CSHJR 13(HES): Relating to using oil spill settlement funds to create a long-term research and monitoring endowment.
00CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 13(HES) 01 Relating to using oil spill settlement funds to create a long-term research and 02 monitoring endowment. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the biological resources of the northern Gulf of Alaska were affected by 05 the Exxon Valdez oil spill; and 06 WHEREAS the Exxon Valdez oil spill disrupted the economic and social lives of 07 many of the local residents in the Prince William Sound area; and 08 WHEREAS a spill of the magnitude of the Exxon Valdez oil spill not only affects the 09 wildlife and fish habitat, but also has economic, social, and psychological effects in rural 10 Alaska where traditional life styles of local populations, including the Native population, may 11 be severely disrupted; and 12 WHEREAS baseline scientific data is inadequate to assess positively the damage of 13 the Exxon Valdez oil spill, to manage major spills, and to realistically restore the environment; 14 and
01 WHEREAS Alaska has more coastline than any other state in the union, making it 02 imperative that Alaska take the lead in using the accumulation of scientific knowledge and 03 promoting the advancement of scientific technology now as well as in the future; and 04 WHEREAS, with scientific advancements in the decades ahead, eventual enhancement 05 of many biological resources will be possible; and 06 WHEREAS the mission of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council is to efficiently 07 restore the environment injured by the spill to a healthy, productive ecosystem, while taking 08 into account the importance of quality of life and the need for viable opportunities to establish 09 and sustain a reasonable standard of living; and 10 WHEREAS, because the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council is in charge of 11 restoring, rehabilitating, replacing, enhancing, or acquiring equivalent resources and services 12 in the oil spill region, the accumulation of scientific knowledge to manage a future oil spill 13 must be a high priority in the council's program; and 14 WHEREAS, although significant research projects have been supported by the council, 15 many important areas of inquiry remain that can be effectively addressed only over an 16 extended period of time; additionally, there are significant research projects relating to spill 17 technology, restoration methods, and ecosystem preservation that need to be pursued and 18 extended for maximum public benefit; and 19 WHEREAS the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council restoration plan includes 20 adequate provisions for establishing a sound future-oriented program of research and top-level 21 study that would accumulate and spread knowledge of the North to the world; and 22 WHEREAS the University of Alaska has taken a leadership role in many of these 23 areas of study and is strongly committed to working in rural Alaska as well as to attracting 24 students from rural Alaska; and 25 WHEREAS the University of Alaska is a statewide system with locations in Valdez, 26 Cordova, Petersburg, Homer, Seward, Kodiak, Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Bethel, 27 Dillingham, and many other locations in rural Alaska; and 28 WHEREAS the University of Alaska is currently conducting research in fisheries and 29 oceanography; and 30 WHEREAS endowed academic chairs would provide the continuing quality scientific 31 investigation, scientific publications, and excellence in training that will be needed by the
01 agencies and the industry responsible for resource management and development into 02 perpetuity; and 03 WHEREAS the establishment of selected endowed chairs in relevant instructional, 04 research or public service programs would further ensure that the lessons learned from the 05 Exxon Valdez tragedy will continue to be explored and discussed in classrooms, laboratories, 06 public seminars, and community outreach programs; and 07 WHEREAS a high caliber of endowed professors attract the highest quality graduate 08 students and most often have a competitive edge in securing grants and contracts; and 09 WHEREAS endowed university research is normally broad in scope, produces peer- 10 reviewed publications, has long-term continuity, and produces an outflow of trained 11 professionals; and 12 WHEREAS the University of Alaska already has an appropriate foundation for 13 managing endowed chairs, thus eliminating the cost of a new bureaucracy, and has the 14 resources to enhance an endowment in time with additional funds acquired from other 15 agencies and from industry; and 16 WHEREAS the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council expends money obtained from 17 settlement of oil spill litigation; and 18 WHEREAS, by October 2002, as a result of the past and anticipated future deposits 19 into the restoration reserve, it is estimated that the principal and interest in the reserve, 20 together with remaining unobligated settlement funds, will be approximately $170,000,000 21 unless, before that time, ongoing negotiations concerning the Karluk and Sturgeon rivers and 22 adjacent lands result in a habitat acquisition agreement that obligates some of these funds; and 23 WHEREAS, absent a purchase agreement on the Karluk and Sturgeon rivers, 24 $170,000,000 is the total of the funds estimated to be available to support long-term 25 restoration based on projected investment returns allowable through the federal court registry 26 under the court's existing authority and thus reasonably anticipated as available for restoration 27 purposes by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council starting with fiscal year 2003; and 28 WHEREAS the limits of the existing investment authority of the Exxon Valdez Oil 29 Spill Trustee Council have resulted in the loss of millions of dollars in potential earnings, and, 30 to effectively address restoration needs in the future and support a comprehensive program that 31 maintains its value over time, the council's investment authority must be amended by the
01 Congress; 02 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the recent action of the 03 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustees to create a long-term research and monitoring endowment 04 using $115,000,000 of the expected reserve; and be it 05 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the Exxon 06 Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council to use a portion of the research funds to establish endowed 07 chairs at the University of Alaska in relevant areas of research, instruction, and public service; 08 and be it 09 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the Exxon Valdez 10 Oil Spill Trustee Council's efforts to remove the trust funds from the United States Treasury 11 in order to achieve efficiencies and maximize earnings as supported by recommendations from 12 its internal auditors and the General Accounting Office auditors, and urges the Alaska 13 Congressional delegation to work with the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council to achieve 14 these goals. 15 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Tony Knowles, Governor 16 of Alaska; the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council; Mark Hamilton, President of the 17 University of Alaska; Michael J. Burns, President of the Board of Regents of the University 18 of Alaska; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. 19 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 20 delegation in Congress.