CSHJR 12(RES): Urging the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to honor the recent lease sales and proceed with permitting in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; urging the President of the United States to defend the 2020 Record of Decision approving the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; opposing designation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a National Monument; and urging the Alaska delegation in Congress to uphold sec. 20001 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 12(RES) 01 Urging the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to 02 honor the recent lease sales and proceed with permitting in the Arctic National Wildlife 03 Refuge; urging the President of the United States to defend the 2020 Record of Decision 04 approving the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National 05 Wildlife Refuge; opposing designation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a 06 National Monument; and urging the Alaska delegation in Congress to uphold sec. 20001 07 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. 08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3143 (sec. 1003 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 10 Conservation Act), the United States Congress reserved the right to permit oil and gas 11 development and production in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 12 WHEREAS, in 16 U.S.C. 3142 (sec. 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 13 Conservation Act), the United States Congress authorized nondrilling exploratory activity in 14 the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and
01 WHEREAS sec. 20001 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97) requires 02 the United States Secretary of the Interior to establish and administer a competitive oil and 03 gas program for the leasing, development, and production of oil and gas in and the 04 transportation of oil and gas from the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; 05 and 06 WHEREAS sec. 20001 of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97) requires 07 that at least two lease sales be held by December 22, 2024, and that each sale offer for lease at 08 least 400,000 acres of land with the highest hydrocarbon potential in the coastal plain of the 09 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, allowing for up to 2,000 acres of federal land, equivalent to 10 .01 percent of the 19,000,000-acre refuge, to be covered by production and support facilities; 11 and 12 WHEREAS the 1,500,000-acre 1002 study area of the coastal plain of the Arctic 13 National Wildlife Refuge makes up less than eight percent of the 19,000,000-acre refuge, and 14 development of the oil and gas reserves in the coastal plain of the refuge would affect a 15 limited area, as defined by the United States Congress; and 16 WHEREAS 8,900,000 acres of the 19,000,000-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 17 have already been set aside as wilderness; and 18 WHEREAS the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge contains an 19 estimated 7,687,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil and 7,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of 20 natural gas; and 21 WHEREAS the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas in the coastal 22 plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is predicted to generate 1,430 direct jobs and 23 6,350 indirect jobs annually and 2,480 direct jobs and 10,100 indirect jobs at peak 24 employment; and 25 WHEREAS the 1002 study area is part of the coastal plain of the Arctic National 26 Wildlife Refuge located within the North Slope Borough, and many of the residents of the 27 North Slope Borough, who are predominantly Inupiat, are supportive of development in the 28 1002 study area; and 29 WHEREAS proponents of anthropogenically driven climate change point to the 30 burning of oil and gas as causing increased greenhouse gas emissions; however, the 31 exploration and extraction of oil and gas has not been shown to contribute significantly to
01 increased greenhouse gas emissions; and 02 WHEREAS oil and gas exploration and development in the coastal plain of the Arctic 03 National Wildlife Refuge and adjacent land could result in major discoveries that would 04 reduce our nation's dependency on oil produced by hostile foreign nations, help balance the 05 nation's trade deficit, and significantly increase the nation's security; and 06 WHEREAS additional natural gas production from the North Slope of Alaska, 07 including the significant gas reserves expected to be found in the Arctic National Wildlife 08 Refuge, would enhance the energy independence of the state and the nation in the future; and 09 WHEREAS natural gas production from the North Slope of Alaska would enhance 10 the economic viability of the proposed liquefied natural gas project; and 11 WHEREAS development of oil at Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk, Endicott, Lisburne, and 12 Milne Point has resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs throughout the United States, and 13 projected job creation as a result of oil development in the coastal plain of the Arctic National 14 Wildlife Refuge would have a positive effect in all 50 states; and 15 WHEREAS support for development of the coastal plain of the Arctic National 16 Wildlife Refuge by many state residents is predicated on the maximum employment of the in- 17 state workforce during all phases of development and operation; and 18 WHEREAS, at Prudhoe Bay and other locations along the coastal plain of the Arctic 19 National Wildlife Refuge, the oil industry has demonstrated that it can conduct oil and gas 20 activity without adversely affecting the environment or wildlife populations; and 21 WHEREAS the state will continue to strive to ensure the ongoing health and 22 productivity of the Porcupine and Central Arctic caribou herds and the protection of land, 23 water, and wildlife resources during the exploration and development of the coastal plain of 24 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and 25 WHEREAS the Bureau of Land Management's 2020 Coastal Plain Oil and Gas 26 Leasing Program Record of Decision was developed after extensive outreach and consultation 27 with residents of local communities, including residents of Kaktovik, the only Alaska Native 28 community in the Coastal Plain; and 29 WHEREAS the Alaska Native community of Kaktovik received ownership of 92,000 30 acres of private land within the Coastal Plain as settlement of their aboriginal land claims 31 under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA); and
01 WHEREAS the United States Congress intended the shareholders of ANCSA 02 corporations, rather than the federal government, to have direct control over the development 03 of the corporations' land and resources for the long-term economic benefit of the Alaska 04 Native shareholders; and 05 WHEREAS the residents of Kaktovik recognized in ANCSA have been unable to 06 develop their land in the Coastal Plain because of restrictions in the Alaska National Interest 07 Lands Conservation Act; and 08 WHEREAS the North Slope Borough, representing the residents of the North Slope, 09 including the Alaska Native residents of the Coastal Plain and the larger North Slope area, 10 fully participated in the public process conducted by the Bureau of Land Management in the 11 course of developing the 2020 Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of 12 Decision and supports the decision; and 13 WHEREAS the oil and gas industry has developed directional drilling technology that 14 would allow horizontal drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, responsibly 15 minimizing the impact area of development and offering a possibility of using directional 16 drilling to access oil from outside of the boundaries of the 1002 study area; and 17 WHEREAS the oil and gas industry is using innovative technology and 18 environmental practices in new oilfield developments, and those techniques are directly 19 applicable to operating on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and would 20 further enhance the already high standards for environmental protection in the industry; and 21 WHEREAS the economic prosperity of the state depends on the availability of 22 reliable and affordable energy; and 23 WHEREAS the state promotes the development of renewable and alternative energy 24 resources; and 25 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature has previously encouraged the use of 26 revenue from development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the development of 27 renewable and alternative energy resources in the state; and 28 WHEREAS the legislative findings and intent in sec. 1, ch. 10, SLA 2015, which 29 declares the Arctic policy of the state, states that "the continuing development of the state's 30 natural resources in an environmentally and socially responsible manner is essential to the 31 development of the state's economy and to the well-being of the residents of the state"; and
01 WHEREAS the Arctic policy of the state, codified as AS 44.99.105, states "It is the 02 policy of the state, as it relates to the Arctic, to uphold the state's commitment to economically 03 vibrant communities sustained by development activities consistent with the state's 04 responsibility for a healthy environment"; and 05 WHEREAS oil and gas development in the coastal plain of the Arctic National 06 Wildlife Refuge has the potential to extend the life of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System and 07 increase throughput, which has declined significantly since the peak of 2,033,000 average 08 barrels of oil a day in 1988; and 09 WHEREAS the decline in oil prices and in Trans Alaska Pipeline System throughput 10 has significantly reduced the revenue available to fund state government, depleted state 11 savings reserves, and increased pressure on lawmakers to reduce permanent fund dividend 12 payments to fund constitutionally mandated government services; and 13 WHEREAS development of oil and gas resources directly supports access to essential 14 public services and enables local economic and community development projects in rural and 15 underserved communities across the state; 16 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 17 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to honor the recent lease sales in the 18 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests that the United 20 States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, in considering the 21 adjudication of the exploration and development permitting process, take into account the 22 long history of safe and responsible oil and gas development on the North Slope of Alaska, 23 the enormous benefits development of oil and gas resources in the coastal plain of the Arctic 24 National Wildlife Refuge would bring to the state and the nation, the advances in oilfield 25 technology that continue to shrink the impact area of oil and gas activities, and the support of 26 residents from the North Slope Borough and across the North Slope of Alaska for oil and gas 27 development in a portion of the coastal plain; and be it 28 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests that President 29 Biden's administration defend, in the public sphere and in court, the 2020 Record of Decision 30 issued by the Bureau of Land Management that approves the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas 31 Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests that President 02 Biden and the Department of the Interior move forward with the permitting process in good 03 faith with leaseholders in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and be it 04 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges President Biden to 05 immediately rescind the provisions of Executive Order 13990, pertaining to the Arctic 06 National Wildlife Refuge, to faithfully implement the law and the final agency actions of the 07 Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management, and to respectfully listen to 08 the state, the North Slope Borough, and the residents of the Alaska Native communities of the 09 North Slope, including Kaktovik, before taking actions that affect those residents; and be it 10 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges President Biden to 11 take an approach of consultation and engagement on all decisions affecting the state, local 12 communities, Alaska Native tribes and entities, and individual residents; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes the designation of 14 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a National Monument by employing the Antiquities 15 Act; and be it 16 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests that the Alaska 17 delegation in Congress work to defeat any effort to alter or repeal sec. 20001 of the Tax Cuts 18 and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97) if the result would adversely affect oil and gas 19 development efforts in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 20 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President 21 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and 22 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Scott de la Vega, Acting United States Secretary 23 of the Interior; the Deputy Director for Policy and Programs, Bureau of Land Management, 24 U.S. Department of the Interior; the Coastal Plain Project Manager, Bureau of Land 25 Management Alaska State Office, U.S. Department of the Interior; and the Honorable Lisa 26 Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, 27 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.