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Murkowski, Stevens, Akaka and Inouye Propose Environmental Protections, Economic Assistance in Bill
October 19, 2005 -
In anticipation of today’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee mark-up of budget reconciliation legislation, the Alaska and Hawaii Senate Delegations this morning introduced comprehensive legislation to provide full environmental protections and economic assistance to affected communities as part of a measure to open the Arctic coastal plain to oil and gas development.
Alaska Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski and Hawaii Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye today introduced the Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Security Act of 2005. The bill, intended to accompany a reconciliation act provision to open the coastal plain to energy development, codifies all of the environmental and economic provisions that have been proposed over the years to protect the environment, wildlife and residents of the coastal plain from impacts should oil or gas be discovered in the area.
“While Congress, as part of the reconciliation process, will clearly express its intent that full environmental and economic protections be provided to the Arctic coastal plain, this legislation is intended to go one step further and to codify those protections and aid. It simply is an insurance policy that protects the environment and the residents of Alaska when ANWR development proceeds,” said Sen. Murkowski, who sponsored the bill.
“We’ve been after this for more than 20 years and now Congress is prepared to open the Arctic coastal plain to oil and gas development,” said Sen. Stevens. “We believe this is the greatest reservoir for oil and gas on the North American continent so it really must be explored and developed. This bill codifies our commitment to the Alaska community and the nation that exploration will be done in a safe and responsible manner."
The measure, similar to traditional House-passed legislation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to limited development, includes a host of environmental stipulations. It requires that no more than 2,000 acres of the surface of the entire coastal plain – both federal and Native-owned lands -- be impacted by development, that development can result in no “significant adverse impacts” on the coastal plain and that the “best commercially available technology” be employed.
The bill allows the Secretary to designate up to 45,000 acres of the coastal plain as special areas for protection and specifically requires that the 4,000-acre Sadlerochit Spring area be protected for wildlife. It requires that directional drilling be used to minimize surface impacts and includes other restrictions such as seasonal drilling limitations that will prevent impact on caribou and other migratory animals during the Arctic summer.
The bill, which requires that efforts be made to work out Project Labor Agreements to guarantee that Alaska workers benefit from opening of the coastal plain, also sets up a mitigation impact fund to provide aid to communities affected by oil development, most likely the City of Kaktovik and the North Slope Borough.
The bill, which duplicates many of the provisions to open ANWR contained in proposed Reconciliation Act provisions, also clarifies that all Native-owned lands can be opened to oil development, but that they must also be opened under terms of the 2,000-acre surface disturbance limitation contained in the bill. The language also conveys the last 2,000 acres of lands owed to the Kaktovik Inupiat Corp. and the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. stemming from the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
The bill also calls for the Secretary of the Interior to consult with Alaskans and Kaktovik residents to gain their advice and knowledge before approving development activities on the coastal plain. To facilitate that consultation, the bill creates a State coordinator to be appointed by the Governor and requires that the government pay for a local coordination office to be opened in Kaktovik to make it easier for North Slope residents to express their viewpoints on development to federal agencies.
The Senators said their hope is that this measure will be widely seen as a reasonable clarification of authority and passed by Congress after the main Reconciliation Act clears, opening ANWR to development later this fall.
“Our hope would be that all sides would agree that these provisions make sense to implement provisions to open ANWR. The environmental provisions can be done administratively by the Secretary based upon the authority in the Reconciliation Act, but still spelling out the provisions are useful for the peace of mind of all concerned,” said Murkowski.
“For years there has been general agreement on many of the environmental safeguards that should be in place when ANWR is opened. This measure simply spells out those provisions that are vital to make sure that modern technology is used to limit the effects of development on wildlife and the residents of the coastal plain,” she said.
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Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Security Act of 2005
This bill codifies the intent language in the proposed Senate Reconciliation Act, providing environmental protections and assistance to Alaska Natives, while opening a small portion of the 1.5-million-acre Arctic coastal plain of the 19 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration and production. The bill:
· Includes a series of provisions to implement the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act including authorizing a leasing program on the coastal plain (Sec. 3), making oil development compatible with the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (Sec. 3-c), stating the adequacy of the 1987 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on ANWR for pre-leasing activities (Sec. 3-c2), authorizing a right-of-way to move oil – if found -- across the refuge to market (Sec. 10), laying out a process for updating the existing EIS, and authorizing two lease sales, the first to occur 22 months after the Reconciliation bill’s passage – four months after the update of the EIS is completed (Sec. 4), the second in the fifth year after passage. All lease sales must be at least 200,000 acres in size.
· The bill sets up an expedited judicial review process (Sec. 8) to require court complaints be filed within 90 days, and requiring that all complaints be filed in the D.C. Court of Appeals. It also sets up the review process and criteria for review of complaints.
· The bill guarantees that any revenues from development will be split equally between the federal treasury and the State of Alaska, and provides that the royalty must be at least 12.5 percent (Sec. 9).
· The bill requires that the Secretary require lease holders to negotiate to obtain a Project Labor Agreement for the employment of laborers and mechanics for all production, maintenance and construction under any oil leases (Sec. 6-b).
· The bill includes a host of environmental stipulations (Sec. 3-6) including that activities on the coastal plain must result in “no significant adverse effect on fish and wildlife, their habitat and subsistence resources and the environment,” and that all development be conducted using the “best commercially available technology.” Also oil and gas wells must be drilled using directional (extended reach) drilling technology.
· The bill also requires that of the entire 1.6 million acres of the coastal plain, both federal and Native-owned and State-owned lands, that the maximum surface acreage covered by all facilities, including airstrips, production and support facilities, roads, gravel berms or pipelines or support piers can not exceed 2,000 acres or .13 percent of the coastal plain.
· The bill allows the Secretary of the Interior to designate up to 45,000 acres of the coastal plain as special areas and specifically requires that 4,000 acres in the Sadlerochit Spring area be protected from disturbance for wildlife.
The bill also requires:
· Seasonal restrictions on exploration or development to protect fish and wildlife; limiting exploration to the period of Nov. 1 to May 1 yearly;
· That all pipelines be designed to protect passages for migratory species; and to protect the flow of water;
· That facilities be consolidated to prevent sprawl;
· That air traffic be reduced to prevent disturbances to fish and wildlife;
· That all hazardous wastes be properly disposed of, that there be fuel and oil spill contingency plans, that all air and water quality standards be met; and that subsistence hunting be protected.
· For Alaska Natives the bill permits oil development to occur from beneath Native lands, provided that no more than 2,000 acres of the surface area is disturbed. The bill specifically permits Native land development by repeal of the Section 1003 prohibition of development in ANILCA (Sec. 3).
· The bill provides a means for the Kaktovik Inupiat Corp. (KIC) and the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. to gain the final 2,000 acres of land entitlements (conveyance) they were granted in 1983 under terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. (Sec. 11)
· Local Native residents, who have the most knowledge of local conditions on the coastal plain, specifically have to be consulted by federal agencies and the Secretary of the Interior to make sure their views are taken into account before development decisions are made. Specifically the government must consult with local residents before taking action in coordination with a State coordinator appointed by Alaska’s Governor – a process similar to the inspection and decision making under the current Joint Pipeline Office that monitors the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline (TAPS) (Sec. 2).
· To guarantee that the knowledge of the natural resources, the flora and fauna held by the Kaktovikmuit Inupiat are tapped, a local coordination office must be established in Kaktovik to allow local citizens of the village a “one stop” center for them to advise federal officials of the history and local conditions of the area. (Sec. 12)
· Local governments in Alaska affected by oil development, whether the village of Kaktovik, the North Slope Borough, or the villages to the south of the refuge are open to apply for aid from a $15 million Local Government Impact Aid Assistance Fund, should they be affected by oil development. Up to $7.5 million a year is automatically appropriated from ANWR receipts to fund the planning mitigation assistance yearly. There are criteria that must be met for communities to obtain the impact aid (Sec. 12).
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