Enrolled SJR 17: Welcoming the Arctic Council Task Force for Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response to the state for its March 2012 meeting and urging the task force to use its time in the state to inform and inspire the work of the task force.
00Enrolled SJR 17 01 Welcoming the Arctic Council Task Force for Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and 02 Response to the state for its March 2012 meeting and urging the task force to use its time in 03 the state to inform and inspire the work of the task force. 04 _______________ 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS the 2004 Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council directed the 07 Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group to conduct a comprehensive 08 Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment; and 09 WHEREAS the 2009 Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment report recommended that 10 the Arctic states enhance mutual cooperation to prevent oil spills; and 11 WHEREAS, at the May 2011 Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council, the Senior 12 Arctic Officials recommended that the Ministers mandate a task force to develop an 13 international instrument on Arctic marine oil pollution preparedness and response to be 14 presented at the next Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council in 2013; and 15 WHEREAS the Arctic Council Task Force for Arctic Marine Oil Pollution 16 Preparedness and Response is developing the Instrument on Cooperation on Marine Oil
01 Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic, a framework for international 02 collaboration in combating incidents or threats of marine oil pollution, to which eight Arctic 03 states are a party; and 04 WHEREAS the Arctic Council Task Force for Arctic Marine Oil Pollution 05 Preparedness and Response is holding its third meeting in Alaska in March 2012; 06 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature welcomes the Arctic Council 07 Task Force for Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response to the state for its 08 March 2012 meeting and urges the task force to use its time in the state to inform and inspire 09 the work of the task force; and be it 10 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature wishes the Arctic Council 11 Task Force for Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response Godspeed in their 12 work to develop the Instrument on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and 13 Response in the Arctic; and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that vessels transiting the Bering Strait and Aleutian 15 regions and all vessels in innocent passage in Arctic waters should have adequate oil spill 16 contingency plans and response capacity for marine oil spills that acknowledge the critical 17 role of response organizations, indigenous people, state and local governments, and response 18 organizations in preparedness and response; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges ships in the Bering 20 Strait and Aleutian regions voluntarily to engage local authorities in contingency planning, 21 and that the Instrument on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response 22 in the Arctic encourages that engagement; and be it 23 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes the importance 24 of cooperation among Arctic nations and the dedicated efforts of the Arctic Council Task 25 Force for Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response to develop effective plans 26 for preparedness and response to marine oil pollution in the Arctic; and be it 27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes the usefulness 28 of conducting joint training exercises and exchanging information and experience regarding 29 marine pollution preparedness and response. 30 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, 31 United States Secretary of State; Admiral Robert J. Papp, Commandant, United States Coast
01 Guard; Ambassador David A. Balton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries, 02 United States Department of State; Rear Admiral Thomas F. Ostebo, Commander, 03 Seventeenth Coast Guard District; Gustaf Lind, Chair, Arctic Council, Senior Arctic Officials, 04 and Senior Arctic Official of Sweden; Julia L. Gourley, Arctic Council, Senior Arctic Official 05 of the United States; Sheila Riordon, Arctic Council, Senior Arctic Official of Canada; Nauja 06 Bianco, Arctic Council, Senior Arctic Official of Denmark, Greenland, and Faroe Islands; 07 Hannu Halinen, Arctic Council, Senior Arctic Official of Finland; Hjalmar W. Hannesson, 08 Arctic Council, Senior Arctic Official of Iceland; Karsten Klepsvik, Arctic Council, Senior 09 Arctic Official of Norway; Anton Vasiliev, Arctic Council, Senior Arctic Official of the 10 Russian Federation; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, 11 U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 12 delegation in Congress.