Author: alaskaadmin

Alaska is now in charge of hazardous waste regulation in the state, a task that can be made more challenging by geographic remoteness.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday officially transferred authority for hazardous waste regulation to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. That makes Alaska the 49th state to be granted hazardous waste primacy — the term for primary responsibility for management and enforcement — over the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA.

The applicable federal law is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA.

Before Wednesday, the last state to be granted RCRA primacy was Hawaii in 2001, according to EPA records. Now the only state without RCRA primacy is Iowa, according to the EPA.

The transfer of authority, completed with a signature ceremony, was several years in the making, said Emma Pokon, EPA’s Pacific Northwest regional administrator and a former DEC commissioner.

DEC has assembled a hazardous waste program and team and has created state regulations that became effective a year ago. The Alaska Legislature has made regular appropriations in budgets for the hazardous waste program, which is part of DEC’s Division of Environmental Health.

“The good news is that the state has been implementing the program hand-in-hand with the EPA for the last several years,” Pokon said in a brief interview. “This moment isn’t a new imposition of costs. . . They are up and running. They’re staffed up. They’re trained up.”

Lori Aldrich, the DEC staffer managing the program, is “a gem of a public servant,” Pokon added.

Hazardous waste, as defined by RCRA, include a variety of substances like solvents, petroleum refinery sludges and dioxin-containing materials. Sources range from large industrial and military facilities to individual households.

Alaska in 2023 reported 2,729 tons of RCRA-classified hazardous waste, a total that ranked 48th among states, according to the EPA. The top sources that year, which is the most recent year with data available publicly, were the Petro Star Valdez Refinery, Eielson Air Force Base and a Palmer-based environmental services company that manages such wastes as part of its operations, according to the EPA.

For Alaska, distance poses a major challenge to hazardous waste management, Pokon said.

There are no hazardous-waste disposal facilities in the state, so almost all of the collected materials have to be shipped out for proper disposal, she said. And the shipping has to be timely, she said.

“There are limitations on holding times because of the risks presented by those materials,” she said. “The logistics involved with — once you get something into the community — getting it out, pose specific special challenges.”

Challenges are exacerbated when communities are especially remote or when there are natural disasters, she said. For that reason, hazardous waste management is part of preparation for and response to events like the Mendenhall Glacier outburst floods that now affect Juneau on a nearly annual basis or the Western Alaska floods from ex-Typhoons Halong and Merbok.

The newly formed program at DEC has already been addressing those emergency response tasks, Pokon said.

“One of the great things about DEC having the program is that really it’s been their teams that have been closer to the on-the-ground issues,” she said.

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An Alaska Native “landless” bill the state’s congressional delegation has sought for more than three decades is a Senate vote away from passing both chambers of Congress.

The version sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, advanced to a floor vote earlier this month. Murkowski expressed optimism the legislation on behalf of five Southeast Alaska communities may finally succeed during a visit to Juneau last month for Celebration.

“I think really it is about a measure being ripe for passage, if you will,” she said in an interview. “It has taken us many years to negotiate the maps in terms of identifying parcels. As we know, when it comes to the Tongass, every acre is precious to someone. And so when you’re trying to identify areas that are perhaps outside of your immediate community, it’s challenging. What it has required is years of an open process.”

If the Alaska Native Landless Equity Act passes, the Native residents of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee and Wrangell could form urban corporations and receive land entitlements. Murkowski said the bill fulfills a promise made more than 50 years ago.

Murkowski vowed continued efforts to pass the “landless” bill on June 6 during a Celebration event. The U.S. House companion bill by Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, passed without opposition on June 2.

“I share with people who will not understand back in Washington, D.C — I share with them that perhaps the most significant honor was when I was adopted into the Deisheetaan clan,” Murkowski told the crowd inside Centennial Hall.

She said with her gifted Lingít name Aan Shaawátk’i (Lady of the Land), she bears the responsibility “to care for our land.” 

On July 16, Murkowski announced her bill had advanced to the U.S. Senate floor after passing out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. In 2023, a landless bill introduced by Murkowski passed out of the committee for the first time.

She said the House support in moving the legislation was significant and credited Begich for his efforts.

“We’ve been working with the communities for years now in identifying the parcels to be exchanged,” she told the Independent. “We wanted to make sure that we were working with the House to do an identical measure, so that when it advances through one body, we can try to move it through as quickly as possible.”

On Dec. 18, 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act into law. The law compensated Alaska Natives for the loss of lands historically used and occupied, allowing regional and village Native corporations the right to select 44 million acres of land and appropriated $962.5 million to them. 

The five Southeast Alaska Native communities were excluded from ANSCA, the largest land claims settlement in U.S. history. 

The bill directs the Department of the Interior to convey specified land to each urban corporation. DOI must also convey the subsurface estate for that land to the regional corporation for Southeast Alaska. Each community would receive 23,040 acres of federal land or “one township.” 

The land conveyed to each urban corporation must include any U.S. interest in all roads, trails, log transfer facilities, leases and appurtenances on or related to the land conveyed to the urban corporation.

The bill also allows each urban corporation to establish a settlement trust to promote the health, education, and welfare of the trust beneficiaries, and preserve the Alaska Native heritage and culture of their communities.

“This is what Native self-determination is all about,” Murkowski said. “To make that decision for themselves and for the benefit of their people.”

Alaska’s congressional delegation has introduced “landless” legislation since the early 1990s. Several legislative attempts to recognize the five communities have failed. Murkowski said the current language and circumstances make her hopeful this bill will pass the Senate. 

“Is it a perfect bill? No. Is it one that we have agreement amongst everybody as to the maps? Probably not. But is it a work product that I think we and the communities can stand behind? Absolutely,” she said. “We’re finally to that place where all of that legwork has been done.”

Murkowski said she and her staff have spent extensive time holding meetings in the impacted communities.

She noted support from environmental groups including The Nature Conservancy and The Wilderness Society, who previously opposed the bill.

“While our defense of the Tongass continues, we must correct the injustices faced by certain Native communities in Southeast Alaska,” a March letter from The Wilderness Society states in support of the House companion bill.

In contrast, Murkowski said there’s potential opposition from those who want to preserve lands in federal control.

“I will share that there are some on the other side of the aisle who have reservations about the landless bill because they philosophically disagree that land should go from the federal estate into private hands because they are looking at these areas in the Tongass and saying, ‘All of these need to be preserved, and the best way to preserve that is to keep them in — again — in the federal estate,’” Murkowski said.

She said the support from environmental groups made an impact on her colleagues.

“My observation is that when you return the land to the original stewards of the land, perhaps there’s going to be better balance there,” Murkowski said. “These are people who live and work and raise their families in these areas. Yes, they want to have jobs, but this is a place that they will call home.”

Murkowski added not all of her colleagues in Washington, D.C., understand Alaska Native cultural heritage and stewardship. 

“The best way in my view to educate is to get people up here,” she said. 

Murkowski said when this isn’t possible, leaders from the five landless communities travel to Washington, D.C., and explain why the bill’s passage is important to them. 

She said striking a balance in the Tongass National Forest has long been sought after, and the Sealaska Corp. land settlement proved it’s possible without federal control through its carbon credit program. Sealaska was established in 1972 under ANSCA.

Not all environmental groups support that argument. The Legacy Forest Defense Coalition states, “between 1971 and 2020, Sealaska clearcut nearly all old-growth forests on these lands employing some of the most environmentally destructive logging practices seen anywhere in North America.”

The coalition adds “in an instant, this legislation could condemn these lands to industrial logging and mining projects that would not be subject to public input or oversight.”

Murkowski said one way many Southeast Alaska Native communities want to use the land is by developing greater ecotourism opportunities. 

“I believe that the people who live here are ultimately the best stewards and will determine the future of the region,” she said. 

This story was originally published by the Juneau Independent.

The post Murkowski’s ‘landless’ bill advances to US Senate floor appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

People buying Juneau Symphony tickets don’t pay the city’s 5% sales tax because the organization is a nonprofit. But Executive Director Charlotte Truitt says customers won’t be the only ones paying the price if the Juneau Assembly eliminates that tax exemption.

“We estimate that implementing this ordinance, it would require approximately $2,000 to modify our bookkeeping processes,” she told the Assembly during its meeting Monday night. “And then after that we estimate our bookkeeping cost would continue to increase by approximately $500 every month.”

The symphony would collect about $12,500 in sales tax revenue for the city during the coming year, based on current sales, compared to the organization’s total compliance cost of about $8,000, Truitt said.

“We’re fortunate that we have a bookkeeper who works about 10 hours a month,” she said. “But many of the 263 nonprofits in Juneau don’t have that luxury. They rely on volunteer treasurers or bookkeepers who donate their time because they believe in a mission. They do not have retail point-of-sale systems. This ordinance asks those volunteers to take on an entirely new level of responsibility and liability. Implementing new accounting systems, modifying ticketing and bookkeeping procedures, filing returns, and maintaining compliance all require staff time and professional expertise.”

The proposal by the Assembly to repeal the tax exemption for nonprofits — unless they are government or social service organizations — was put on hold until a Sept. 2 Finance Committee meeting after similar concerns were expressed by several other nonprofit officials and supporters.

Many said the proposed change was a surprise, although it has been among a series of tax modifications Assembly members have been considering during the past couple of months while trying to address a deficit in the city’s budget.

An analysis by the city finance director in May found the nonprofit exemption could bring in more than $3 million more a year — one of the most lucrative options — but changes suggested since then could reduce that amount if more organizations remain exempt.

Bob Urata, a doctor who’s served on numerous nonprofit boards in Juneau, suggested if the Assembly repeals the sales tax exemption there should be “a threshold of maybe a million dollars in annual earned revenues before the collection requirements apply.”

“The issue isn’t whether large nonprofits should contribute,” he said. “The issue is whether the administrative burden is proportional to an organizational size and capacity.”

Other people testifying during the meeting questioned how the city would track and audit nonprofits if they had to collect sales taxes, and what organizations would be categorized as “social service” and thus still exempt from the requirement.

Current city code states the local tax exemption does not apply to pull-tab games by tribes or other nonprofits, and sales by certain city-owned entities such as Eaglecrest Ski Area and Juneau International Airport.

The proposed change was on Monday’s meeting agenda as a possible item for final approval by the Assembly, but Deputy Mayor Greg Smith proposed returning the ordinance to the Finance Committee for further review this fall. The delay was approved unanimously.

“I’ve heard from people, some of whom work extremely close with many nonprofits, just having found out about this like a week ago,” he said. “So it is impactful. Every conversation I have I learn more. I would like to bring it back to our committee worksession to see what people want to do.”

This story was originally published be Juneau Independent.

The post Juneau nonprofits don’t charge sales tax; the Assembly is considering changing that appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.

Early, in-person voting begins Monday for Alaska’s Aug. 18 state primary election, and thousands of voters have already cast absentee ballots by mail.

Regardless of when — or how — Alaskans vote, ballots will be counted starting on election day, according to a preliminary schedule provided by the Alaska Division of Elections. 

Polls close at 8 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time, and the division expects to have the first preliminary results “between 8:45 p.m. and 9 p.m.”

“There are additional results updates that follow but how many or at what time they will be published will vary,” the division said in an information packet given to reporters.

The final unofficial tally will take place Aug. 28, 10 days after election day, and the division expects to certify official results by Aug. 31.

Any recounts must be requested by Sept. 5, and any lawsuit challenging a result must be filed by Sept. 10.

Under Alaska’s election system, voters pick one candidate for each race in the primary election. The top four vote-getters, regardless of political party, advance to the general election in November. If there are four or fewer candidates in a race, all advance to the general election.

In practice since 2022, lower-finishing Republican candidates have preferred to withdraw after the primary rather than compete against another Republican.

The Valley Republican Women, a notable group from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, are running ads this year to promote the strategy. Those ads urge Republicans to “consolidate the vote” and “don’t split the field.”

In races with many competitors, a withdrawn candidate will be replaced by another until there are four options on the ballot or no more replacements are available. Any replacements may themselves withdraw.

The deadline to withdraw after the primary is Aug. 31. 

Normally, ballots cast in person are counted on election day itself. Since 2020, votes cast in person have leaned Republican. 

It’s common for some rural Alaska precincts to not report results on election night itself.

Two years ago, for example, only 387 of 403 precincts had reported results by 1 a.m. Wednesday, the day after election day. Four years ago, four precincts needed more than four days to report results from election day.

Historically, some rural precincts have had staffing problems that prevented them from opening on election day. In 2024’s primary, two precincts failed to open, and one opened only in the afternoon. In 2022, two precincts failed to open. In both 2024 and 2022, voters in the affected places were able to cast absentee ballots instead.

Absentee ballots are counted starting on election day, but that counting process extends until Aug. 28. Under Alaska law, absentee ballots — if they are postmarked on or before Aug. 18 — can reach the Division of Elections up to 10 days after election day and still be counted.

Counting an absentee ballot requires the division to first verify the identity information on the outside of the ballot envelope. That verification process starts Aug. 11, the division said, though the ballot inside the envelope won’t be counted until at least election day.

The verification process continues after election day, with ballots added to the tally in batches. The division expects to update results on Aug. 25 and again on Aug. 28, with additional updates possible between those two dates.

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