Enrolled SJR 12: Urging the United States Congress and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to address outages of National Data Buoy Center stations.
00Enrolled SJR 12 01 Urging the United States Congress and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 02 to address outages of National Data Buoy Center stations. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operates and 06 controls National Data Buoy Center stations; and 07 WHEREAS the National Data Buoy Center operates 27 automated 08 meteorological/ocean stations in the state, including both terrestrial- and marine-based 09 stations; and 10 WHEREAS the primary function of National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean 11 stations is to collect and disseminate in situ, real-time, quality-controlled observations in the 12 marine environment to ensure the nation's maritime safety and to understand and predict the 13 atmosphere, ocean, waves, ice, and climate; and 14 WHEREAS, because of the state's extensive coastline, vital fishing and tourism 15 industries, dependence on marine commerce, and reliance on oil exported by sea, the 16 performance of National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean stations is critical to the
01 citizens and economy of the state; and 02 WHEREAS the extreme weather and remote nature of the state necessitate a robust 03 maritime infrastructure that incorporates redundancies to reduce the frequency and functional 04 effects of outages; and 05 WHEREAS information from National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean 06 stations is used by mariners and authorities to determine when conditions for navigation are 07 safe; and 08 WHEREAS the Hinchinbrook Entrance in Prince William Sound is closed to 09 outbound oil tanker traffic from the Port of Valdez if winds exceed 45 knots sustained or seas 10 exceed 15 feet; and 11 WHEREAS weather-related closures are determined by the United States Coast 12 Guard Vessel Traffic Service Prince William Sound; and 13 WHEREAS the Vessel Traffic Service uses the National Data Buoy Center Seal 14 Rocks Buoy as the primary source of information to make weather-related closure decisions; 15 and 16 WHEREAS the Seal Rocks Buoy was established in 1995; and 17 WHEREAS, since 1995, there have been six major outages, with the two longest 18 outages occurring recently; and 19 WHEREAS the Seal Rocks Buoy broke free in October of 2023, and, when the buoy 20 was reestablished in the spring of 2024, the wave sensor was faulty; and 21 WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard supported the replacement of the Seal 22 Rocks Buoy wave sensor by National Data Buoy Center personnel on September 12, 2024; 23 and 24 WHEREAS the Seal Rocks Buoy again stopped reporting wave information on 25 October 17, 2024; and 26 WHEREAS almost all weather-related closures of Hinchinbrook Entrance are caused 27 by wave heights, rather than windspeed; and 28 WHEREAS the Vessel Traffic Service relies on other nearby National Data Buoy 29 Center meteorological/ocean stations at Cape Suckling and Cape Cleare as imperfect backups 30 to the Seal Rocks Buoy, and those stations have also been recently plagued by extended 31 periods of inoperability; and
01 WHEREAS, in the absence of National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean 02 station data, the Vessel Traffic Service must sometimes rely on subjective wave height reports 03 made by crew members of commercial ships, putting the ship and crew members at risk; and 04 WHEREAS laden tankers exiting Hinchinbrook Entrance during conditions near the 05 closure threshold is a safety concern, and a functional Seal Rocks Buoy is critical to the safe 06 transportation of oil through Prince William Sound; and 07 WHEREAS, if a tanker were to lose power or steering in conditions near the closure 08 threshold while the Seal Rocks, Cape Cleare, and Cape Suckling Buoys are inoperable, the 09 risk increases to escort tugs and crews called on to assist the stricken tanker in time given the 10 challenges of attaching a tether, crew members trying to work on deck, the additional strain 11 on deck equipment, and other difficulties associated with operating in heavy weather; and 12 WHEREAS a major oil spill resulting from a tanker incident would have disastrous 13 consequences on the regional environment, local ecosystems, subsistence lifestyles, Alaska 14 Native villages, and economies of communities, particularly communities that rely on fishing 15 or tourism; 16 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the United States 17 Congress to include language in annual appropriations legislation to address National Data 18 Buoy Center meteorological/ocean station outages occurring in the state and specifically to 19 require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to ensure the reliability of 20 National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean stations and take actions necessary to 21 restore the full functionality of National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean station 22 equipment; and be it 23 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the United States 24 Congress to maintain and enhance the critical public service the National Oceanic and 25 Atmospheric Administration provides to mariners, authorities, and other users in the state 26 through the observation and forecasting functions of the National Weather Service, including 27 National Data Buoy Center meteorological/ocean stations; and be it 28 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the National 29 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to work with Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan 30 Sullivan and Representative Nicholas Begich to address, in appropriations legislation for 31 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, the National Data Buoy Center
01 meteorological/ocean station outages occurring in the state; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the National 03 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to adopt regulations that address National Data 04 Buoy Center meteorological/ocean station outages occurring in the state in a manner that 05 accounts for the weather and remote nature of the state, the importance of safe navigation to 06 the state, and other unique challenges associated with maritime safety in the state. 07 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to Dr. William Burnett, Director of the 08 National Data Buoy Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Commander 09 Sarah Rousseau, Marine Safety Unit Valdez, United States Coast Guard; David Seris, 10 Waterways Management Branch, United States Seventeenth Coast Guard District; the 11 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the 12 Honorable Nicholas Begich, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in 13 Congress.