00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 47                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Alaska Department                                      
02 of Environmental Conservation to provide maximum possible flexibility in application                                    
03 of low sulfur diesel fuel requirements to Alaska.                                                                       
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ruled that                                  
06 in order to reduce emissions of particulate matter and nitrogen oxide from large trucks and                             
07 buses into the air, a cause of environmental and health problems in parts of the country, ultra                         
08 low sulfur diesel fuels having a sulfur content of 15 parts per million (PPM) must be used                              
09 nationwide for road vehicles; and                                                                                       
10       WHEREAS rural Alaska is dependent on diesel for its electrical power generation;                                
11 and                                                                                                                     
12       WHEREAS rural Alaska villages cannot import multiple grades of diesel fuel for                                  
13 logistic and economic reasons; if ultra low sulfur diesel is required by the EPA for any road                           
14 fuel, all power generation will have to be accomplished with the same ultra low sulfur diesel;                          
15 and                                                                                                                     

01       WHEREAS, ultra low sulfur diesel fuel costs significantly more than the current type                            
02 of diesel and is less efficient, resulting in increased retail costs on already expensive power;                        
03 and                                                                                                                     
04       WHEREAS emissions from large trucks and buses are not a health or environmental                                 
05 problem in off-road and rural Alaska, and the cost of using ultra low sulfur diesel is of no                            
06 benefit to rural Alaskans' health or Alaska's environment; and                                                          
07       WHEREAS ultra low sulfur fuel would have to be imported to Alaska at significant                                
08 cost because the primary fuel product in Alaska is aviation fuel, which is not subject to the                           
09 new emission rules; refineries in Alaska cannot produce this new product without extensive                              
10 modifications to existing equipment and new construction is disproportionately expensive in                             
11 relation to the demand and market in Alaska; and                                                                        
12       WHEREAS Alaska fuel companies estimate a 20 percent increase in the complexity                                  
13 of fuel shipping, delivery, and use due to the need for discrete handling of this type of fuel                          
14 while other fuels are also being used; and                                                                              
15       WHEREAS Alaska electrical cooperatives that serve rural villages estimate                                       
16 significant increases in the costs of electrical power generation due to the higher cost of ultra                       
17 low sulfur fuel compounded by the lower efficiency of that fuel, such that the retail cost of                           
18 electricity, now about $.45 per kilowatt hour (45 cents per KWH), might rise to approximately                           
19 $.70 per kilowatt hour, increasing the burden on rural consumers and the state power cost                               
20 equalization program;                                                                                                   
21       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                        
22 Environmental Protection Agency and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation                               
23 to reexamine ultra low sulfur fuel requirements that may apply to Alaska, especially in rural,                          
24 off-road areas, and to provide maximum possible flexibility in application of any low sulfur                            
25 diesel fuel requirements to Alaska.                                                                                     
26       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Christine Todd Whitman,                                
27 Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the Honorable Michele Brown,                                 
28 Commissioner, Department of Environmental Conservation; John Iani, Regional                                             
29 Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency - Region 10; and to the Honorable Ted                                    
30 Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                  
31 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.