Alaska DEC repeals rules for a construction grants program the state no longer uses

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Randy Bates signed an order Oct. 13 repealing the department's rules for a municipal construction grants program the state no longer uses, according to the state filing record. The repeal takes effect Nov. 20.

The rules first took effect in December 1977 and were amended in 1981, 1988 and 1994, according to the filed regulations. The Department of Law approved the repeal Oct. 16 and described the rules as related to "a construction grant program the legislature ceased funding in 2017." The regulations were filed Oct. 21.

DEC first proposed the repeal in July. The proposal said the repeal was meant to make clear to the public that the rules and the program are no longer in effect, and that it was not expected to require more state money. Public comment closed Aug. 14. The adoption order says no public comments were received.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funded state-run construction grants programs for public wastewater treatment plants in the 1970s and 1980s, according to DEC's technical support document. Amendments to the Clean Water Act in 1987 created the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. DEC later created the Municipal Matching Grant Program to complement that fund. It gave communities partial grants for sanitation projects and let them use low-interest revolving fund loans to meet the local match.

The Alaska Legislature last put new money into the program in state fiscal year 2016, with final grants funded in fiscal 2017, the document says. It also says the repeal will not affect Village Safe Water funding for water, sewer or solid waste capital projects.

DEC's 2026 regulatory reform plan says the repeal removes 69 requirements. It is part of a department effort to cut about 20% of its roughly 13,000 discretionary rules, those not required by statute, by the end of 2026.