
70 receive from the Fund is based on a formula that partially compensates us for our
71 tax losses due to the existence of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. The
72 Refuge is over 1.9 million acres in size and therefore has permanently removed
73 from private ownership, development and taxation over half the property on the
74 island. The Kodiak Island Borough is seeking the Alaska Delegation's assistance
75 in providing level funding for this program.
76
77 3. Karluk Lake Enrichment Project: The Karluk Lake system on the west side of
78 Kodiak Island is the largest producer of sockeye salmon in the Kodiak area and
79 supports a large portion of the area's commercial and subsistence sockeye
80 fisheries. Since 2007, returns of adult sockeye to the Karluk system have been
81 extremely poor, most likely due to over escapement of spawning adults in earlier
82 years. Continuing low returns will not only deprive local fisheries, low spawning
83 escapements will also reduce the supply of marine derived nutrients to the lake
84 system. Thus, the system may remain in a low state of productivity indefinitely
85 into the future.
86 In order to bring the Karluk Lake ecosystem back to its earlier, higher level of
87 production, the Kodiak Regional Aquaculture Association (KRAA) proposes to
88 apply nutrients over the course of up to five years. This lake enrichment project
89 follows established protocols for rehabilitating sockeye salmon rearing
90 environments. However, because Karluk Lake is within the Kodiak National
91 Wildlife Refuge and a pre-statehood withdrawal, it appears that approval is
92 required from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
93 The USFWS has issued a draft environmental assessment of KRAA's proposal
94 and has invited public comment. The Borough appreciates the Alaska
95 Delegation's timely comments for the record in support of moving forward with the
96 KRAA proposal. It is the Borough's intent to work with the USFWS and the
97 Delegation in the coming months to advocate for approval of the KRAA proposal.
98
99 4. Groundfish Surveys: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has
100 raised concerns with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about
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101 what appears to be a reduction in the number, the spatial extent and the
102 consistency of the winter and summer groundfish surveys occurring in the Gulf of
103 Alaska. The diminution in these surveys will eventually negatively affect Kodiak
104 fishermen and processors should the North Pacific Fisheries Management
105 Council add additional precautionary buffers to what already exists in the
106 establishment of annual groundfish quotas due to insufficient stock assessment
107 data. A reduction in federal groundfish quotas for pollock, cod, and rockfish
108 would result in lost economic opportunities for Kodiak residents and lower raw
109 fish tax receipts over time. The President's Budget request for Fiscal Year 2016
110 recommends $24,503,000 for the Surveys & Monitoring line item of the National
111 Marine Fisheries Service budget, and increase of$503,000 over the 2015 funded
112 level. The Kodiak Island Borough recommends that the Alaska Delegation
113 support this line item at the proposed funding level .
114
115 5. Federal Subsistence Management And Rural Determination: The Borough is
116 concerned that the review being conducted by the Departments of Interior and
117 Agriculture could result in a change in the definition of rural communities that
118 would eliminate the ability of Borough residents to harvest fish and game on a
119 subsistence basis. The Borough opposes use of a population threshold in
120 making rural determination decisions that would overlook Kodiak's remote
121 location; transportation access limitations; distance and difficulty accessing
122 commercial food stores, particularly in inclement weather; and the long-standing
123 reliance of many of the community's residents on subsistence harvest to feed
124 themselves and their families, among other factors. We request that the Alaska
125 Delegation closely monitor the subsistence management review and at the
126 appropriate time convey these concerns directly to the Departments.
127
128 6. Federal Fisheries Observer Program Funding: While the Kodiak Island
129 Borough recognizes the value of the real time data gathered by human observers
130 placed on local fleet vessels, the cost of the program to vessel owners is
131 excessive. In addition to cost, space and safety become complicating factors
132 when human observers are required to travel and work on the smaller vessels in
133 Kodiak's fleet, especially those less than 30 feet in length. The National Marine
134 Fisheries Service and the Regional Fishery Management Councils are exploring
135 the feasibility of using electronic monitoring technology to complement arid, in
136 some cases, replace human observers. The Fiscal Year 2016 President's Budget
137 request adds an additional $5,596,000 to the NMFS budget for electronic
138 monitoring activities. The Kodiak Borough supports this funding proposal, and
139 requests that the Alaska Delegation advocate for a fair share of these funds to be
140 used in the North Pacific to explore the feasibility of using cameras to monitor
141 fisheries in lieu of human observers.
142
143 7. EPA's "Waters of the U.S." Rule: The Environmental Protection Agency and
144 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are moving forward with a proposed "Waters of
145 the United States" rule that would expand Federal permitting and other
146 requirements to many waters currently regulated by State and Local
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147 governments. The proposed rule would also apply to private landowners. The
148 key change being proposed would expand Clean Water Act coverage to "other
149 waters" where there is a "significant nexus" to currently covered interstate waters,
150 territorial seas and navigable waterways. That determination is meant to be
151 "case-specific" but has not been fully defined and the concern is that "significant
152 nexus" could be interpreted to include floodplains, certain man-made waterways
153 and ditches, self-contained water bodies such as ponds or temporary/isolated
154 wetlands. Under this model, Alaska's extensive acreage of wetlands would likely
155 mean that wetlands and other water bodies, including small streams and
156 tributaries, that are seemingly isolated and geographically far removed from any
157 current CWA-covered waterway would fall under the new definition. The Kodiak
158 Island Borough feels that the proposed rule would add extra layers of
159 bureaucracy to the efforts of Kodiak citizens to use their land and for the Borough
160 to engage in future public works projects. The Borough is requesting that the
161 Alaska Delegation support legislative initiatives to curtail this proposed rule.
162
163 8. EPA's Fishing Vessel Discharge Rule: EPA has promulgated two rules to
164 require commercial fishermen to obtain Clean Water Act incidental discharge
165 permits as a condition for operating both small and large fishing vessels. The
166 permits would cover ballast water, fish hold water, anchor chain mud, deck
167 wash/runoff, bilge pump discharge, gray or "stick" water, laundry, shower, and
168 galley sink water. The permits require burdensome reporting, monitoring,
169 inspections and compliance activities — all subject to heavy fines and citizen
170 lawsuits under the Clean Water Act for what seems to be minimal environmental
171 protection. The Congress has imposed a three year moratorium preventing EPA
172 from implementing the Small Vessel General Permit Rule and the Vessel General
173 Permit Rule. Efforts are underway within the Congress to make the moratorium
174 permanent. The Kodiak Island Borough is requesting that the Alaska Delegation
175 actively support a permanent moratorium.
176
177 9. Homeporting Coast Guard Vessels: The final Omnibus Appropriation bill for
178 Fiscal Year 2015 provided $632 million to build a National Security Cutter("NSC")
179 and $110 million to build two Fast Response Cutters ("FRC"). The Fiscal Year
180 2016 President's Budget Request calls for an additional $340 million to build six
181 FRCS and acquisition funding to begin the Offshore Patrol Cutter ("OPC")
182 program. The Kodiak Island Borough would like to emphasize that Kodiak
183 remains the ideal location for the deployment of NRCs and OPCs, and the
184 clustering of FRCs. Kodiak sits at the crossroads of one of the largest fisheries in
185 the world as well as some of the busiest shipping lanes in U.S. waters. Kodiak
186 offers unmatched geographic advantage for timely mission response and
187 deployment to the myriad of marine incidents in the Alaska area of operation.
188 The Borough recognizes that Kodiak Island also presents unique mission support
189 challenges such as a constraint on housing and mooring facilities. The Borough
190 stands ready to work with the Coast Guard in whatever way possible to keep this
191 location ideal for capital asset placement. The Borough supports the President's
192 Budget Request for Coast Guard vessel construction. We request that the
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193 Delegation actively monitor the Coast Guard's planning process for future
194 deployment of new assets in the Arctic and promote Kodiak as a homeport for
195 these new vessel classes.
196
197 10. Marine Ferries: The Congress is considering the reauthorization of the
198 Federal Highway Trust Fund in the 114th Congress. The Alaska Marine Highway
199 System is a critical element of the interstate movement of passengers and cargo
200 to the coastal communities and coastal villages in the Gulf of Alaska. The
201 TUSTUMENA has less than ten years left on its useful life and is in need of
202 replacement. Marine ferries have a separate sub-account funded as part of the
203 Federal Highway Trust Fund. As the Congress moves forward with its
204 deliberations on reauthorization of the Fund, the Kodiak Island Borough is
205 requesting that the Alaska Delegation make the Marine Ferry sub-account a high
206 priority for increased funding.
207
208 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Kodiak Island Borough administration is hereby
209 instructed to advise Congress and the appropriate agencies of the United States Federal
210 Government of the Capital Improvement Program and priorities adopted by the Kodiak
211 Island Borough Assembly.
212
213 ADOPTED BY THE ASSEMBLY OF THE KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH
214 THIS NINETEENTH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2015
215
216 KODIAK ISLAND B,Q13,OUGH
217 „
218
219
220 ATTEST: rrol Friend, Borough Mayor
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222
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224 Nova M. Javier, MMC, I3�rrough Clerk'
Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska esol do . F 1 -
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