00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 13 01 Supporting oil and gas exploration and development on the outer continental shelf 02 offshore of the state; opposing attempts to prohibit oil and gas development in the 03 Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the Beaufort Sea Planning Area; and requesting that 04 the federal Administration cease and desist from all future restrictions in the Chukchi 05 and Beaufort Seas. 06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 WHEREAS residents of the state, concerned with the economy of the state for this 08 generation and generations to come, vehemently oppose the action taken by President Barack 09 Obama on January 27, 2015, under the alleged authority of 43 U.S.C. 1341(a) (sec. 12(a) of 10 the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act), to withdraw significant oil-rich portions of the 11 Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the Beaufort Sea Planning Area from consideration for any 12 future oil or gas leasing for purposes of exploration, development, or production; and 13 WHEREAS, while portions of the Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the Beaufort Sea 14 Planning Area were deferred in previous lease sales, the new plan would block development 15 forever; and 01 WHEREAS the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, created on August 7, 1953, 02 defined the outer continental shelf as the submerged land lying seaward of state coastal 03 waters, which is three miles offshore, that is under United States jurisdiction; and 04 WHEREAS, under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the United States 05 Secretary of the Interior is responsible for the administration of mineral exploration and 06 development of the outer continental shelf; and 07 WHEREAS, under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the United States 08 Secretary of the Interior may grant leases to the highest qualified responsible bidder based on 09 sealed competitive bids and adopt regulations as necessary to carry out the provisions of the 10 Act; and 11 WHEREAS meeting national energy needs was a primary purpose of the Outer 12 Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 (P.L. 95-372); and 13 WHEREAS the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 established 14 criteria for the outer continental shelf leasing program and required the United States 15 Secretary of the Interior to formulate an outer continental shelf leasing program that would 16 "best meet national energy needs for the five-year period following its approval or 17 reapproval"; and 18 WHEREAS the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, United States Department of 19 the Interior, is responsible for managing oil and gas resources on the outer continental shelf 20 and developing a five-year schedule of lease sales; and 21 WHEREAS the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Draft 22 Proposed Program issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is the first in a series 23 of three proposals in the staged development process of the program; and 24 WHEREAS the Alaska Region is the largest region of the outer continental shelf and 25 covers over 1,035,000,000 acres, including offshore areas such as the Chukchi Sea, the 26 Beaufort Sea, Cook Inlet, and the Gulf of Alaska; and 27 WHEREAS the Alaska Region of the outer continental shelf consists of 15 planning 28 areas; and 29 WHEREAS sales have been held in eight of the planning areas over the years, the 30 most recent of which was held in 2008; and 31 WHEREAS there are existing federal leases in two planning areas, the Beaufort Sea 01 and the Chukchi Sea, and both planning areas can be developed in an environmentally 02 responsible manner; and 03 WHEREAS the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas are two outer continental shelf areas that 04 have the potential to provide oil to extend the operation of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System 05 for the benefit of all resident workers; and 06 WHEREAS, in public comments on the 2012-2017 program, the state and others 07 stated that extending operations of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System is a priority; and 08 WHEREAS the Trans Alaska Pipeline System is currently operating at approximately 09 one-quarter of its capacity, and the continued operations of the system depend on new 10 discoveries; and 11 WHEREAS, in the Chukchi Sea Planning Area, Sale 193, the most recent sale in this 12 area, was held in February 2008 and generated more than $2,600,000,000 in revenue; and 13 WHEREAS there are 460 existing leases in the Chukchi Sea Planning Area, all issued 14 in Sale 193; and 15 WHEREAS the 2012-2017 program scheduled one sale in the Chukchi Sea Planning 16 Area for 2016; and 17 WHEREAS the Chukchi Sea Planning Area has the greatest potential to provide the 18 hydrocarbons necessary to extend the operations of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System and 19 provide the volumes of gas needed to make construction of a North Slope natural gas pipeline 20 economically viable; and 21 WHEREAS the state continues to express its support of oil and gas activity on the 22 outer continental shelf offshore of the state; and 23 WHEREAS the state has expressed a preference for more lease sales on an area-wide 24 basis, rather than by targeted leasing; 25 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature continues to support oil and gas 26 exploration and development on the outer continental shelf offshore of the state; and be it 27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature vehemently opposes any 28 attempt by the federal Administration to prohibit the future option for oil and gas 29 development in oil-rich portions of the Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the Beaufort Sea 30 Planning Area; and be it 31 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests that the federal 01 government cease and desist from all future restrictions in oil-rich portions of the Chukchi 02 and Beaufort Seas. 03 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 04 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 05 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of 06 Representatives; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of 07 Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 08 Honorable Harry Reid, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr., 09 Attorney General of the United States; the Honorable Sally Jewell, United States Secretary of 10 the Interior; the Honorable Hilary Tompkins, Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior; the 11 Honorable Daniel M. Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Robert Dreher, 12 Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division; and 13 the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the 14 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.