00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 19(RES) 01 Relating to the ultra low sulfur diesel fuel requirements of the United States 02 Environmental Protection Agency and their application to Alaska. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the United States Environmental Protection Agency has ruled that, 05 beginning September 2006, roadway-based large trucks and buses must use ultra low sulfur 06 diesel fuel having a sulfur content of not more than 15 parts per 1,000,000; and 07 WHEREAS the United States Environmental Protection Agency has taken this action 08 based upon well-documented health hazards associated with diesel exhaust inhalation; and 09 WHEREAS rural Alaska depends on diesel fuel for its electrical power generation; 10 and 11 WHEREAS ultra low sulfur diesel fuel costs more to produce and is less efficient, 12 resulting in an overall higher cost to produce the same output as the high sulfur fuel currently 13 in use; and 14 WHEREAS northern Alaska temperatures are colder than most areas of the United 15 States, and fuel additives that create an arctic-grade of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel are 16 necessary to avoid fuel failure; and 01 WHEREAS arctic-grade ultra low sulfur diesel fuel is currently manufactured only in 02 Alberta, Canada, and must be imported into the state, increasing fuel transportation costs; and 03 WHEREAS diesel fuel constitutes only a small part of the fuel refined in Alaska, and 04 to modify Alaska refineries to produce low sulfur diesel fuel would be prohibitively 05 expensive; and 06 WHEREAS ultra low sulfur diesel fuel may not be transported or stored in the same 07 tanks used for high sulfur diesel fuel unless the tanks have been cleaned; and 08 WHEREAS the necessary separation of fuel types will create financial and logistical 09 problems in rural Alaska and may make it prohibitively expensive for communities to import 10 more than one type of diesel fuel; and 11 WHEREAS electric utilities that serve rural communities estimate that electric costs 12 will increase 25 to 33 percent based on the lower efficiency and higher cost of producing, 13 transporting, storing, and using arctic-grade ultra low sulfur diesel fuel; and 14 WHEREAS manufacturer and market responses to the new federal fuel requirements 15 will eventually create demand for the ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in rural Alaska; and 16 WHEREAS rural Alaska communities do not have the same exposure to 17 transportation-related diesel fumes as large urban areas because there are very few diesel 18 trucks and buses in rural Alaska; and 19 WHEREAS rural Alaska citizens have a unique and uncharacterized exposure to 20 diesel fumes due to their proximity to diesel fired power plants; and 21 WHEREAS the lack of scientific information regarding the unique exposure to diesel 22 fumes in rural Alaska prevents the Department of Environmental Conservation from 23 determining if exposure to diesel exhaust in rural Alaska communities poses a health risk to 24 the citizens of Alaska; and 25 WHEREAS rural Alaska community members have expressed concern about the 26 unknown but potential health risks from diesel exhaust; and  27 WHEREAS, by June 2003, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation 28 must submit a plan for applying the United States Environmental Protection Agency standards 29 for the use of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in rural Alaska communities; 30 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the state's delegation in 31 the United States Congress to request the United States Environmental Protection Agency to 01 provide funding to investigate and examine the fiscal and logistical effects of arctic-grade 02 ultra low sulfur diesel fuel on the current energy and transportation infrastructure in Alaska 03 and to evaluate the health effects of diesel fuel use in rural Alaska communities; and be it 04 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to 05 direct the Department of Community and Economic Development to determine the fiscal and 06 logistical effects on the state of using arctic-grade ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in Alaska; and 07 be it 08 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to 09 direct the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Community 10 and Economic Development, and the Department of Health and Social Services to coordinate 11 with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to determine the health, fiscal, and 12 logistical effects on the state of using arctic-grade ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in Alaska; and 13 be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to 15 direct the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to provide, in its plan for the 16 application of the United States Environmental Protection Agency standards, that rural Alaska 17 have as much flexibility as possible in the use of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel; and be it 18 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor to 19 direct the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to reexamine how the United 20 States Environmental Protection Agency standards for the use of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel 21 are applied to the state's plan for off-road communities. 22 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Christine Todd Whitman, 23 Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and 24 the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 25 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.