(a) For each disaster emergency declared by the governor under AS 26.23.020 based on a release of oil or a hazardous substance or for each other release of oil or a hazardous substance for which money may be expended under AS 46.08.040, the commissioner, after consulting with and securing the written approval of the attorney general and after consulting with other state agencies, shall

(1) make an assessment of the social and economic effects of the release of the oil or hazardous substance;

(2) develop a plan to

(A) recover the cost of release-related expenditures; and

(B) mitigate the social and economic effects of the release of the oil or hazardous substance on the municipalities, the villages, the school districts, and the region in which the discharge occurs.

(b) The commissioner may make the assessment and plans required by (a) of this section by

(1) using staff of the department;

(2) contracting with a municipality or other entity; or

(3) authorizing a municipality or other entity to perform that work and supporting that effort by a grant.

(c) Only one assessment and one plan may be completed under this section for each declaration of a disaster emergency.

(d) The commissioner may pay the costs of the assessment, the plan, and the recovery of the cost of release-related expenditures from money available in the fund.

(e) Expenditures made under this section may be made only from the amount transferred to the commissioner under AS 29.60.510(c), unless

(1) the commissioner and the commissioner of environmental conservation mutually agree that payment may be made from money in the oil and hazardous substance release response account in the oil and hazardous substance release prevention and response fund not transferred under AS 29.60.510(c); or

(2) the commissioner pays them from another source.