00 Enrolled HCR 3 01 Urging the governor and the attorney general to pursue all legal and legislative options to 02 open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and areas of the Chukchi and 03 Beaufort Seas to oil and gas exploration, development, and production; and urging the 04 governor and the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee to work with the United States 05 Congress to enact measures necessary to prevent President Barack Obama and federal 06 agencies from implementing regulations that place landscape characteristic restrictions on the 07 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that are equivalent to the restrictions placed on land given a 08 wilderness designation. 09 _______________ 10 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:  11 WHEREAS the state is experiencing steep declines in revenue from oil and gas 12 production taxes and royalties on the North Slope as a result of decreasing oil production and 13 plummeting oil prices; and 14 WHEREAS 16 U.S.C. 3143 (sec. 1003 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 15 Conservation Act) prohibits oil and gas production as well as leasing or other development 01 leading to production of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge until the 02 activity is authorized by an Act of Congress; and 03 WHEREAS, on April 3, 2015, the United States Department of the Interior, United 04 States Fish and Wildlife Service, issued its Record of Decision on the Arctic National 05 Wildlife Refuge Revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan, recommending that the United 06 States Congress designate the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other 07 core areas of the refuge as wilderness, the highest level of protection, prohibiting oil and gas 08 development in the refuge; and 09 WHEREAS, on April 3, 2015, the United States Department of the Interior, United 10 States Fish and Wildlife Service, issued its Record of Decision on the Arctic National 11 Wildlife Refuge Revised Comprehensive Conservation Plan, which provides for the continued 12 prohibition of oil and gas leasing, drilling, and extraction of oil and gas for commercial 13 purposes, including all associated above and below ground facilities; and 14 WHEREAS President Barack Obama and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 15 express the intention not only to block oil and gas exploration and development on the coastal 16 plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but also to permanently block any future oil and 17 gas exploration and development in that area by asking the United States Congress to 18 designate the coastal plain as wilderness by an Act of Congress; and 19 WHEREAS, on January 27, 2015, President Barack Obama signed a presidential 20 memorandum providing for the withdrawal from disposition by leasing for a time period 21 without specific expiration of (1) the areas of the Outer Continental Shelf currently designated 22 by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as leasing deferral areas within the Chukchi Sea 23 Planning Area and the Beaufort Sea Planning Area in the five-year oil and gas leasing 24 program for 2012-2017; and (2) the Hanna Shoal region of the Chukchi Sea Planning Area 25 lying within the contours of the 40-meter isobath; and 26 WHEREAS the withdrawal from disposition by leasing prevents consideration of 27 those areas for any future oil or gas leasing for purposes of exploration, development, or 28 production; and 29 WHEREAS sec. 6(i) of the Alaska Statehood Act (P.L. 85-508) recognizes the critical 30 importance of revenue from natural resource development to the economic viability of the 31 state by including all mineral deposits in land conveyed to the state and requiring the state to 01 reserve its right in mineral deposits in all land received from the federal government; and 02 WHEREAS 30 U.S.C. 191 requires that 90 percent of the money received from sales, 03 bonuses, and royalties, including interest charges collected under 30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq. 04 (Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982), be paid to the state for disposition 05 by the legislature; and 06 WHEREAS the leasing of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for 07 oil and gas development would provide a source of funds for the costs of providing state 08 services to the people of the state; and 09 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3142 (sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 10 Conservation Act), the United States Congress authorized nondrilling exploratory activity 11 within the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 12 WHEREAS the oil industry, the state, and the United States Department of the 13 Interior consider the coastal plain to have the highest potential for discovery of very large oil 14 and gas accumulations on the continent of North America, estimated to be as much as 15 10,000,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil; and 16 WHEREAS the "1002 study area" is part of the coastal plain located within the North 17 Slope Borough, and many of the residents of the North Slope Borough, who are 18 predominantly Inupiat, are supportive of development in the "1002 study area"; and 19 WHEREAS the state recognizes and respects the right of Native landowners in and 20 adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1002 study area, including the rights of the 21 Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation to develop their land 22 and resources entitlements under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and other 23 agreements; and 24 WHEREAS oil and gas exploration and development of the coastal plain of the 25 refuge, of adjacent land, and in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas could result in major 26 discoveries that would reduce our nation's dependency on oil produced by hostile foreign 27 nations, help balance the nation's trade deficit, and significantly increase the nation's security; 28 and 29 WHEREAS the state's and the nation's future energy independence would be 30 enhanced with additional natural gas production from the North Slope of Alaska, including 31 what are expected to be significant gas reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and 01 the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and the development of those reserves would enhance the 02 economic viability of the proposed Alaska liquefied gas project; and 03 WHEREAS domestic demand for energy continues to rise, and a reliable and secure 04 source of domestic oil and gas ensures ongoing economic security for the state and the nation; 05 and 06 WHEREAS development of oil at Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk, Endicott, Lisburne, and 07 Milne Point has resulted in thousands of jobs throughout the United States, and projected job 08 creation as a result of oil and gas development on the coastal plain and in the Chukchi and 09 Beaufort Seas will have a positive effect in all 50 states; and 10 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, a national asset that would cost 11 billions of dollars to replace, would have its useful operating life extended for a substantial 12 period if the additional reserves of recoverable oil from the coastal plain and Chukchi and 13 Beaufort Seas were produced; and 14 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System is currently being extended to leases at 15 Point Thomson, an area bordering the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and oil produced in 16 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would require only the additional construction of a 17 pipeline to Point Thomson to deliver oil to market; and 18 WHEREAS opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and 19 allowing leasing and exploration in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas would permit sufficient 20 time for planning environmental safeguards, development, and national security review; and 21 WHEREAS the 1,500,000-acre coastal plain of the refuge makes up less than eight 22 percent of the 19,000,000-acre refuge, and development of the oil and gas reserves in the 23 refuge's coastal plain would affect a limited area as defined by the United States Congress; 24 and 25 WHEREAS 8,900,000 of the 19,000,000 acres of the refuge have already been set 26 aside as wilderness; and 27 WHEREAS the oil industry has shown at Prudhoe Bay, as well as at other locations 28 along the Arctic coastal plain, that it is capable of conducting oil and gas activity without 29 adversely affecting the environment or wildlife populations; and 30 WHEREAS the oil and gas industry has developed directional drilling technology that 31 will allow horizontal drilling in a responsible manner by minimizing the development 01 footprint within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and that directional drilling technology 02 is capable of drilling from outside of the boundaries of the 1002 study area; and 03 WHEREAS the oil industry is using innovative technology and environmental 04 practices in new field developments, and those techniques are directly applicable to operating 05 on the coastal plain and in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas and would enhance environmental 06 protection beyond traditionally high standards; and 07 WHEREAS the state recognizes that the economic prosperity of the state and nation 08 is dependent on available, reliable, and affordable energy; 09 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the governor to work with 10 the United States Congress to pass legislation to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National 11 Wildlife Refuge and the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to oil and gas exploration, development, 12 and production; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the governor and the 14 Legislative Budget and Audit Committee to work with the United States Congress to enact 15 measures necessary to prevent President Barack Obama, the United States Fish and Wildlife 16 Service, the Department of the Interior, and other federal agencies from implementing 17 regulations that place landscape characteristic restrictions on the Arctic National Wildlife 18 Refuge that are equivalent to the restrictions placed on land given a wilderness designation; 19 and be it 20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the governor and the 21 attorney general to take all legal action necessary to prevent President Barack Obama, the 22 United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Department of the Interior, and 23 other federal agencies from unlawfully blocking oil and gas leasing, exploration, and 24 development on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in the Chukchi 25 and Beaufort Seas.