Denali Commission Fiscal Year 2014 Draft Work Plan, 33735-33738 [2014-13710]

Agencies

• Denali Commission

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 113 (Thursday, June 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33735-33738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-13710]


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DENALI COMMISSION


Denali Commission Fiscal Year 2014 Draft Work Plan

AGENCY: Denali Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Denali Commission (Commission) is an independent federal 
agency based on an innovative federal-state partnership designed to 
provide critical utilities, infrastructure and support for economic 
development and training in Alaska by delivering federal services in 
the most cost-effective manner possible. The Commission was created in 
1998 with passage of the October 21, 1998 Denali Commission Act (Act) 
(Title III of Public Law 105-277, 42 U.S.C. 3121). The Act requires 
that the Commission develop proposed work plans for future spending and 
that the annual Work Plan be published in the Federal Register, 
providing an opportunity for a 30-day period of public review and 
written comment. This Federal Register notice serves to announce the 
30-day opportunity for public comment on the Denali Commission Draft 
Work Plan for Federal Fiscal Year 2014 (FY 2014).

DATES: Comments and related material to be received by July 14, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to the Denali Commission, Attention: Sabrina 
Hoppas, 510 L Street, Suite 410, Anchorage, AK 99501.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Sabrina Hoppas, Denali Commission, 
510 L Street, Suite 410, Anchorage, AK 99501. Telephone: (907) 271-
1414. Email: shoppas@denali.gov.

Background

    The Denali Commission (Commission) is an independent federal agency 
based on an innovative federal-state partnership designed to provide 
critical utilities, infrastructure and support for economic development 
and training in Alaska by delivering federal services in the most cost-
effective manner possible. The Commission was created in 1998 with 
passage of the October 21, 1998, Denali Commission Act (Act) (Title III 
of Public Law 105-277, 42 U.S.C. 3121).
    The Commission's mission is to partner with tribal, federal, state, 
and local governments and collaborate with all Alaskans to improve the 
effectiveness and efficiency of government services, to develop a well-
trained labor force employed in a diversified and sustainable economy, 
and to build and ensure the operation and maintenance of Alaska's basic 
infrastructure.
    By creating the Commission, Congress mandated that all parties 
involved partner together to find new and innovative solutions to the 
unique infrastructure and economic development challenges in America's 
most remote communities.
    Pursuant to the Act, the Commission determines its own basic 
operating principles and funding criteria on an annual federal fiscal 
year (October 1 to September 30) basis. The Commission outlines these 
priorities and funding recommendations in an annual Work Plan. The Work 
Plan is adopted on an annual basis in the following manner, which 
occurs sequentially as listed:
     Project proposals are solicited from local government and 
other entities.
     Commissioners forward a draft version of the Work Plan to 
the Federal Co-Chair.
     The Federal Co-Chair approves the draft Work Plan for 
publication in the Federal Register providing an opportunity for a 30-
day period of public review and written comment. During this time, the 
draft Work Plan is also disseminated widely to Commission program 
partners including, but not limited to, the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
(BIA), the Economic Development Administration (EDA), and the United 
States Department of Agriculture--Rural Development (USDA-RD).
     Public comment concludes and Commission staff provides the 
Federal Co-Chair with a summary of public comment and recommendations, 
if any, associated with the draft Work Plan.
     If no revisions are made to the draft, the Federal Co-
Chair provides notice of approval of the Work Plan to the 
Commissioners, and forwards the Work Plan to the Secretary of Commerce 
for approval; or, if there are revisions the Federal Co-Chair provides 
notice of modifications to the Commissioners for their consideration 
and approval, and upon receipt of approval from Commissioners, forwards 
the Work Plan

[[Page 33736]]

to the Secretary of Commerce for approval.
     The Secretary of Commerce approves the Work Plan.
     The Federal Co-Chair then approves grants and contracts 
based upon the approved Work Plan.

FY 2014 Appropriations Summary

    The Commission has historically received federal funding from 
several sources. These fund sources are governed by the following 
general principles:
     In FY 2014 no project specific direction was provided by 
Congress.
     The Energy and Water Appropriation (i.e. discretionary 
funding) is eligible for use in all programs.
     Certain appropriations are restricted in their usage. 
Where restrictions apply, the funds may be used only for specific 
program purposes.
     Final appropriation funds received may be reduced due to 
Congressional action, rescissions by the Office of Management and 
Budget, and other federal agency action. Final program available 
figures may not be provided until later in FY 2014.
     All Energy and Water Appropriation funds, including 
operating funds, designated as ``up to'' may be reassigned to other 
programs, if they are not fully expended in a program component area or 
a specific project.
     Total FY 2014 Budgetary Resources provided:
    These are the figures that appear in the rows entitled ``FY 2014 
Appropriation'' and are the original appropriations amounts which do 
not include Commission operating funds. These funds are identified by 
their source name (i.e., Energy and Water Appropriation, TAPL, etc.). 
The grand total for all appropriations appears at the end of the FY 
2014 Funding Table.
     Total FY 2014 Program Available Funding:
    These are the figures that appear in the rows entitled ``FY 2014 
Appropriations--Program Available'' and are the amounts of funding 
available for program(s) activities after Commission operating funds 
have been deducted. The FY 2014 appropriations bill contains language 
that the Commission may utilize more than five percent for operating 
costs, Notwithstanding the limitations contained in section 306(g) of 
the Denali Commission Act of 1998.
    However only, five percent of Trans Alaska Pipeline Liability 
(TAPL) Trust Funds are used for agency operating purposes. The grand 
total for all program available funds appears at the end of the FY 2014 
Funding Table.
     Program Funding:
    These are the figures that appear in the rows entitled with the 
specific Program and Sub-Program area, and are the amounts of funding 
the Draft FY 2014 Work Plan recommends, within each program fund source 
for program components.
     Subtotal of Program Funding:
    These are the figures that appear in rows entitled ``subtotal'' and 
are the subtotals of all program funding within a given fund source. 
The subtotal must always equal the Total FY 2014 Program Available 
Funding.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Denali Commission FY 2014
         funding table                           Totals
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2014 Energy & Water          $10,000,000.
 Appropriation.
FY 2014 Energy & Water          $3,000,000.
 Appropriation--Operating
 Funds.
FY 2014 Energy & Water          $7,000,000.
 Appropriation--Program
 Available.
Energy:
     Bulk Fuel Tank     $0.
     Replacements (to be
     funded in full with TAPL
     funding).
     Rural Power        $2,448,000.
     System Upgrades*.
Total Energy Projects.........  $2,448,000.
Initiatives, Programs,
 Projects:
     Sanitation Energy  Up to $2,148,000.
     Efficiency.
     START Program      Up to $1,250,000.
     Energy Efficiency
     Upgrades.
     Additional         Up to $854,000.
     Community Scale Energy
     Efficiency.
Community Energy Efficiency     Up to $4,252,000.
 Total.
     Pre-Development    Up to $300,000.
     Program.
Total Initiative, Programs,     Up to $4,552,000.
 Projects.
Sub-total, FY 2014 Energy &     Not to exceed $7,000,000.
 Water--Program Available.
FY 2014 TAPL Trust............  $4,000,000.
FY 2014 TAPL--Program           $3,800,000.
 Available (less 5% operating
 funds).
Bulk Fuel Planning, Design &    $3,800,000.
 Construction.
                               -----------------------------------------
    Sub-total.................  $3,800,000.
                               -----------------------------------------
        Total FY 2014 Program   $10,800,000.
         Available.
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* Funding for the four initiatives, programs and projects are listed as
  an upper amount and it is possible that several of these initiatives
  may require less funds than listed in the table. Under these
  circumstances, the remaining Energy and Water appropriations will be
  used for Rural Power System Upgrades.

FY 2014 Program Details & General Information

    The following section provides narrative discussion for each of the 
Commission Programs identified for funding in the FY 2014 funding table 
above.

Energy Program

Basic Rural Energy Infrastructure

    The Energy Program is the Commission's original program and focuses 
on bulk fuel facilities and rural power system upgrades/power 
generation (RPSU) across rural Alaska. About 94% of electricity in 
rural communities is produced by diesel generators and about half of 
the fuel storage in most villages is used for these power plants. The 
majority of the Commission's work in the energy program is carried out 
by two of our long-standing partners: Alaska Energy Authority (AEA), an 
agency of the State of Alaska, and the Alaska Village Electric 
Cooperative (AVEC), a non-profit member Organization serving 56 
communities.
    Since inception of the agency, the Commission has partnered with 
AEA on rural energy investments, and shortly

[[Page 33737]]

thereafter, AVEC also became a program partner to address deficiencies 
in fuel storage and generation in the cooperative's communities. In 
recent years, a single combined list of energy projects has been 
compiled for both bulk fuel and RPSU programs. AEA maintains documents 
on their Web site that identify the universe of need for each of the 
programs and provides project status updates (see following links). 
https://www.akenergyauthority.org/PDF%20files/BFUStatusList_Sept2013.pdf https://www.akenergyauthority.org/PDF%20files/RPSUStatusListSept2013.pdf
    In addition, the Commission has been exploring opportunities to 
identify and reduce the consumption of energy in rural communities. 
Energy efficiency measures can be demonstrated to reduce the use of 
fossil fuels as well as reducing costs to residents and users, which 
can contribute to enhanced community services. The Alaska Native Tribal 
Health Consortium (ANTHC) has been a long-standing program partner on 
rural clinics and sanitation systems. ANTHC has developed a rural 
energy initiative to address the high cost of energy associated with 
clinics and sanitation systems. Previously, the Commission has invested 
in some clinic energy efficiency improvements with ANTHC. In addition, 
the Commission for the past two years has collaborated with the US 
Department of Energy--Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs on a 
Strategic Technical Assistance and Response Team (START) program. The 
START program is a community-driven model to identify local solutions 
for the local challenges with the high cost of energy.

FY 2014 Project Selection Process

Bulk Fuel and RPSU Projects
    The legacy projects prioritized for FY 2014 funding are listed 
below within the two energy program themes: bulk fuel and RPSU. The 
selected projects in the table below exceed FY 2014 funding levels 
(both TAPL and Energy and Water Appropriation), with the understanding 
that projects may proceed out of order due to factors such as the 
extended period of time between project selections, draft Work Plan 
development, and grant execution; match funding availability; and due 
diligence requirements.
    Beginning in FY 2012, Energy and Water Appropriations were subject 
to a statutory cost share requirement for construction activities of 
20% for distressed communities and 50% for non-distressed communities. 
That cost share match requirement has since been applied to all energy 
program funding sources. All projects prioritized for FY 2014 funding, 
with the exception of Shungnak bulk fuel upgrade, are in distressed 
communities and will include at least a 20% project cost share match.
    In FY 2014, the Commission, AEA, and AVEC will investigate 
opportunities with existing bulk fuel storage facilities to refurbish 
the infrastructure resulting in code compliance and significant 
extension of the life of the facilities at a reduced cost versus 
complete replacement. The Commission provided funding to AEA to update 
the statewide bulk fuel inventory assessment, which will help inform 
all parties of the potential for refurbishment of facilities. The 
updated assessment is scheduled to be completed by the end of FY 2015. 
The refurbishment approach was considered for the AVEC projects listed 
in the bulk fuel project table.

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                                   Total project
       Bulk fuel projects              cost         Cost share      DC funding           Program  partner
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Pilot Station AVEC Tanks........      $4,621,000        $924,200      $3,696,800  AVEC.
Pilot Station Community Tanks...       4,456,000         891,200       3,564,800  AVEC.
Chalkyitsik.....................       2,600,000         520,000       2,080,000  AEA.
Togiak AVEC Tanks...............       4,656,000         931,200       3,724,800  AVEC.
Togiak Community Tanks..........       6,045,000       1,209,000       4,836,000  AVEC.
Beaver..........................       2,300,000         460,000       1,840,000  AEA.
Shungnak........................       1,100,000         550,000         550,000  AVEC.
Venetie.........................       2,100,000         420,000       1,680,000  AEA.
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        RPSU projects **           Total project    Cost share      DC funding                Program
                                       cost                                       partner
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Pilot Station Relocation........       1,556,000         311,200       1,244,800  AVEC.
Perryville......................       3,200,000         640,000       2,560,000  AEA.
Togiak..........................       7,409,000       1,481,800       5,927,000  AVEC.
Koliganek.......................       2,900,000         580,000       2,320,000  AEA.
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** The Commission expects to receive prior year USDA Rural Utilities Service funds in FY 2014 which will be used
  to address a portion of the Perryville RPSU project. The balance of funding necessary to complete the
  Perryville project will be provided from FY 2014 Energy and Water appropriations and some prior year funds
  from energy projects that were completed under budget and therefore have a surplus of funds.


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                                  Total project
       Project management              cost          Cost share       DC funding          Program  partner
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AEA/AVEC/ANTHC Project              $10,800,000              N/A     $932,688 ***   AEA/AVEC/ANTHC.
 Management.
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*** Project management costs have been estimated pending final project selection.

Initiatives, Programs, Projects

Community Energy Efficiency

    In FY 2014, the Commission will collaborate with federal, state, 
and local agencies to coordinate and provide funding for community 
energy efficiency projects. Projects for the FY 2014 year will include 
completion of energy efficiency improvements previously determined by 
energy audits in 39 communities, energy audits for an additional 39 
communities with circulating water systems, as well as, funding for 
energy efficiency improvements in START round one which includes five 
communities. Specific types of energy efficiency activities that will 
be carried out in funded communities will include, but are not limited 
to, replacement of old inefficient circulating pumps, lighting changes, 
installation of occupancy sensors for lights, weather sealing work

[[Page 33738]]

for doors and windows, insulation work, control upgrades for 
thermostats and heating and ventilation systems, and education of 
building operators to decrease building interior set points.

Pre-Development Program Investment

    The Pre-Development program has been a historic investment of the 
Commission since 2007, when the Commission partnered with the Alaska 
Mental Health Trust Authority, the Rasmuson Foundation, and the Foraker 
Group to ``stand up'' the program. The Pre- Development program 
provides technical assistance to prospective Commission grantees on 
capital development projects. In 2010 the Mat-Su Health Foundation 
joined as a partner to the Pre-Development program. Further information 
about the program can be obtained at the following link: https://www.forakergroup.org/index.cfm/Shared-Services/Pre-Development.

Discussion on Future Commission Investments

    The agency is exploring what is our role in a time of decreasing 
Federal and State of Alaska budgets and therefore limited funds for 
pressing rural Alaska needs. It is the intent of the Commissioners to 
carry out a public dialogue on what are the core areas of need and how 
best can Commission investments address these needs while complementing 
the work of many other State and Federal agencies operating in rural 
Alaska. We welcome comments about this question, but more importantly, 
we are alerting the public and our current program partners that we 
will be raising this question in the future.

Joel Neimeyer,
Federal Co-Chair.
[FR Doc. 2014-13710 Filed 6-11-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3300-01-P