3 AAC 145.140. Selection of grant recipients

(a) The department will publish a grant application guide on its Internet website, and will solicit applications for grants. The department will assign a score to eligible grant applications under each of the following criteria:

(1) up to 20 points, based upon the applicant's ability to complete the project successfully in light of its organizational structure, experience, history, and personnel;

(2) up to 20 points, based upon the communities that will benefit from the project and the extent of the impact of the downturn in the commercial fishing industry for salmon on those communities or on the region in which they are located;

(3) up to 20 points, based upon the degree of potential the project has to further the objectives in 3 AAC 145.130(a) during the life of the grant;

(4) up to 20 points, based upon the financing structure of the project and the applicant's contribution to the project;

(5) up to 50 points, based upon the long-term sustainability of the project and its potential to further the objectives in 3 AAC 145.130(a) after the grant has been exhausted.

(b) The department will forward its scoring calculations and the corresponding applications to the following, who may comment upon the scoring:

(1) the commissioner of fish and game, or the commissioner's designee;

(2) the commissioner of labor and workforce development, or the commissioner's designee;

(3) the fisheries policy advisor in the Office of the Governor.

(c) The commissioner may modify the department's scoring calculations, taking into account any comments received. The commissioner will rank the applications within each commercial fisheries region. The commissioner will resolve equal scores for projects within a commercial fisheries region based on the overall potential of the proposals to further the purpose of this chapter.

(d) Subject to available funding, and notwithstanding (c) of this section, the commissioner will allocate grant money among the commercial fisheries regions based on the economic conditions in those regions, if the commissioner considers allocation on that basis necessary to address adverse economic conditions that are particular to one or more of those regions, and on the basis of restrictions in federal law on the use of federal money distributed through the grant program.

(e) Using the rankings under (c) of this section, and subject to 3 AAC 145.170 and (d) of this section, the commissioner will make a preliminary award determination with respect to each application. The department will notify applicants of the preliminary award determinations by mail and by posting on its Internet web site.

(f) An applicant whose proposal was rejected or modified in the preliminary award determination may submit to the commissioner a request for reconsideration. The request for reconsideration must be in writing and must be received by the department within 15 working days after the department mails notice of the preliminary award determination. The request for reconsideration must include documentation and discussion in support of the applicant's request. If an applicant needs additional time to prepare a request for reconsideration, the applicant may request an extension of up to 15 additional days by submitting an extension request in writing to the department. The department will grant the extension if the applicant shows good cause to the department's satisfaction. If granted, the extension will be measured from the day the department receives the extension request.

(g) The commissioner or the commissioner's designee will review a request for reconsideration and may issue a written decision. The commissioner or the commissioner's designee may, in writing, extend the time for a decision by up to 15 days. If a written decision granting reconsideration or extending the time for review of the request is not issued within five days after a request for reconsideration is delivered, the request is considered denied. A decision on a request for reconsideration is final for purposes of judicial review.

(h) Upon completion of the review of all pending requests for reconsideration, the department will publish on its Internet web site and mail to applicants its final award determinations. In the final award determinations, the commissioner may decline to award, or may reduce the amount of, a grant that was proposed to be awarded in a preliminary award determination, if reconsideration of another preliminary award determination has altered the availability of money.

History: Eff. 12/19/2003, Register 168; am 3/13/2006, Register 177

Authority: AS 44.33.020

The Alaska Administrative Code was automatically converted to HTML from a plain text format. Every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, but neither Touch N' Go Systems nor the Law Offices of James B. Gottstein can be held responsible for any possible errors. This version of the Alaska Administrative Code is current through June, 2006.

If it is critical that the precise terms of the Alaska Administrative Code be known, it is recommended that more formal sources be consulted. Recent editions of the Alaska Administrative Journal may be obtained from the Alaska Lieutenant Governor's Office on the world wide web. If any errors are found, please e-mail Touch N' Go systems at E-mail. We hope you find this information useful. Copyright 2006. Touch N' Go Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.