18 AAC 78.509. Additional requirements for upgrading, closure, and cleanup funding applications

(a) In addition to the requirements of 18 AAC 78.508, a person applying for financial assistance under AS 46.03.420 , 46.03.422, or 46.03.430 who receives a notice of eligibility under 18 AAC 78.534(e) must comply with the requirements of this section.

(b) The owner or operator of a UST who is notified of both eligibility and of available financial assistance for cleanup under this chapter must, within 75 days after the date on the notice, submit to the department

(1) a final cleanup workplan and budget cost estimate that is subject to department approval; the budget must include price quotations for all work other than professional services; price quotations must be obtained from at least three different firms or persons experienced in the type of work required in the corrective action plan; the department will accept fewer than three quotations for costs that are estimated at less than $10,000; a quotation must list the projected cost for professional services separately from the cost projected for other services or materials; a quotation must be on a unit cost basis to enable direct comparison to other quotations;

(2) if the workplan submitted under (1) of this subsection includes risk assessment work, sealed proposals in response to a request for proposals, from at least three firms or persons experienced in risk assessment work; if those proposals fail to provide information necessary to evaluate those proposals under the criteria listed in (A) - (D) of this paragraph, the department will require additional proposals; in consultation with the department, the owner or operator of the UST system must evaluate the quality of each proposal based on the following criteria:

(A) cost;

(B) experience with similar projects;

(D) the quality of the proposal;

(E) the adequacy of professional errors and omissions insurance; the amount must be consistent with the scope of the project, but no less than a minimum coverage limit of $500,000 combined single limit per occurrence;

(3) a work schedule; and

(4) the name and qualifications of the firm or person proposed to perform the work.

(c) The owner or operator who has applied for a grant to upgrade or close a UST and who has received notices of eligibility and of available financial assistance under this chapter must, within 45 days after the date on the notice, submit a final upgrading or closure cost estimate or actual expenses. The estimate or expenses must be accompanied by price quotations for all work other than professional services, from at least three different firms or persons experienced in the type of work described in the narrative report. The department will accept fewer than three quotations for costs estimated at less than $10,000. A quotation must list separately the projected cost for professional services from the cost projected for other services or materials. A quotation must be on a unit cost basis to enable direct comparison to other quotations.

(d) The department will waive or reduce the number of price quotations required under (b)(1) or (c) of this section or the number of sealed proposals required under (b)(2) of this section if the department determines that

(1) a UST is in a location where obtaining those price quotations or sealed proposals is not practicable; or

(2) expediting the project is in the best interest of the state.

(e) Even if the department approves more than one sealed proposal submitted under (b)(2) of this section, the department will limit a grant or loan award for upgrading, closure, or cleanup to the amount of the lowest price quotation unless the applicant justifies, and the department approves, rejection of the lowest price quotation.

(f) The owner or operator applying for financial assistance under this chapter must meet the deadlines established in this section. The owner or operator notified of eligibility who fails to meet an applicable deadline established in (b) or (c) of this section forfeits the owner's or operator's priority ranking. The department will rescind the eligibility notice and consider the owner's or operator's application with applications ranked for the next funding cycle, subject to the requirements of this chapter.

(g) If the owner or operator applying for financial assistance under this chapter fails to comply with the applicable requirements of this section for two consecutive years after the department has given notification of eligibility and that financial assistance is available, the department will

(1) consider the owner or operator non-responsive;

(2) remove the owner or operator from the applicable eligibility list; and

(3) not consider the owner or operator for future financial assistance under this chapter.

(h) A loan application together with an approved workplan and associated materials will be examined under 18 AAC 78.523.

History: Eff. 1/27/94, Register 129; am 6/23/94, Register 130; am 4/16/2000, Register 154; am 1/30/2003, Register 165

Authority: AS 46.03.020

Sec. 16, ch. 70,

SLA 1999

Editor's note: The substance of this section was formerly designated as 18 AAC 78.545.

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