SJR 5: Urging the Trump Administration to reverse federal government restrictions that adversely affect the ability to access and develop hydrocarbon- and mineral-rich portions of the outer continental shelf and to support responsible resource development of the outer continental shelf, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska; urging the United States Congress to assist in the development of the outer continental shelf adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska and to share the revenue generated from federal land; and stating the intention to use part of the revenue from federal land to build the necessary infrastructure to support the development and preserve the environmental integrity of the federal land in the outer continental shelf adjacent to the state.
00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5 01 Urging the Trump Administration to reverse federal government restrictions that 02 adversely affect the ability to access and develop hydrocarbon- and mineral-rich 03 portions of the outer continental shelf and to support responsible resource development 04 of the outer continental shelf, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the National 05 Petroleum Reserve - Alaska; urging the United States Congress to assist in the 06 development of the outer continental shelf adjacent to the Arctic National Wildlife 07 Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska and to share the revenue generated 08 from federal land; and stating the intention to use part of the revenue from federal land 09 to build the necessary infrastructure to support the development and preserve the 10 environmental integrity of the federal land in the outer continental shelf adjacent to the 11 state. 12 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 13 WHEREAS the state contains a world-class hydrocarbon basin holding over 30
01 percent of the nation's technically recoverable oil and gas resources; and 02 WHEREAS the state has a rich and demonstrable history of developing its resources 03 in a sustainable and responsible manner, especially in the mining, fishing, timber, and oil and 04 gas industries; and 05 WHEREAS the state has hundreds of wells for exploration and development in state 06 and adjacent federal waters, including the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas; and 07 WHEREAS the state benefits from over half a century of experience in managing the 08 sustainable and responsible development of the Arctic; and 09 WHEREAS it is in the best interests of the state to continue the safe and responsible 10 development of resources in and adjacent to the state; and 11 WHEREAS the federal government has limited immediate opportunities for 12 development in several areas of the Arctic, including, most importantly, the Arctic outer 13 continental shelf, the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the National 14 Petroleum Reserve - Alaska; and 15 WHEREAS residents of the state, concerned with the economy of the state for this 16 and future generations, vehemently oppose the United States Department of the Interior's 17 cancellation of lease sales in the Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the Beaufort Sea Planning 18 Area that had respectively been scheduled for 2016 and 2017, the subsequent removal of the 19 Chukchi Sea Planning Area and the Beaufort Sea Planning Area from the 2017 - 2022 Outer 20 Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program issued by the Bureau of 21 Ocean Energy Management on November 18, 2016, and the indefinite removal of more than 22 183,000,000 acres of federal water off the coast of the state from future oil and gas leasing by 23 President Obama, despite the support of the legislature, the Governor, business and labor 24 communities, and citizens of the state; and 25 WHEREAS meeting national energy needs was a primary purpose of the Outer 26 Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 (P.L. 95-372); and 27 WHEREAS the Alaska Region is the largest region of the outer continental shelf and 28 covers 1,035,000,000 acres, including offshore areas such as the Beaufort Sea, the Chukchi 29 Sea, Cook Inlet, and the Gulf of Alaska; and 30 WHEREAS the Beaufort Sea Planning Area and the Chukchi Sea Planning Area can 31 be developed in an environmentally responsible manner and contain a combined estimated
01 undiscovered but recoverable 23,600,000,000 barrels of oil and 104,410,000,000,000 cubic 02 feet of natural gas, the development of which could generate an average of 54,700 jobs, 03 $145,000,000,000 in cumulative payroll, and $193,000,000,000 in public revenue a year; and 04 WHEREAS, under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, the federal 05 government recognizes the effect that oil and gas development in federal offshore areas has 06 on the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, and recognizes the contributions 07 to national energy, security, and economic interests made by sharing with those states 37.5 08 percent of revenue from leases covered under phase one of the Gulf of Mexico Energy 09 Security Act of 2006; and 10 WHEREAS phase two of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 expands 11 the definition of "qualified outer continental shelf revenue" and continues to share revenue on 12 an adjacency factor but includes an annual revenue-sharing cap of $500,000,000 that applies 13 through 2055; and 14 WHEREAS the federal government fails to recognize the same effects on and 15 contributions made by other oil and gas producing states adjacent to federal outer continental 16 shelf areas, including this state; and 17 WHEREAS, had outer continental shelf revenue sharing of 37.5 percent been in place 18 between 2003 and 2015, the state would have received between $942,000,000 and 19 $1,300,000,000 in additional revenue for necessary infrastructure, such as marine ports, 20 airports, utilities, and housing, and increased state services, such as oil spill and emergency 21 response and environmental monitoring and mitigation; and 22 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3143 (sec. 1003 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 23 Conservation Act), the United States Congress reserved the right to permit oil and gas 24 development and production within the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; 25 and 26 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3142 (sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 27 Conservation Act), the United States Congress authorized nondrilling exploratory activity 28 within the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (the "1002 study area"); and 29 WHEREAS the oil industry, the state, and the United States Department of the 30 Interior consider the 1002 study area of the coastal plain to have the highest potential for 31 discovery of very large oil and gas accumulations on the continent of North America,
01 estimated to be as much as 10,000,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil; and 02 WHEREAS the 1002 study area is located within the North Slope Borough, and many 03 of the residents of the North Slope Borough, who are predominantly Inupiat, are supportive of 04 development in the 1002 study area; and 05 WHEREAS development of the coastal plain would create jobs in all 50 states and 06 potentially generate hundreds of billions of dollars in state and federal revenue; and 07 WHEREAS nearly 47 percent of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has already 08 been set aside as wilderness; and 09 WHEREAS the 1002 study area makes up less than eight percent of the Arctic 10 National Wildlife Refuge; and 11 WHEREAS the petroleum industry has demonstrated, in other locations along the 12 Arctic coastal plain, that it is capable of extracting oil and gas without adversely affecting the 13 environment or wildlife populations; and 14 WHEREAS the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska was created in 1923 specifically 15 for oil and gas leasing, exploration, and production; and 16 WHEREAS the United States Congress mandated a program of oil and gas leasing 17 within the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska in 1980, opening the reserve to future 18 development; and 19 WHEREAS the United States Department of the Interior issued an Integrated Activity 20 Plan in 2013 that limits the area of the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska available for oil 21 and gas leasing to roughly 11,800,000 of the reserve's total 22,800,000 acres; and 22 WHEREAS unnecessary federal permitting delays and proposed federal 23 compensatory mitigation policies have created significant obstacles to the development of the 24 National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska; and 25 WHEREAS the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska remains closed to mineral 26 entry; and 27 WHEREAS, according to the United States Geological Survey, the National 28 Petroleum Reserve - Alaska includes an estimated 896,000,000 barrels of economically 29 recoverable oil and nearly 53 trillion cubic feet of natural gas; and 30 WHEREAS future oil and gas production in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska 31 could create new jobs and revenue for the state and federal governments; and
01 WHEREAS the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, the coastal plain of the Arctic National 02 Wildlife Refuge, and the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska have the potential to supply oil 03 that would extend the operation of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, which, in 2016, 04 operated at approximately 25 percent of its peak daily throughput of approximately 2,000,000 05 barrels a day achieved in 1988; and 06 WHEREAS oil and gas exploration and development of the outer continental shelf 07 could result in major discoveries that would reduce our nation's dependency on oil produced 08 by hostile foreign nations, help balance the nation's trade deficit, and significantly increase the 09 nation's security; and 10 WHEREAS the economic prosperity of the state is dependent on available, reliable, 11 and affordable energy; and 12 WHEREAS the state continues to express its support for oil and gas activity on state 13 land and in adjacent federal water; and 14 WHEREAS economic activity throughout the state and the nation is threatened by 15 federal actions that limit due process and propose onerous restrictions on projects before any 16 permit applications are filed and analyzed under the National Environmental Policy Act; 17 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature continues to support oil and gas 18 exploration and development on state land, including in the Beaufort Sea Planning Area, the 19 Chukchi Sea Planning Area, the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the 20 National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska; and be it 21 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Trump 22 Administration to reverse federal government restrictions that adversely affect the ability to 23 access and develop hydrocarbon- and mineral-rich portions of the Arctic National Wildlife 24 Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska, and the outer continental shelf adjacent to 25 the state, including the Beaufort Sea Planning Area and the Chukchi Sea Planning Area; and 26 be it 27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Trump 28 Administration to support responsible resource development of the Arctic National Wildlife 29 Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska, and the outer continental shelf adjacent to 30 the state; and be it 31 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Trump
01 Administration to acknowledge the support of state residents for resource development of the 02 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska, and the outer 03 continental shelf adjacent to the state and to ensure that the federal government exercise due 04 process in rendering decisions about proposed economic development projects; and be it 05 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 06 Congress to take all necessary actions to assist the Trump Administration in developing 07 hydrocarbon- and mineral-rich portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National 08 Petroleum Reserve - Alaska, and the outer continental shelf adjacent to the state, including the 09 Beaufort Sea Planning Area and the Chukchi Sea Planning Area; and be it 10 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 11 Congress to provide a means for consistently and equitably sharing 37.5 percent of the 12 revenue generated from the development of the outer continental shelf adjacent to the state; 13 and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature intends to use part of the 15 revenue from the development of the outer continental shelf to build the necessary 16 infrastructure to support the development and preserve the environmental integrity of the 17 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska, and the outer 18 continental shelf and adjacent areas in the state. 19 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President 20 of the United States; the Honorable Michael R. Pence, Vice President of the United States and 21 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Paul D. Ryan, Speaker of the U.S. House of 22 Representatives; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of 23 Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 24 Honorable Charles E. Schumer, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the United States 25 Secretary of the Interior; Jim Kurth, acting Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 26 Margaret N. Schneider, acting Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental 27 Enforcement; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. 28 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 29 delegation in Congress.