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Alaskan Congressman Don Young secured funding totaling $64.8 million for Alaskan constituent projects of interest in the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill.  The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up this legislation mid-week. 

 

The list of projects as follows:

Agriculture and Rural Development

·      $864,000 for Alaska Association of Conservation Districts for soil and water conservation efforts statewide

Commerce, Justice, State

·      $700,000 for Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Research

·      $500,000 for Public Safety Planning and Village Public Safety Officer Hiring and Training in the NW Borough

·      $300,000 for Steller Sea Lion Co-Management, Bio-Sampling and Outreach/Education

·      $400,000 in funding for sexual assault/domestic violence education, victim assistance and prosecution

·      $150,000 for the Gulf of Alaska Coastal Communities Coalition to serve as an advocate for small boat community-based fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska

Energy and Water

·      $713,625 for the Anchorage Regional Landfill to recover methane gas from the Anchorage landfill and convert it into electrical power.  This funding would provide the infrastructure (transmission line and electrical generators) to convert methane to electrical power generation for 2500 homes for 40 years.

·      $951,500 for Unalaska Geothermal Energy for exploratory drilling and site investigations.

      Army Corps of Engineers

·      $263,000 for Alaska Regional statewide ports (feasibility study)

·      $3.328 million for Alaska Coastal Erosion (construction)

·      $478,000 for Sitka harbor breakwater correcting a design deficiency (construction)

·      $16.338 million for Anchorage Harbor (dredging, operations, and maintenance)

·      $780,000 for Dillingham Harbor (operations and maintenance)

·      $575,000 for Homer Harbor (operations and maintenance)

·      $724,000 for Nome Harbor (operations and maintenance)

Labor, Education and Health and Human Services

·      $81,000 for Literacy Council of Fairbanks for afterschool tutoring program

·      $951,000 for Providence Hospital Residency Program in Anchorage to train physicians and improve health care in underserved areas  

·      $485,000 for Galena City Schools for their boarding school operation

·      $490,000 for Nugen's Ranch Rehab for construction of new facility at Point McKenzie

·      $33.315 million for the Alaska Native Education Equity Act

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development

·      $798,000 for the Bus Acquisition for Fairbanks North Star Borough

·      $665,000 for MASCOT Bus Bay Expansion for Mat-Su Borough

·      $950,000 for Fairbanks North Star Borough Rural and Road Service Upgrades

Rep. Young wrote the following allocations into existing law in SAFETEA-LU.  Funds are released each year through the annual appropriations bill:

·      $15 million for Ferry Capital Projects for Alaska and Hawaii from the Federal Transit Administration

·      $5 million for the Denali Commission from the Federal Transit Administration for waterfront, docks, and related infrastructure                       

·      $15 million  for the Denali Access from the Federal Highway Administration for roads, boardwalks, and related infrastructure                 

Rep. Young also secured funding for the following national programs which are of interest to Alaska:

·      $4.965 million for  Reach Out and Read 

·      $24.083 million for Reading Is Fundamental

·      $25.095 million for the Center for Civic Education (We the People Exchange)

·      $5.019 million for the Center for Civic Education (National Council on Economic Education for Cooperative Education Exchange)

·      $415 million for the Office of Violence Against Women

·      $20 million for programs provided for by the Victims of Child Abuse Act

·      $300,000 for i-Safe e-Safety Education and Outreach Initiative 

 

 

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