00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 25                                                                                           
01 Relating to implementation of the Aleutian Trade Act of 1990.                                                           
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03  WHEREAS Alaskans working and living in remote areas of the Aleutian Islands chain                                      
04 have historically relied on fish tender vessels to provide coastal freighter services for general                       
05 and fisheries cargo in support of Aleutian Islands chain communities and their own fishing                              
06 operations; and                                                                                                         
07  WHEREAS containerized freight vessels concentrate on high volume ports on a                                            
08 seasonal basis and provide virtually no interport service in the Aleutian Islands chain; and                            
09  WHEREAS foreign freighters are unregulated, provide only itinerant freight services                                    
10 to the Aleutian Islands chain, take only the most profitable freight cargoes, and detract from                          
11 the coastal freighter service provided by domestic fish tender vessels in the Aleutian trade; and                       
12  WHEREAS the fish tender vessels in the Aleutian trade have a proven safety record                                      
13 over the past decades; and                                                                                              
14  WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard has recently proposed vessel safety                                              

01 regulations (CGD 88-079a) to implement the Aleutian Trade Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-595, Title                              
02 VI) and the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-424), which,                                
03 if adopted, would seriously jeopardize the continued ability of fish tender vessels in the                              
04 Aleutian trade to provide coastal freighter service by requiring cost prohibitive retrofits and                         
05 alterations for these fish tender vessels; and                                                                          
06  WHEREAS 46 U.S.C. 4502(e)(2) expressly prohibits the adoption of vessel safety                                         
07 regulations that require alterations to vessels constructed before the effective date of vessel                         
08 safety regulations proposed by the United States Coast Guard; and                                                       
09  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature strongly believes that it is in the best interest                                 
10 of Alaskans living and working on the Aleutian Islands chain, to continue, and not disrupt,                             
11 the existing coastal freighter service provided by fish tender vessels in the Aleutian trade and                        
12 to encourage competition among the providers of freight service in the Aleutian Islands chain;                          
13 and                                                                                                                     
14  WHEREAS comments on the proposed vessel safety regulations must be received by                                         
15 the Executive Secretary of the Marine Safety Council by February 28, 1993;                                              
16  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the                                        
17 United States Coast Guard comply with the directive of the Congress under 46 U.S.C.                                     
18 4502(e)(2) and not adopt vessel safety regulations that require alterations of a vessel or                              
19 equipment of a vessel used in the Aleutian trade so as to not disrupt essential freight service                         
20 to the Aleutian Islands chain.                                                                                          
21  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
22 United States; the Honorable Federico Pena, Secretary of the U.S. Department of                                         
23 Transportation; Admiral J. William Kime, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; the                                        
24 Executive Secretary, Marine Safety Council, U.S. Coast Guard; and to the Honorable Ted                                  
25 Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                  
26 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.