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