00                 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 9(FSH)                                                               
01 Urging the United States government to continue to work with the government of                                          
02 Canada to investigate the long-term, region-wide downstream effects of proposed and                                     
03 existing industrial development and to develop measures to ensure that state resources                                  
04 are not harmed by upstream development in British Columbia.                                                             
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
06       WHEREAS the transboundary rivers of Northwest British Columbia and Southeast                                    
07 Alaska have tremendous unique economic, ecological, subsistence, cultural, and recreational                             
08 value; and                                                                                                              
09       WHEREAS protecting productive, pristine waters and intact habitats throughout                                   
10 those transboundary river systems is necessary to ensure healthy wild salmon populations and                            
11 abundant fisheries; and                                                                                                 
12       WHEREAS large-scale mining in British Columbia is experiencing unprecedented                                    
13 and rapid expansion within the Taku, Stikine, and Unuk watersheds; and                                                  
14       WHEREAS proposed and operating mines in the transboundary area include                                          
15 Tulsequah Chief, New Polaris, and Big Bull in the Taku watershed; Galore Creek, Red Chris,                              

01 and Schaft Creek in the Stikine watershed; and Brucejack and Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell in the                            
02 Unuk watershed; and                                                                                                     
03       WHEREAS large-scale mining and energy development could have significant                                        
04 adverse effects on the environment and fisheries within the transboundary region; and                                   
05       WHEREAS the proposed mines would generate billions of tons of acid-generating                                   
06 tailings, which would be held behind huge dams and could pose the threat of acid rock                                   
07 drainage for centuries, if not in perpetuity; and                                                                       
08       WHEREAS the tailings would need monitoring, maintenance, water treatment, and                                   
09 possible remediation for centuries, if not in perpetuity; and                                                           
10 WHEREAS ongoing acid rock drainage at the Tulsequah Chief mine, the tailings dam                                      
11 failure at the Mount Polley mine, and the 2016 Audit of Compliance and Enforcement of the                               
12 Mining Sector published by the Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia                                        
13 demonstrate weaknesses in current monitoring and enforcement efforts in British Columbia;                               
14 and                                                                                                                     
15 WHEREAS the federal-provincial environmental assessment process does not                                              
16 address the long-term, cumulative effects of industrial development in the transboundary                                
17 region; and                                                                                                             
18 WHEREAS the Statement of Cooperation on Protection of Transboundary Waters,                                           
19 signed by Alaska Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott, Bill Bennett, British Columbia                                      
20 Minister of Energy and Mines, and Mary Polak, British Columbia Minister of Environment,                                 
21 on October 6, 2016, is an important step, but cannot provide binding, enforceable protections                           
22 for the residents and rivers and watersheds of the state; and                                                           
23 WHEREAS the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 between Canada and the United                                              
24 States is an effective and historically tested means of proactively dealing with similar                                
25 international transboundary issues; and                                                                                 
26 WHEREAS commercial fishermen, subsistence and recreational users, elected                                             
27 leaders, local communities, and Alaska Native and First Nation tribes on both sides of the                              
28 Alaska-Canada border have raised concerns about the pace and scope of the proposed                                      
29 industrial development in the headwaters of the transboundary river systems and the potential                           
30 for harm to water quality, fish and wildlife, and the socio-economic sustainability of local                            
31 communities in the region;                                                                                              

01 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly urges the United States                                     
02 government to continue to work with the government of Canada to investigate the long-term,                              
03 region-wide downstream effects of proposed and existing industrial development and to                                   
04 develop measures to ensure that state resources are not harmed by upstream development in                               
05 British Columbia.                                                                                                       
06 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Rex W. Tillerson, United                                     
07 States Secretary of State; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan                                       
08 Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the                               
09 Alaska delegation in Congress.