HR 9: Establishing the House Special Committee on Natural Gas Pipelines as a special and an interim committee of the House of Representatives of the Twenty-Third Alaska State Legislature.
00 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 9 01 Establishing the House Special Committee on Natural Gas Pipelines as a special and an 02 interim committee of the House of Representatives of the Twenty-Third Alaska State 03 Legislature. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: 05 WHEREAS the North Slope of Alaska contains approximately 35 trillion cubic feet 06 of known natural gas reserves at the wellhead and in excess of 100 trillion cubic feet of 07 estimated natural gas resources; and 08 WHEREAS demand for natural gas in the lower 48 states is expected to experience 09 record growth, rising from approximately 22 trillion cubic feet a year in 2000 to 30 to 35 10 trillion cubic feet a year in 2020; and 11 WHEREAS demand for liquefied natural gas in Asia and the Pacific is also expected 12 to experience significant growth; and 13 WHEREAS demand for natural gas exists in the state, and, if a natural gas pipeline 14 were built through Alaska along a southern route, many communities in the state could be 15 supplied with natural gas; and
01 WHEREAS Alaska's North Slope natural gas is attractive to all of these markets; and 02 WHEREAS it is widely recognized that maximum benefit to Alaskans from the 03 commercialization of North Slope natural gas lies in market exposure for Alaska North Slope 04 gas reserves, opportunities for in-state use of the natural gas and for participation by Alaskans 05 in construction, maintenance, and operation of the gas pipeline transportation project, and the 06 recovery of revenue by the state from the development, transport, and sale of Alaska North 07 Slope gas reserves; and 08 WHEREAS the House of Representatives supports the commercialization of Alaska 09 North Slope gas for the maximum benefit of the people of the state; and 10 WHEREAS, given the importance of a natural gas pipeline system and that the 11 regime by which it is developed will have significant and lasting effects on the future of gas 12 development within the state and on future state revenues, it is imperative that the 13 administration of Governor Murkowski and the House of Representatives maintain a liaison 14 to stimulate acceleration of negotiations and the permitting process and to review the effects 15 of a trans Alaska gas pipeline on the state and its people. 16 BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives that a House Special Committee 17 on Natural Gas Pipelines is established 18 (1) without encroaching on the authority assigned to the Legislative Budget 19 and Audit Committee to review preliminary findings and determinations, proposed contracts 20 and supporting data, and make recommendations, all as required by the Alaska Stranded Gas 21 Development Act (AS 43.82), to study contracts that may be presented by the administration 22 to the legislature under that Act; 23 (2) to study issues relating to the proposed gas pipeline and collect 24 information; the committee may hold hearings if the committee considers hearings desirable; 25 (3) to hire consultants and experts and review their recommendations and 26 reports; 27 (4) to work with the federal and Canadian governments and agencies, the 28 governor, the governor's staff, and outside consultants and experts; and 29 (5) to take whatever action may be appropriate to ensure that the best interests 30 of the state are protected; and be it 31 FURTHER RESOLVED that the House Special Committee on Natural Gas Pipelines
01 shall consider what legislation should be recommended to the House of Representatives for 02 consideration by the Second Session of the Twenty-Third Alaska State Legislature, any 03 special session of that legislature, or the First Regular Session of the Twenty-Fourth Alaska 04 State Legislature to enhance the best interests of the state and shall report to the House of 05 Representatives on any recommended action at the beginning of the First Regular Session of 06 the Twenty-Fourth Alaska State Legislature; and be it 07 FURTHER RESOLVED that the speaker of the house of representatives shall 08 determine the number of representatives to be members of the committee, appoint the 09 committee members, and designate a member to chair the committee; and be it 10 FURTHER RESOLVED that the House Special Committee on Natural Gas Pipelines 11 may receive, review, and distribute to the members of the House of Representatives 12 nonprivileged, nonconfidential information that it receives from the administration; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the House Special Committee on Natural Gas Pipelines 14 may meet during and between sessions of the Twenty-Third Alaska State Legislature and is 15 terminated on the convening of the First Regular Session of the Twenty-Fourth Alaska State 16 Legislature.