HR 6 am: Urging the United States Department of the Interior to maintain three lease sales in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea Planning Areas and two lease sales in the Cook Inlet Planning Area and to remove certain potential lease sales.
00 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 6 am 01 Urging the United States Department of the Interior to maintain three lease sales in the 02 Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea Planning Areas and two lease sales in the Cook Inlet 03 Planning Area and to remove certain potential lease sales. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: 05 WHEREAS the 2019 - 2024 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 06 Draft Proposed Program shows a genuine commitment to the nation's energy security and 07 economic development; and 08 WHEREAS the ocean areas adjacent to the state are essential for traditional ways of 09 life, subsistence, commercial and recreational fishing, tourism, and other uses; and 10 WHEREAS communities, tribes, and subsistence users have requested that oil and 11 gas leasing be prevented in certain ocean areas adjacent to the state; and 12 WHEREAS the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas contain the second and fourth largest 13 estimated undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources of all the outer 14 continental shelf planning areas and have historically generated significant leasing interest; 15 and
01 WHEREAS the involvement of industry, community, and regional leaders has 02 resulted in existing deferral arrangements for developing the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas that 03 are compatible with economic development and subsistence uses; and 04 WHEREAS the Cook Inlet Planning Area continues to provide an important supply 05 of affordable energy for the state's most populous region; and 06 WHEREAS new lease sales in the Cook Inlet Planning Area are the key to new 07 exploration and continued regional energy stability; and 08 WHEREAS a strong and effective near-term offshore development program will 09 maximize resources by focusing on the planning areas with the broadest support for 10 development among residents of the state; 11 BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives respectfully urges the United 12 States Department of the Interior to maintain three lease sales during the 2019 - 2024 period 13 in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea Planning Areas with a commitment to a robust and 14 meaningful consultation with local communities, tribes, and other stakeholders; and be it 15 FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives respectfully urges the 16 United States Department of the Interior to maintain two lease sales in the Cook Inlet 17 Planning Area during the 2019 - 2024 period; and be it 18 FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives respectfully urges the 19 United States Department of the Interior to remove the potential lease sales in the Hope Basin, 20 Norton Basin, St. Matthew-Hall, Navarin Basin, Aleutian Basin, Bowers Basin, Aleutian Arc, 21 St. George Basin, Shumagin, Kodiak, and Gulf of Alaska Planning Areas, and areas 22 previously deferred from leasing in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas from the Draft Proposed 23 Program.