HJR 34: Condemning the comments of Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and requesting an apology; requesting that the United States Government Accountability Office conduct an independent review of actions by the United States Environmental Protection Agency pertaining to the state; requesting that determinations by the United States Environmental Protection Agency be equitably applied to the state; requesting that actions by the United States Environmental Protection Agency be lawful and that determinations by the United States Environmental Protection Agency found to be unlawful, unequitable, or not peer-reviewed by the scientific community be rescinded and obstructions to the state and communities, citizens, and ventures in the state be removed; and requesting that the President of the United States and the United States Congress ensure that federal agencies act with prudence and discretion, demonstrating fair and unbiased treatment of the issues and people of the state.
00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 34 01 Condemning the comments of Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the United States 02 Environmental Protection Agency and requesting an apology; requesting that the 03 United States Government Accountability Office conduct an independent review of 04 actions by the United States Environmental Protection Agency pertaining to the state; 05 requesting that determinations by the United States Environmental Protection Agency 06 be equitably applied to the state; requesting that actions by the United States 07 Environmental Protection Agency be lawful and that determinations by the United 08 States Environmental Protection Agency found to be unlawful, unequitable, or not peer- 09 reviewed by the scientific community be rescinded and obstructions to the state and 10 communities, citizens, and ventures in the state be removed; and requesting that the 11 President of the United States and the United States Congress ensure that federal 12 agencies act with prudence and discretion, demonstrating fair and unbiased treatment 13 of the issues and people of the state.
01 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 02 WHEREAS The United States Environmental Protection Agency has broad powers to 03 regulate nearly every aspect of life in the state, with policies that affect natural resources 04 management, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, 05 and international trade; and 06 WHEREAS the mission and purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency is to 07 ensure that "all parts of society--communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and 08 tribal governments--have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in 09 managing human health and environmental risks"; and that "environmental protection 10 contributes to making our communities and ecosystems diverse, sustainable and economically 11 productive"; and 12 WHEREAS the Environmental Protection Agency accomplishes the agency's mission 13 by writing regulations that often set national standards that states and tribes must enforce; and 14 WHEREAS the Environmental Protection Agency recently nullified retroactively a 15 United States Army Corps of Engineers Clean Water Act sec. 404(c) permit issued in 2007 16 for the Pebble Mine project, thereby positioning itself to initiate post-permit veto authority to 17 rescind a sec. 404(c) permit issued for the Pebble Mine project and thwarting the rigorous 18 state permitting process in Alaska; and 19 WHEREAS the Environmental Protection Agency has seemingly enforced agency 20 rules inequitably for large projects on the east coast of the United States compared to fill 21 projects in this state, including permitting the "Big Dig" in Boston to dump fill on nearby 22 Spectacle Island; and 23 WHEREAS recent actions by the Environmental Protection Agency that have 24 significant effects on the development of resources of the state, such as restricting offshore air 25 quality permits, harassing placer miners in the Fortymile District over hearsay information, 26 preventing our fishermen from rinsing fish waste off of their boats into water they were in 27 only moments before, attempting to prevent fish parts or noxious conditions naturally caused 28 by decomposition from occurring near shore locations, and preventing residents from burning 29 natural fuels, such as wood or coal, to heat their homes in sub-zero Fairbanks winters, reflect 30 the agency's blatant disregard for the use of factual, peer-reviewed hard science that citizens 31 should be able to depend on for accurate and convincing decisions; and
01 WHEREAS, despite attempts by the state and congressional delegation of the state to 02 educate the Environmental Protection Agency about the unique ways of life and cultures of 03 the state, agency decisions continue to be based on anecdotal evidence or mock scenarios 04 rather than fact-based peer-reviewed science and demonstrate a lack of sensitivity to the 05 unique qualities of the state; and 06 WHEREAS Gina McCarthy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 07 Agency, visited several communities of the state in late August 2013, including both a Bristol 08 Bay community and the Interior city of North Pole, where residents welcomed her with good 09 will, gracious hospitality, and gifts, including a pin from the City of North Pole by Mayor 10 Bryce Ward and a traditionally significant gift of moose meat from the First Chief of the 11 Curyung Tribal Council; and 12 WHEREAS it was reported in the Wall Street Journal on March 6, 2014, that officials 13 from the "ethics bureaucracy chased her down for a dinky City of North Pole pin someone 14 gave her at an event," yet these pins are coveted by many recipients who understand they are 15 given in the "Spirit of Christmas Year Round"; the Administrator responded dismissively, "I 16 threw the (expletive) thing away"; and it was further reported that she disparaged the jar of 17 moose meat, valued as a traditional subsistence food and relied upon by many residents of the 18 state in both rural and urban areas of the state, saying it "could gag a maggot"; and 19 WHEREAS North Pole and Fairbanks communities are suffering from manipulation 20 of 1997 National Ambient Air Quality Standards by the Environmental Protection Agency 21 that create a PM2.5 air quality attainment compliance issued, despite a distinct lack of 22 scientific understanding of the integrity of the underlying data, and with manipulation of 23 ground water contamination issues; and 24 WHEREAS the values of an agency leader permeate the culture, environment, 25 attitudes, and behaviors of the agency and are often reflected in agency decisions, in this case 26 revealing a plausible disdain for the residents of the state and our cultures and traditions, and 27 instilling distrust in residents of the state and other reasonable persons that, while Gina 28 McCarthy remains the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 29 environmental decisions by the agency will be gravely prejudiced by the Administrator's 30 negative bias and have serious consequences for the ability of residents to settle and 31 responsibly develop the state as guaranteed in the 1958 Statehood Act, ratified by voters of
01 the state and signed by President Eisenhower on January 3, 1959; 02 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature condemns the comments of 03 Gina McCarthy, Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency reported in 04 the March 6, 2014, Wall Street Journal, and considers the comments to be an abhorrent 05 display of disrespect for the state's shared way of life and unbecoming the Administrator's 06 high position of authority; and be it 07 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature considers Administrator 08 McCarthy's comments to be indicative of a culture within the United States Environmental 09 Protection Agency too often characterized by indifference, wilful ignorance, and disrespect 10 for the state and the cultures of the state; and be it 11 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests and demands that 12 (1) Administrator McCarthy immediately apologize directly to the state, to all 13 residents of the state, to the City of North Pole, and to those individuals whose thoughtful 14 welcoming gifts she wrongfully disparaged; 15 (2) the United States Government Accountability Office conduct an 16 independent review of actions by the United States Environmental Protection Agency 17 pertaining to the state under the current administrator's tenure, using fact-based scientific 18 determinations that have been peer-reviewed, scrutinized, and critiqued by expert scientists 19 before they become widely accepted; 20 (3) Environmental Protection Agency determinations be equitably applied to 21 the state, as if in any other state; 22 (4) actions by the Environmental Protection Agency be lawfully applied 23 according to the requirements and restrictions placed on federal agencies under the Alaska 24 Statehood Act, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and the Alaska National Interest 25 Lands Conservation Act; and 26 (5) all determinations made by the Environmental Protection Agency found to 27 be unlawful, unequitable, or not peer-reviewed by the scientific community be rescinded and 28 obstructions to the state and communities, citizens, and ventures in the state be removed; and 29 be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests the President of 31 the United States and the United States Congress to ensure that federal agencies act with
01 prudence and discretion and demonstrate fair and unbiased treatment of the issues and people 02 of the state that federal agencies and officials be held to restraints imposed on them by the 03 Statehood Act, and that they are responsive to the lawful requests made by, or on behalf of, 04 the state. 05 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to Honorable Barack Obama, President of the 06 United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 07 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of 08 Representatives; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 09 Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection 10 Agency; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and 11 the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in 12 Congress.