00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 40                                                                                          
01 Urging the Congress to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 with respect to the                                          
02 financial responsibility requirements for offshore exploration and production                                           
03 facilities.                                                                                                             
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05  WHEREAS the Congress enacted the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 in order to prevent                                         
06 shipping accidents and to ensure that there would be adequate money immediately available                               
07 to respond to oil pollution discharges, especially those discharges occurring in the ocean; and                         
08  WHEREAS the Act increased from $36,000,000 to $150,000,000 the amount of                                               
09 financial responsibility that must be demonstrated by offshore exploration and production                               
10 facilities; and                                                                                                         
11  WHEREAS the definition of "offshore" in the Act covers facilities in, on, or under                                     
12 navigable waters of the United States; and                                                                              
13  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature is concerned that this definition may be                                          
14 interpreted to apply to all marinas, port authorities, utility companies, gas stations, trucking                        
01 companies, railroads, pipelines, farms, and airports in almost every area of Alaska; and                                
02  WHEREAS the potential effect on the Alaska economy could be severe because it is                                       
03 unlikely that any but the largest companies will be able to demonstrate the $150,000,000 of                             
04 financial responsibility required under the Act; and                                                                    
05  WHEREAS the broad coverage of the Act is well beyond the historical purview of                                         
06 the Minerals Management Service, United States Department of the Interior, which enforces                               
07 the Act; and                                                                                                            
08  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature agrees with the requirements of the Act to                                        
09 the extent that they relate to large companies conducting offshore activities on the outer                              
10 continental shelf, but does not agree that the same financial responsibility requirements should                        
11 apply to small companies that are only indirectly related to offshore activities;                                       
12  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Congress to amend                                           
13 the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 so that the financial responsibility requirements of persons                              
14 involved in oil operations more closely reflect the relative risks of those operations; and be                          
15 it                                                                                                                      
16  FURTHER RESOLVED that, in particular, facilities on the outer continental shelf                                        
17 should be the only facilities subject to the kind of high financial responsibility requirements                         
18 now contained in the Act.                                                                                               
19  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to  the Honorable Al Gore, Vice-President of                                   
20 the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, President                             
21 Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the U.S. House                                
22 of Representatives; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski,                                 
23 U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                  
24 delegation in Congress.