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HJR 47: Urging the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to provide maximum possible flexibility in application of low sulfur diesel fuel requirements to Alaska.

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.