CSSJR 12(TRA): Urging the United States Congress and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to address outages of National Data Buoy Center stations.
00 CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 12(TRA) 01 Urging the United States Congress and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 02 Administration to address outages of National Data Buoy Center stations. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operates and 05 controls National Data Buoy Center stations; and 06 WHEREAS the National Data Buoy Center operates 27 automated 07 meteorological/ocean stations in the state, including both terrestrial- and marine-based 08 stations; and 09 WHEREAS the primary function of National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean 10 stations is to collect and disseminate in situ, real-time, quality-controlled observations in the 11 marine environment to ensure the nation's maritime safety and to understand and predict the 12 atmosphere, ocean, waves, ice, and climate; and 13 WHEREAS, because of the state's extensive coastline, vital fishing and tourism 14 industries, dependence on marine commerce, and reliance on oil exported by sea, the 15 performance of National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean stations is critical to the 16 citizens and economy of the state; and
01 WHEREAS the extreme weather and remote nature of the state necessitate a robust 02 maritime infrastructure that incorporates redundancies to reduce the frequency and functional 03 effects of outages; and 04 WHEREAS information from National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean 05 stations is used by mariners and authorities to determine when conditions for navigation are 06 safe; and 07 WHEREAS the Hinchinbrook Entrance in Prince William Sound is closed to 08 outbound oil tanker traffic from the Port of Valdez if winds exceed 45 knots sustained or seas 09 exceed 15 feet; and 10 WHEREAS weather-related closures are determined by the United States Coast 11 Guard Vessel Traffic Service Prince William Sound; and 12 WHEREAS the Vessel Traffic Service uses the National Data Buoy Center Seal 13 Rocks Buoy as the primary source of information to make weather-related closure decisions; 14 and 15 WHEREAS the Seal Rocks Buoy was established in 1995; and 16 WHEREAS, since 1995, there have been six major outages, with the two longest 17 outages occurring recently; and 18 WHEREAS the Seal Rocks Buoy broke free in October of 2023 and, when the buoy 19 was reestablished in the spring of 2024, the wave sensor was faulty; and 20 WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard supported the replacement of the Seal 21 Rocks Buoy wave sensor by National Data Buoy Center personnel on September 12, 2024; 22 and 23 WHEREAS the Seal Rocks Buoy again stopped reporting wave information on 24 October 17, 2024; and 25 WHEREAS almost all weather-related closures of Hinchinbrook Entrance are caused 26 by wave heights, rather than windspeed; and 27 WHEREAS the Vessel Traffic Service relies on other nearby National Data Buoy 28 Center meteorological/ocean stations at Cape Suckling and Cape Cleare as imperfect backups 29 to the Seal Rocks Buoy, and those stations have also been recently plagued by extended 30 periods of inoperability; and 31 WHEREAS, in the absence of National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean
01 station data, the Vessel Traffic Service must sometimes rely on subjective wave height reports 02 made by crew members of commercial ships, putting the ship and crew members at risk; and 03 WHEREAS laden tankers exiting Hinchinbrook Entrance during conditions near the 04 closure threshold is a safety concern, and a functional Seal Rocks Buoy is critical to the safe 05 transportation of oil through Prince William Sound; and 06 WHEREAS, if a tanker were to lose power or steering in conditions near the closure 07 threshold while the Seal Rocks, Cape Cleare, and Cape Suckling Buoys are inoperable, the 08 risk increases to escort tugs and crews called on to assist the stricken tanker in time given the 09 challenges of attaching a tether, crew members trying to work on deck, the additional strain 10 on deck equipment, and other difficulties associated with operating in heavy weather; and 11 WHEREAS a major oil spill resulting from a tanker incident would have disastrous 12 consequences on the regional environment, local ecosystems, subsistence lifestyles, Alaska 13 Native villages, and economies of communities, particularly communities that rely on fishing 14 or tourism; 15 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the United States 16 Congress to include language in annual appropriations legislation to address National Data 17 Buoy Center meteorological/ocean station outages occurring in the state and specifically to 18 require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to ensure the reliability of 19 National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean stations and take actions necessary to 20 restore the full functionality of National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean station 21 equipment; and be it 22 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the United States 23 Congress to maintain and enhance the critical public service the National Oceanic and 24 Atmospheric Administration provides to mariners, authorities, and other users in the state 25 through the observation and forecasting functions of the National Weather Service, including 26 National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean stations; and be it 27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the National 28 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to work with Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan 29 Sullivan and Representative Nicholas Begich to address, in appropriations legislation for 30 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, the National Data Buoy Center 31 meteorological/ocean station outages occurring in the state; and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the National 02 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to adopt regulations that address National Data 03 Buoy Center meteorological/ocean station outages occurring in the state in a manner that 04 accounts for the weather and remote nature of the state, the importance of safe navigation to 05 the state, and other unique challenges associated with maritime safety in the state. 06 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to Dr. William Burnett, Director of the 07 National Data Buoy Center; Commander Sarah Rousseau, United States Coast Guard, Marine 08 Safety Unit Valdez; David Seris, United States Coast Guard, District 17 Waterways 09 Management; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, 10 and the Honorable Nicholas Begich, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation 11 in Congress.