Legislature(2015 - 2016)BARNES 124
02/02/2015 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HJR10 | |
| HJR9 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HJR 9 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HJR 10 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
HJR 10-OPPOSE ANWR WILDERNESS DESIGNATION
1:05:09 PM
VICE CHAIR HAWKER announced that the first order of business is
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 10, Opposing the revised
Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact
Statement for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; opposing
attempts by President Obama to alter management of the coastal
plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; encouraging the
United States Congress to reject a proposal based on the revised
Comprehensive Conservation Plan or accompanying Environmental
Impact Statement; and encouraging the United States Congress to
reject a proposal that does not open the coastal plain of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development.
1:06:12 PM
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK, sponsor, introduced HJR 10 by speaking from his
sponsor statement, which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has introduced a
new draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan to turn more
than 12 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge (ANWR) into Wilderness, effectively ending any
chance the lands can be managed for oil and gas
exploration and development. This includes the 1002
area on the Coastal Plain, which was specifically set
aside for such purposes. It also includes 10 million
acres offshore. With the onshore and offshore
combined, this is an area larger than 10 states, or 28
Rhode Islands. This is in addition to the already 58
million acres of federal Wilderness which accounts for
53 percent of America's federal Wilderness areas.
The 1002 area of ANWR was excluded from
Wilderness designation in a compromise made under the
1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
(ANILCA). In exchange, Congress doubled the size of
the refuge and designated eight million acres outside
the 1002 area as Wilderness.
The Comprehensive Conservation Plan fails to
clearly guarantee protection of subsistence access,
resources and uses, and further is an exercise in
disparate treatment of two distinct indigenous Alaska
Native groups, the Inupiat and Gwich'in; thereby
limiting access to privately owned lands held by
Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation and Arctic Slope Regional
Corporation through a Wilderness designation, while
failing to incorporate lands on the southern edge of
ANWR into this same designation.
The people of the Arctic Slope region, especially
the residents of Kaktovik, are conservation minded,
and yet rely on responsible oil and gas development to
sustain their communities. This proposed designation
as announced would effectively slam the door shut on
the substantial economic opportunities associated with
future development of the potential resources in the
Coastal Plain.
Alaskans strongly oppose a Wilderness designation
on ANWR's coastal plain. In fact, 78 percent of
Alaskans support oil exploration in the 1002 area.
Every Alaskan Governor and every legislature and
elected congressional representative and senator from
Alaska has supported responsible development. The
North Slope Borough and the Alaska Federation of
Natives also support responsible development, as well
as a majority of residents in Kaktovik, a village
within the Coastal Plain.
1:09:33 PM
VICE CHAIR HAWKER noted that the confirmation hearings for the
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the Board of
Fisheries, originally scheduled for today, were cancelled and
will be held at a later date.
1:10:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON, noting he is a co-sponsor of HJR 10, said
he does not think Congress will approve Wilderness designation
of the 1002 area as recently proposed by President Obama. He
inquired whether that area will now be treated as Wilderness by
the Fish and Wildlife Service and the federal government as a
result of President Obama's request.
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK replied that [management as Wilderness] has been
done since the very beginning. Although the area was set aside
in 1987 as a potential for oil and gas development, it hasn't
come. People live off that land and the majority of people in
Kaktovik, where he was born, support responsible development of
the 1002 area. He related that the Fish and Wildlife Service
has said it does not want development or activity on federal
lands. He said he has fought the Fish and Wildlife Service for
many, many years. He had problems with the agency's people when
the agency was working on the walrus issue and he was chairman
of the Eskimo Walrus Commission, as well as when he was
"director of wildlife management" and the "Porcupine Caribou
treaty" was being held. He argued that the Fish and Wildlife
Service is supposed to do what the legislation says, not
something on its own; for example, the agency did this study
about the oil and gas potential and why the U.S. should not do
that in the interest of the wildlife in that area. The 1987
designation for oil and gas didn't stop the agency from doing
what it has done and now the agency has convinced President
Obama to do shut this area to oil and gas. He said it is the
purview of Congress, not the agencies, to designate what should
be open or closed.
1:15:39 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON observed that the sponsor statement
says the Comprehensive Conservation Plan includes 10 million
acres offshore. Trying to ascertain where that 10 million acres
is located, he asked whether it is within the three-mile limit
or is some of the disputed Beaufort Sea in the administration's
other order about offshore drilling.
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK responded that in Native Country when discussing
tribal lands and tribal waters and what [a tribe] owns or has
controlled for millennia, the Arctic Ocean is always talked
about as a whole. [Tribes] control or own the area miles out
offshore. He has hunted there for bearded seals. He has waited
for his cousins and uncles to come back from whaling when he was
the director of wildlife management and they went way out there
a lot of times. He has seen his aunts and uncles waiting for
their children to come back from hunting way out in the ocean.
The people living along the coast consider that to be their
garden and they do everything to protect it, but they also know
that in some places economic development is needed and would not
destroy the beauty and the animals that live on the land or in
the water in that region.
1:18:03 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR noted the committee packet has no official
communication from the North Slope Borough or the village of
Kaktovik. She inquired whether either of them has taken an
official position on HJR 10.
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK answered that he thinks the North Slope Borough
has, but he does not know if the Native community has or if the
community of Kaktovik has. He said that in the past they have
opposed designating the 1002 area as Wilderness and he does not
believe that has changed. While a few people are against
development in the 1002 area, the majority who live in Kaktovik
support designating that area for oil and gas development. It
is a wonderful place and people make their homes there. Many
homes were built in the 1970s and are in need of repair.
Economic opportunity would allow people to fix those homes and
would allow the North Slope Borough to do more for the village
and the whole region. In the village, people would be able to
produce oil and gas in their own land. The federal government
created corporations instead of tribes like the people wanted.
What do corporations do? They make money. What is the resource
for economic development in the North Slope area? Oil and gas.
Through village and regional corporations, the people own that
oil and gas. This includes not only the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, but also the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska
(NPR-A) where he now lives.
1:21:02 PM
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK continued, stating that Gates of the Arctic
National Park & Preserve was created by Congress without input
from the local people. For thousands and thousands of years the
local people used trails to go to the plentiful hunting and
fishing opportunities. But the National Park Service closed
those traditional areas where generations upon generations went
hunting. So, the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation had a land
exchange with the federal government in the NPR-A, which allowed
the people to travel. That is the federal government he has
lived with since childhood, he said, but people are not children
anymore and they have lived there for a very long time and have
not done anything bad to it. This is why he is so adamant to
make sure that the people are allowed to do their own thing with
the land they own instead of the federal government saying to
the people that it doesn't trust them and is going to shut off
the land.
1:24:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON said he would like HJR 10 to move forward,
but suggested that before the resolution gets to the House floor
a whereas or resolved clause be added that states [the area]
should not be used and managed as defacto Wilderness by the Fish
and Wildlife Service. He further suggested that a distribution
list be added to HJR 10 such that all members of Congress should
receive a copy of the resolution.
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK agreed.
1:25:16 PM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR requested some direction from the sponsor on
the issue of global climate change and melting sea ice, and how
that is affecting subsistence activities in the area. She said
she would like to have enough information to understand how to
honor the subsistence tradition while also having opportunity
for economic development given the environmental effects of
climate change.
CO-CHAIR NAGEAK replied that animals and people have adaptive
capabilities to changes in their lives. For example, tens of
thousands of walrus are now hauling out on Icy Cape near Point
Hope. So, he maintained, those walrus adapted. Polar bears are
adapting too. In the summer they are now along the coast and
there are places for them to feed. For example, in his town the
blubber from whales is left on the point and animals come to
feed themselves. Seals are also adapting. People are told they
cannot do something because the animals will be endangered or
depleted, but that time hasn't come yet. No one in their right
mind without any scientific studies would designate an area, and
the animals in that area, as warranting protection from an event
that hasn't really happened yet. That doesn't make sense
because people and animals adapt.
1:29:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON expressed his doubt that closing industry
in Alaska and moving people out of Alaska would have any effect
on climate change. Although Alaska is a big pawn in that game,
until the rest of the world quits burning coal and quits the way
they produce energy, Alaska should not be the poster child when
Alaska contributes such a small carbon footprint to the overall
problem. Until there is a handle on the world's climate change,
he is tired of Alaska being the poster child and the fundraising
tool to save the planet at the expense of the state's economy.
1:31:09 PM
VICE CHAIR HAWKER opened public testimony on HJR 10, then closed
it after ascertaining no one wished to testify.
VICE CHAIR HAWKER, noting that the addition of a whereas clause
would be complicated and was not been provided to the committee
earlier, suggested that a conceptual amendment only be offered
for the addition of a distribution list.
1:33:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON said he would offer Conceptual Amendment 1
to add to the very end of the distribution list [page 5, line 3]
"and all other members of the 114th United States Congress."
VICE CHAIR HAWKER objected for discussion purposes. He said he
is interpreting Representative Herron's offer of Conceptual
Amendment 1 to be the same as a motion. Vice Chair Hawker then
withdrew his objection. There being no further objection,
Conceptual Amendment 1 was adopted.
1:34:46 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON said part of the reason for there being
an interest in doing something [about climate change] within a
state of only 720,000 people, is the belief that it has to start
with each individual. He agreed with Representative Johnson
that Alaska's impact is de minimus relative to the rest of the
country and he agreed that the rest of the world needs to lead.
Relative to whether Alaska is a poster child, he said he doesn't
think anyone is trying to provoke Alaskans with this recognition
of Alaska and the Arctic as a poster child. He proffered that
Alaska is in fact the poster child because of the change that is
so self-evident and empirically proven at this point.
REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON, regarding HJR 10, expressed his
concern about the boundaries of the Conservation Plan, stating
that "Shell's record in 2012 was quite awful." Even though in
2013 he supported a resolution for Arctic drilling, he is going
to revisit that subject when it comes before the body or before
this committee. However, the focus of HJR 10 is clearly about
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling
efforts of the past are proprietary and profoundly secret, open
seeps have been found, and the [Trans-Alaska Pipeline System] is
in good working order and Judge Gleason has found it can work
for another 30 years. The state is running out of oil.
Although the appeal of visiting the Coastal Plain for its view
scape and its untrammeled space will be lost with development,
he said he supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge and therefore supports HJR 10.
VICE CHAIR HAWKER, responding to Representative Josephson's
comments, pointed out that while drilling is a consequence of
the issues contemplated in HJR 10, the resolution is opposing
the designation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a
Wilderness area with all of those consequences. However, the
other resolution that the committee will be addressing today
[HJR 9] does endorse the leasing activities in the refuge.
1:38:10 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON supported HJR 10, but cautioned that while
the sponsor statement says that biological systems adapt, that
doesn't mean there is no need to worry about biological systems
and impacting them. Ocean acidification is severely impacting
some of the shellfish along Alaska's beaches. He urged there
not be such a broad brush in looking at global climate change
and it being said that no analysis is needed on the direct
impact of activities on species. Species do need to be watched,
he continued, whether it is caribou herds and their migration
patterns or whether there is direct impact on fishery or animal
populations in Alaska. Analysis should always be done on
whether activities will have significant and immediate impact on
populations.
VICE CHAIR HAWKER concurred with Representative Seaton. He
added that this is the first time a resolution has been before
the committee opposing Wilderness designation. It is a new item
before the committee in response to the chief executive in
Washington, DC, locking up another big chunk of Alaska and
stopping development by executive decision rather than by an
appropriate deliberative process through the legislature. He
said he spent his first 15 years in Alaska living on the North
Slope in Barrow working on the original KIC-1 drilling program.
Thirty plus years later, nothing has been accomplished. Now the
chief executive of the United States is eliminating all
opportunities for the state of Alaska and therefore this is a
timely resolution to consider.
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON related his recent conversation with
Catherine Stevens, widow of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, about the
many times Senator Stevens tried to open the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to development.
1:43:28 PM
REPRESENTATIVE OLSON moved to report HJR 10, as amended, out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
[zero fiscal note]. There being no objection, CSHJR 10(RES) was
reported from the House Resources Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HJR 9 - Legislation.pdf |
HRES 2/2/2015 1:00:00 PM |
HJR 9 |
| HJR 9 - Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HRES 2/2/2015 1:00:00 PM |
HJR 9 |
| HJR 9 - Supporting Document - ANWR All Areas.pdf |
HRES 2/2/2015 1:00:00 PM |
HJR 9 |
| HJR 10 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HRES 2/2/2015 1:00:00 PM |
HJR 10 HJR 10 Sponsor Statement |
| HJR010A.pdf |
HRES 2/2/2015 1:00:00 PM |
HJR 10 |
| HJR 10 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
HRES 2/2/2015 1:00:00 PM |
HJR 10 |
| Board of Fisheries - Maw #1.pdf |
HRES 2/2/2015 1:00:00 PM |
|
| Board Oil and Gas Conserv - Gallagher #1.pdf |
HRES 2/2/2015 1:00:00 PM |
|
| HJR 9 - Supporting Document - Economic Impact.pdf |
HRES 2/2/2015 1:00:00 PM |
HJR 9 |