00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 26                                                                     
01 Requesting the United States Senate to ratify Annex VI of the International Convention                                  
02 for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978.                                  
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS Annex VI to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution                                
05 from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 (commonly referred to as "MARPOL                                  
06 73/78"), defines and sets standards for the regulation and prevention of exhaust emissions                              
07 from ships; and                                                                                                         
08       WHEREAS Annex VI has been ratified by 15 nations representing over one-half of                                  
09 the world's shipping tonnage and went into effect May 2005; and                                                         
10       WHEREAS Annex VI will attain the force of law in the United States only after the                               
11 United States Senate concurs in the treaty and the United States deposits its instrument of                             
12 ratification with the International Maritime Organization, a branch of the United Nations; and                          
13       WHEREAS the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has delayed                                     
14 the ratification of Annex VI for several years; and                                                                     
15       WHEREAS global shipping is projected to double or triple over the next 10 to 20                                 
16 years, causing accelerated air pollution in port communities and coastal regions; and                                   

01       WHEREAS air emissions from ships constitute a growing source of air pollution and                               
02 are becoming an even greater proportion of overall air emissions as other mobile and                                    
03 stationary source emissions decline; and                                                                                
04       WHEREAS diesel exhaust produced by marine engines is a probable carcinogen and                                  
05 may cause asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and people in port communities experience                             
06 a higher risk of illness and premature death due to diesel exhaust from ships and port                                  
07 operations; and                                                                                                         
08       WHEREAS diesel engines on ocean-going vessels are operated without air pollution                                
09 controls and produce large volumes of deadly diesel exhaust; and                                                        
10       WHEREAS Annex VI includes a provision for signatory states to petition the                                      
11 International Maritime Organization to designate areas within their jurisdictions as a Sulphur                          
12 Emission Control Area for which a specified cap on sulphur levels in marine fuels for sale or                           
13 combustion can be stipulated, as has been done in the Baltic and North Seas; and                                        
14       WHEREAS the United States Environmental Protection Agency has stated its intent                                 
15 to pursue, in cooperation with Canada and Mexico, a North America Sulphur Emission                                      
16 Control Area and is in the process of collecting the data necessary to support a petition to the                        
17 International Maritime Organization; and                                                                                
18       WHEREAS the reduction of sulphur content in fuel also includes corresponding                                    
19 reductions in emissions of oxides of sulphur and diesel particulate matter; and                                         
20       WHEREAS these reductions promote direct and indirect environmental and public                                   
21 health benefits;                                                                                                        
22       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests the United States                                     
23 Senate to ratify Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution                               
24 from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978.                                                                  
25       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
26 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
27 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House                            
28 of Representatives; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of                                    
29 Representatives; the Honorable Bill Frist, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable                            
30 Harry Reid, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Richard G. Lugar, Chairman                                
31 of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden Jr.,                                   

01 Ranking Minority Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; the                                          
02 Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable                                
03 Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and, by                                   
04 electronic transmission, all other members of the 109th United States Congress.