Sec. 29.35.500. Reporting.

(a) If a municipality establishes a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes, then the municipality shall require a business or a government agency that handles hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes to submit to a designated person or office of the municipality, on a form approved by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission, an inventory of the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes the business or government agency handles. Notwithstanding other provisions of this title, a municipality that establishes a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes may not

(1) use a form other than the one required under this section or use a form in addition to the one required under this section;

(2) require a business or government agency to submit an inventory of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes unless the business or government agency is required to do so by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission;

(3) require reporting under this section of a substance not listed in (c) of this section unless it is added by the commission under (c) of this section;

(4) require reporting under this section of a substance that is in smaller quantities than provided under (c) of this section unless the reporting of smaller quantities is approved by the commission under (c) of this section.

(b) An inventory required under this section must include

(1) the name and address of a facility, and of the owner and operator of the facility, at which the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes are handled;

(2) the names and telephone numbers of persons connected with the facility who are to be contacted in an emergency;

(3) the chemical name or other descriptive information about each hazardous chemical, hazardous material, or hazardous waste handled;

(4) the location and maximum estimated quantity of the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes handled in a single day;

(5) with respect to a transshipment facility; instead of the information required under (3) and (4) of this subsection, the following information:

(A) a list of the classes of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes handled;

(B) a site layout and floor plan showing the usual locations of the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes handled at the facility; and

(C) the method of marking or warning used for hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes at the facility.

(c) Unless the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission or a municipality, after public hearing, removes a substance listed in this subsection from the reporting requirements within its jurisdiction, or unless the commission, after public hearing, adds a substance to the reporting requirements of this subsection or requires the reporting of smaller quantities of the substances listed in this subsection, either on a statewide basis or for reporting within particular municipalities, the following quantities of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes shall be reported in an inventory required under this section:

(1) any quantity of a hazardous material of the hazard class identified in federal placarding regulations as

(A) Poison Gas Hazard Division No. 2.3 and Poisons 6.1;

(B) Explosives 1.1;

(C) Explosives 1.2 and 1.3, excluding smokeless gunpowder, black powder, and ammunition;

(D) Flammable solid Divisions 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3; or

(E) Radioactive Hazard Class 7;

(2) a hazardous chemical, or a hazardous material other than one described in (1) of this subsection, if handled in a single day in an amount equal to or greater than 10,000 pounds;

(3) extremely hazardous substances in a quantity equal to or more than 500 pounds or the threshold planning quantity, whichever is less; and

(4) compressed gasses equal to or more than 1,000 cubic feet at standard temperature and pressure.

(d) A business or government agency required to submit an inventory under this section shall submit the first inventory within 90 days after the municipality's reporting requirements take effect or within 30 days after beginning to engage in the handling of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes. Thereafter, the business or government agency shall submit an inventory annually. With respect to transshipments, the first inventory shall be an estimate of transshipments by the business or government agency during the next 12 months. Subsequent annual inventories shall reflect actual transshipments during the previous 12 months.

(e) A municipality that establishes a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes shall also require a business or government agency that handles hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes to report

(1) significant change in the general location of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes by telephone or other means adequate to convey the information within 24 hours, and in writing within 10 working days, after moving the chemicals, materials, or wastes;

(2) names and other descriptive information of additional hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes being handled since the last inventory or report if they meet the criteria for reporting under (c) of this section, by telephone or other means adequate to convey the information within 24 hours, and in writing within 10 working days, after making the additions;

(3) with respect to a transshipment facility, instead of the information required under (1) and (2) of this subsection, the following:

(A) an additional class of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes handled at the facility, or a change in the method of marking or warning used for hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes at the facility, within 30 days after the addition or change; and

(B) a change to the site layout or floor plan submitted under (b)(5)(B) of this section, by telephone or other means adequate to convey the information within 24 hours, and in writing within 30 days after the change.

(f) A municipality that establishes a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals or hazardous materials may require a business or government agency that handles hazardous chemicals or hazardous materials to submit a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Material Safety Data Sheet or equivalent information for each of the chemicals and materials handled.

(g) The requirements of this section may be imposed by a municipality on a business or government agency that handles hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes outside of the boundaries of the municipality if a fire or other emergency involving the chemicals, materials, or wastes would be

(1) likely to adversely affect persons or property in the municipality; or

(2) responded to by emergency response personnel whose service area includes all or a part of the municipality.

Sec. 29.35.510. Inspections; penalties.

A municipality may conduct inspections, and establish and impose penalties, necessary to ensure compliance with reporting requirements adopted under AS 29.35.500 .

Sec. 29.35.520. Fees.

A municipality may impose appropriate fees to fully or partially compensate for the cost of processing reports and administering inspections under AS 29.35.500 - 29.35.510.

Sec. 29.35.530. Duties of municipalities; powers of other agencies.

(a) The municipality, at the request of a business or government agency required to submit an inventory under AS 29.35.500 , shall provide

(1) a descriptive summary of the hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes that are required to be included in an inventory; and

(2) inventory forms approved by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission.

(b) [Repealed, Sec. 15 ch 71 SLA 1997].

(c) The division of fire prevention, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Health and Social Services, or the Department of Labor may

(1) request copies of inventories submitted under AS 29.35.500 ; and

(2) provide educational materials related to hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes.

Sec. 29.35.540. Public access to information.

Information detained by a municipality under AS 29.35.500 , 29.35.510, and 29.35.530 shall be made readily available to the public for inspection and copying.

Sec. 29.35.550. Application.

AS 29.35.500 - 29.35.590 apply to home rule and general law municipalities.

Sec. 29.35.560. Municipal liability.

The establishment by a municipality of a program for the reporting of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes does not increase the liability that may otherwise be imposed on the municipality for damages resulting from hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous waste.

Sec. 29.35.590. Definitions.

In AS 29.35.500 - 29.35.590

(1) "acute hazardous waste" means a waste listed by the administrator or the Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with the criteria in 40 C.F.R. 261.11(a)(2);

(2) [Repealed, Sec. 15 ch 71 SLA 1997].

(3) "extremely hazardous substance" means a substance listed in 40 C.F.R. Part 355, Appendix A and B;

(4) "handles" includes disposes of, generates, processes, stores, treats, transships, and uses hazardous chemicals, materials, or wastes, but does not include the handling of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes while they are in transit and before they reach the final destination indicated on the shipping paper accompanying the shipment, except while they are at a transshipment facility; in this paragraph, "shipping paper" has the meaning given in 49 C.F.R. 171.8;

(5) "hazard class" means the class of a hazardous material defined in 49 C.F.R. 173;

(6) "hazardous chemical" has the meaning given in 29 C.F.R. 1910.1200(c) except that it does not include

(A) a food, food additive, color additive, drug, or cosmetic regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration;

(B) a substance present as a solid in a manufactured item to the extent exposure to the substance does not occur under normal conditions of use;

(C) a substance to the extent it is used for personal, family, or household purposes, or is present in the same form and concentration as a product packaged for distribution and use by the general public;

(D) a substance to the extent it is used in a research laboratory or a hospital or other medical facility under the direct supervision of a technically qualified individual; or

(E) a substance to the extent it is used in routine agricultural operations or is a fertilizer held for sale by a retailer to the ultimate customer;

(7) "hazardous material" means a material or substance, as defined in 49 C.F.R. 171.8, and any other substance determined by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission in regulations to pose a significant health and safety hazard; "hazardous material" does not include food, drugs, alcoholic beverages, cosmetics, tobacco, or tobacco products intended for personal consumption;

(8) "hazardous waste" means

(A) a hazardous waste as defined in AS 46.03.900 ;

(B) a hazardous waste as identified by the Environmental Protection Agency under 40 C.F.R. 261; and

(C) any other hazardous waste defined by the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission in regulations;

(9) "quantity" means the total amount of a material or waste handled at a time and includes the aggregate of a material or waste that is divided among multiple containers;

(10) "threshold planning quantity" means the quantity listed in the column "threshold planning quantity" for a substance listed in 40 C.F.R. Part 355, Appendix A and B;

(11) "transshipment facility" means a building, dock, yard or other structure or area at which hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, or hazardous wastes are held, or transferred from one vehicle, vessel, or container to another, for the purpose of reshipment within seven days after arriving at the facility, if regularly holding or transferring within that period of time is the principal business of the facility.

Sec. 29.35.600. Purpose of authorities.

The purpose of a port authority is to provide for the development of a port or ports for transportation related commerce within the territory of the authority.

Sec. 29.35.605. Establishment of port authorities.

(a) A port authority may be created by one of the following means:

(1) the governing body of a municipality may create by ordinance a port authority as a public corporation of the municipality;

(2) the governing bodies of two or more municipalities may create by parallel ordinances adopted by each of the governing bodies a port authority as a public corporation of the municipalities.

(b) One or more municipalities may join an authority established under (a)(1) or (2) of this section upon the adoption of parallel ordinances by the governing bodies of each affected municipality.

(c) A port authority created under this section is a body corporate and politic and an instrumentality of the municipality or municipalities creating it but having a separate and independent legal existence.

(d) Creation of a port authority under AS 29.35.600 - 29.35.730 is an exercise of a municipality's transportation system powers.

(e) The enabling ordinance by which a port authority is established must specify the powers, boundaries, and limitations of the port authority.

(f) An ordinance creating a port authority shall require approval by the voters of the municipality or municipalities participating in the authority in order for the authority to be established.

(g) Nothing in AS 29.35.600 - 29.35.725 prevents a municipality or municipalities from creating or participating in a public corporation, including a port authority, in any form or manner not prohibited by law. However, the provisions of AS 29.35.600 - 29.35.725 only apply to and may only be utilized by a port authority created under this section.

Sec. 29.35.610. Dissolution of a port authority.

(a) The enabling ordinance by which a port authority is created must provide for the manner by which a port authority may be dissolved.

(b) If an authority ceases to exist, its assets shall be distributed to the municipalities that participated in the authority in proportion to the difference between their contributions to the authority and any outstanding debt or obligation of that municipality to the authority, provided that any obligation to bondholders then outstanding shall first be satisfied in full.

Sec. 29.35.615. Municipal property.

(a) A municipality may transfer and otherwise convey or lease real property, and any improvements to it, to an authority for use by the authority for the purposes set out in the ordinance adopted under AS 29.35.605.

(b) A municipality may transfer and otherwise assign or lease personal property to an authority for use by the authority for the purposes set out in the ordinance adopted under AS 29.35.605 .

Sec. 29.35.620. Powers.

If provided in the enabling ordinance, an authority may

(1) sue and be sued;

(2) have a seal and alter it at pleasure;

(3) acquire an interest in a project as necessary or appropriate to provide financing for the project, whether by purchase, gift, or lease;

(4) lease to others a project acquired by it and upon the terms and conditions the authority may consider advisable, including, without limitation, provisions for purchase or renewal;

(5) sell, by installment sale or otherwise, exchange, donate, convey, or encumber in any manner by mortgage or by creation of another security interest, real or personal property owned by it, or in which it has an interest, including a project, when, in the judgment of the authority, the action is in furtherance of the authority's purposes;

(6) accept gifts, grants, or loans, under the terms and conditions imposed under the gift, grant, or loan, and enter into contracts, conveyances or other transactions with a federal agency or an agency or instrumentality of the state, a municipality, private organization, or other person;

(7) deposit or invest its funds, subject to agreements with bondholders;

(8) purchase or insure loans to finance the costs of projects;

(9) provide for security within the boundaries of the authority;

(10) enter into loan agreements with respect to one or more projects upon the terms and conditions the authority considers advisable;

(11) acquire, manage, and operate projects as the authority considers necessary or appropriate to serve the authority's purposes;

(12) assist private lenders to make loans to finance the costs of projects through loan commitments, short-term financing, or otherwise;

(13) charge fees or other forms of remuneration for the use or possession of projects in accordance with the agreements described in this section, other agreements relating to the projects, covenants, or representations made in bond documents relating to the projects, or regulations of the authority relating to the projects;

(14) exercise the powers of eminent domain and declaration of taking within its physical boundaries under AS 29.35.030 to acquire land or materials for authority purposes;

(15) regulate land use within the boundaries of the authority;

(16) defend and indemnify a current or former member of the board, employee, or agent of the authority against all costs, expenses, judgments, and liabilities, including attorney fees, incurred by or imposed upon that person in connection with civil or criminal action in which the person is involved as a result of the person's affiliation with the authority if the person acted in good faith on behalf of the authority and within the scope of the person's official duties and powers;

(17) purchase insurance to protect and hold harmless its employees, agents, and board members from an action, claim, or proceeding arising out of the performance, purported performance, or failure to perform in good faith, of duties for, or employment with the authority and to hold them harmless from expenses connected with the defense, settlement, or monetary judgments from that action, claim, or proceeding; the purchase of insurance is subject to the discretion of the board; insurance purchased under this paragraph may not be considered compensation to the insured person; and

(18) protect its assets, services, and employees by purchasing insurance or providing for certain self-insurance retentions; an authority may also maintain casualty, property, business interruption, marine, boiler and machinery, pollution liability, and other insurance in amounts reasonably calculated to cover potential claims against the authority or a municipality for bodily injury, death or disability, and property damage that may arise from or be related to authority operations and activities.

Sec. 29.35.625. Bonds of a port authority; superior court jurisdiction.

(a) If authorized by the enabling ordinance, an authority may borrow money and may issue bonds on which the principal and interest are payable

(1) exclusively from the income and receipts of, or other money derived from, the project financed with the proceeds of the bonds;

(2) exclusively from the income and receipts of, or other money derived from, designated projects or other sources whether or not they are financed, insured, or guaranteed in whole or in part with the proceeds of the bonds; or

(3) from its income and receipts generally or a designated part or parts of them.

(b) All bonds may be sold at public or private sale in the manner, for the price or prices, and at the time or times that the authority may determine.

(c) Before issuing bonds, an authority shall provide for consideration at least sufficient, in the judgment of the authority, to pay the principal and interest on the bonds as they become due and to create and maintain the reserves for the payment that the authority considers necessary or desirable and meet all obligations in connection with the lease or agreement and all costs necessary to service the bonds, unless the lease or agreement provides that the obligations are to be met or costs are to be paid by a party other than the authority.

(d) Bonds shall be authorized by resolution of the authority, be dated, and shall mature as the resolution may provide, except that a bond may not mature more than 40 years from the date of its issue. Bonds shall bear interest at the rate or rates, be in the denominations, be in the form, either coupon or registered, carry the registration privileges, be executed in the manner, be payable in the medium of payment, at the place or places, and be subject to the terms of redemption that the resolution or a subsequent resolution may provide.

(e) All bonds issued under this section, regardless of form or character, are negotiable instruments for all of the purposes of AS 45.01 - AS 45.09, AS 45.12, and AS 45.14 (Uniform Commercial Code).

(f) The superior court has jurisdiction to hear and determine suits, actions, or proceedings relating to an authority, including suits, actions, or proceedings brought to foreclose or otherwise enforce a mortgage, pledge, assignment, or security interest brought by or for the benefit or security of a holder of the authority's bonds or by a trustee for or other representative of the holders.

Sec. 29.35.630. Bonds eligible for investment.

Bonds issued under AS 29.35.625 are securities in which all public officers and public bodies of the state and its political subdivisions, all insurance companies, trust companies, banks, investment companies, executors, administrators, trustees, and other fiduciaries may properly and legally invest funds, including capital in their control or belonging to them. The bonds may be deposited with a state or municipal officer of an agency or political subdivision of the state for any purpose that the deposit of bonds of the state is authorized by law.

Sec. 29.35.635. Validity of pledge.

The pledge of revenue of an authority to the payment of the principal or interest on bonds or notes of the authority is valid and binding from the time the pledge is made, and the revenue is immediately subject to the lien of the pledge without physical delivery or further act. The lien of a pledge is valid and binding against all parties having claims of any kind against the authority irrespective of whether those parties have notice of the lien of the pledge.

Sec. 29.35.640. Credit of state or a municipality not pledged.

(a) The state and municipalities participating in an authority are not liable for the debts of that authority. Bonds issued under AS 29.35.625 are payable solely from the revenue of the authority and do not constitute a

(1) debt, liability, or obligation of the state or a municipality; or

(2) pledge of the faith and credit of the state or a municipality.

(b) An authority may not pledge the credit or the taxing power of the state or its municipalities. A bond issued under AS 29.35.625 must contain on its face a statement that

(1) the authority is not obligated to pay it or the interest on it except from the revenue pledged for it; and

(2) the faith and credit of the taxing power of the state or of a political subdivision of the state is not pledged to the payment of it.

Sec. 29.35.645. Pledges of the state and municipalities.

The state and municipalities participating in the authority pledge to and agree with the holders of bonds issued under AS 29.35.625 and with the federal agency, if any, that loans or contributes funds in respect to a project of the authority, that the state and the municipalities participating in the authority will not limit or alter the rights and powers vested in the authority by its enabling ordinance or other law so that it is unable to fulfill the terms of a contract made by the authority with those holders or that federal agency, or in any way impair the rights and remedies of those holders or that federal agency until the bonds, together with the interest on them and interest on unpaid installments of interest, and all costs and expenses in connection with an action or proceeding by or on behalf of those holders or that federal agency, are fully met and discharged. An authority is authorized to include this pledge and agreement of the state and the municipalities participating in the authority, insofar as it refers to holders of bonds of the authority, in a contract with those holders, and insofar as it relates to a federal agency, in a contract with that federal agency.

Sec. 29.35.650. Limitation of liability.

A liability incurred by an authority shall be satisfied exclusively from the assets or revenue of the authority. A creditor or other person does not have a right of action against the state or a municipality participating in an authority because of a debt, obligation, or liability of an authority.

Sec. 29.35.655. Limitation on personal liability.

A board member or employee of an authority is not subject to personal liability or accountability because of the execution or issuance of bonds.