00                 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 6(RES)                                                               
01 Supporting oil and gas leasing and development within the National Petroleum Reserve                                    
02 in Alaska; and urging President Biden and the United States Department of the Interior                                  
03 to approve the Willow Master Development Plan.                                                                          
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS, in 1923, President Warren G. Harding issued an Executive Order                                         
06 establishing Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 on the North Slope region to provide a potential                             
07 supply of oil for the United States Navy; and                                                                           
08       WHEREAS 42 U.S.C. 6501 (Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976)                                        
09 redesignated Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 as the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska                                  
10 and transferred responsibility for its administration to the Secretary of the Interior; and                             
11 WHEREAS the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska encompasses 23,500,000                                               
12 acres, with boundaries extending south from Icy Cape to the drainage divide of the Brooks                               
13 Range, then following the divide eastward to 156 degrees west longitude, then north to the                              
14 Colville River, and following the Colville River downstream to its mouth; and                                           
15       WHEREAS the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska falls entirely within the                                      

01 boundary of the North Slope Borough and includes the communities of Anaktuvuk Pass,                                     
02 Atqasuk, Nuiqsut, Utqiagvik, and Wainwright; and                                                                        
03       WHEREAS, in 2017, the United States Geological Survey estimated there to be                                     
04 8,700,000,000 barrels of recoverable oil and 25,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of recoverable gas                           
05 reserves in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; and                                                               
06 WHEREAS the 2020 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan                                        
07 and Environmental Impact Statement estimates potential annual government revenue,                                       
08 including local, state, and federal taxes and royalties, of $730,000,000 to $4,750,000,000 from                         
09 oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; and                                                
10 WHEREAS the 2020 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan                                        
11 and Environmental Impact Statement estimates that the exploration, development, and                                     
12 production of oil and gas in the reserve could generate 3,600 direct jobs and 2,750 indirect                            
13 jobs annually over a period of 30 years; and                                                                            
14 WHEREAS the Willow oil and gas prospect, known as the Willow project, is located                                      
15 in the Bear Tooth Unit of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and would be the                                     
16 farthest-west producing field on the North Slope; and                                                                   
17 WHEREAS the Willow project would tap into reserves of an estimated 600,000,000                                        
18 barrels of oil and, at peak production, produce 180,000 barrels a day; and                                              
19 WHEREAS the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Willow                                          
20 Master Development Plan was developed over multiple years through a rigorous process with                               
21 significant involvement by and support from local communities and Alaska Native entities                                
22 and was specifically designed to protect surface values and the Inupiat way of life; and                                
23 WHEREAS, on February 1, 2023, the United States Department of the Interior                                            
24 released its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Willow project,                                  
25 which demonstrates that the project is legally sufficient and environmentally sound; and                                
26 WHEREAS the Inupiat people are the first and rightful stewards of the land on which                                   
27 the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska sits, and take seriously the need for careful and                              
28 balanced stewardship; and                                                                                               
29 WHEREAS the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, the Inupiat Community of the                                           
30 Arctic Slope, the North Slope Borough, the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Alaska Native                              
31 Village Corporation Association, the ANCSA Regional Association, the City of Utqiagvik,                                 

01 the City of Wainwright, the City of Atqasuk, and the Kuukpik Corporation are all united in                              
02 support of the Willow project; and                                                                                      
03 WHEREAS the Willow project has received the support of labor unions and trade                                         
04 groups, including the Alaska Petroleum Joint Crafts Council, the Alaska Support Industry                                
05 Alliance, the Alaska AFL-CIO, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the Laborers'                             
06 International Union of North America, the National Association of Manufacturers, the North                              
07 America's Building Trades Unions, and the Alaska Chamber of Commerce; and                                               
08 WHEREAS Representative Mary Peltola, Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Senator Dan                                          
09 Sullivan, the Alaska delegation in Congress, unanimously support approval of the Willow                                 
10 project; and                                                                                                            
11 WHEREAS state royalties from oil and gas development in the National Petroleum                                        
12 Reserve in Alaska are allocated to the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Impact                                      
13 Mitigation Fund, which is used to provide the local communities of Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk,                             
14 Nuiqsut, Wainwright, Utqiagvik, and the North Slope Borough with grants to mitigate                                     
15 impacts related to oil and gas development; and                                                                         
16 WHEREAS oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska                                           
17 would strengthen national security and provide long-lasting benefits to the national economy                            
18 by creating thousands of jobs nationwide, generating billions of dollars in government                                  
19 revenue, providing affordable energy to American consumers, and decreasing dependence on                                
20 foreign energy; and                                                                                                     
21 WHEREAS resource development in the state has benefited rural communities by                                          
22 bringing family-supporting jobs and wages, increased educational opportunities, safe water                              
23 and wastewater facilities, and expanded health care services to those communities; and                                  
24 WHEREAS, because of resource development, compared with the national average,                                         
25 rural areas of the state experienced greater increases in life expectancy between 1980 and                              
26 2014 in locations where resource development activities, including oil and gas development,                             
27 mining, and fisheries operations, have occurred; and                                                                    
28 WHEREAS safe and responsible oil and gas exploration, development, and                                                
29 production has been demonstrated by over 50 years of activity on the North Slope region                                 
30 without adverse effects on the environment or wildlife populations; and                                                 
31 WHEREAS the state's leadership in the nation's energy future includes robust support                                  

01 for the development and implementation of renewable energy systems and sources to ensure                                
02 that cost-effective energy and power are provided to communities and individuals in the state;                          
03 and                                                                                                                     
04       WHEREAS responsible resource development today equips communities in the state                                  
05 to make investments in technology and infrastructure to support the use of renewable sources                            
06 of energy and power; and                                                                                                
07       WHEREAS the Willow project is an important part of a diverse energy future for the                              
08 state and the nation;                                                                                                   
09       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                        
10 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to maximize the area available for                               
11 oil and gas leasing and development within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska while                               
12 conserving and protecting valued fish, wildlife, subsistence, and cultural resources; and be it                         
13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges President Biden and                                          
14 the United States Department of the Interior to move forward with final approval of the                                 
15 Willow project by selecting the preferred Alternative E plan, which allows three drill sites, the                       
16 minimum for the project to remain economically viable; and be it                                                        
17 FURTHER RESOLVED that a further delay in approval or construction of the                                              
18 Willow project undermines the values and benefits of the project to the state and its residents                         
19 and is not in the public interest; and be it                                                                            
20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                            
21 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, when considering management                                      
22 activities related to the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, to take into account the long                           
23 history of safe and responsible oil and gas development on the North Slope region and the                               
24 enormous benefits that development of oil and gas resources in the National Petroleum                                   
25 Reserve in Alaska would bring to local communities, tribal governments, the state, and the                              
26 nation.                                                                                                                 
27 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President                                   
28 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and                           
29 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Deb Haaland, United States Secretary of the                                 
30 Interior; the Honorable Tracy Stone-Manning, Director, Bureau of Land Management, U.S.                                  
31 Department of the Interior; Steve Cohn, Alaska State Director, Bureau of Land Management,                               

01 U.S. Department of the Interior; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan                                 
02 Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Mary Peltola, U.S. Representative, members of                                
03 the Alaska delegation in Congress.