Sec. 46.03.464. - Advisory panel on wastewater treatment; commissioner's reports to the legislature.
Sec. 46.03.464. Advisory panel on wastewater treatment; commissioner's reports to the legislature.
(a) A science advisory panel is established in the department. The panel consists of 11 members selected by the commissioner. Members of the panel serve without compensation but are entitled to transportation expenses and per diem as authorized for members of boards and commissions under AS 39.20.180 . Each of the individuals the commissioner selects serves for up to a six-year period and have expertise in the design, operation, or function of wastewater management and treatment systems. Among the 11 panel members, the commissioner shall select at least one individual from each of the following groups:
(1) coastal community domestic wastewater management;
(2) the cruise ship industry;
(3) the commercial fishing industry; and
(4) a nongovernmental organization with an interest in water quality matters.
(b) The panel shall
(1) meet at the call of the commissioner and give public notice of meetings of the panel as required under AS 44.62.310 and 44.62.312;
(2) hold one or more public conferences or workshops before 2013, with at least one public conference or workshop to be held between January 1, 2013, and January 1, 2015, if the department issues, renews, or modifies a permit required under AS 46.03.462 (a)(1) after January 1, 2012; and
(3) assist and advise the commissioner in conducting the analyses and preparing the reports required in (c) and (d) of this section.
(c) On or before January 1, 2013, the commissioner, in consultation with the panel, shall provide a preliminary report to the legislature that summarizes
(1) methods of pollution prevention, control, and treatment in use and the level of effluent quality achieved by commercial passenger vessels;
(2) additional economically feasible methods of pollution prevention, control, and treatment that could be employed to provide the most technologically effective measures to control all wastes and other substances in the discharge; and
(3) the environmental benefit and cost of implementing additional methods of pollution prevention, control, and treatment identified in (2) of this subsection.
(d) On or before January 1, 2015, the commissioner, in consultation with the panel, shall provide a final report to the legislature that includes the topics identified in (c)(1) - (3) of this section.