04/08/2013 01:00 PM House RESOURCES

                 SJR  3-ENDORSING ANWR LEASING                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
2:08:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR SADDLER announced that the  next order of business would                                                               
be  CS FOR  SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE  FOR SENATE  JOINT RESOLUTION  NO.                                                               
3(RES), Urging the United States  Congress to pass legislation to                                                               
open the coastal plain of  the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to                                                               
oil and  gas exploration,  development, and  production; relating                                                               
to  oil   and  gas  exploration,  development,   production,  and                                                               
royalties;  and  relating  to renewable  and  alternative  energy                                                               
technologies.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:08:33 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  FEIGE  moved  to adopt  the  proposed  House  committee                                                               
substitute   (HCS)   for    CSSSSJR   3,   Version   28-LS0331\P,                                                               
Nauman/Bullock, 4/1/12, as the working  document.  There being no                                                               
objection, Version P was before the committee.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
2:09:03 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MINDY  ROWLAND,  Staff,  Senator  Peter  Micciche,  Alaska  State                                                               
Legislature,  informed the  committee the  resolution carries  on                                                               
the  tradition begun  after the  passage of  the Alaska  National                                                               
Interest Lands  Conservation Act (ANILCA)  in 1980.   Since then,                                                               
every   legislature,  governor,   and   member   of  the   Alaska                                                               
Congressional Delegation have supported  opening a portion of the                                                               
coastal plain  of the Arctic  National Wildlife Refuge  (ANWR) to                                                               
oil and gas development.   The resolution reflects updated intent                                                               
of past  resolutions; for example,  SJR 3 points out  the benefit                                                               
of  linking  oilfields  at  Point  Thomson  to  the  Trans-Alaska                                                               
Pipeline  System (TAPS),  and language  specifying the  amount of                                                               
acreage requested  to be  opened is  eliminated to  mirror recent                                                               
federal energy  legislation introduced in  the U.S. Senate.   Ms.                                                               
Rowland observed  proposed Version P  adds Inupiat to  the people                                                               
dependent upon  the Porcupine  Caribou Herd,  and adds  a resolve                                                               
stating the  need to recognize  and respect the rights  of Native                                                               
landowners in  ANWR.  It  is in  the national interest  to become                                                               
less  dependent on  foreign  sources  for energy,  and  it is  in                                                               
Alaska's interest to have energy  produced in the state.  Senator                                                               
Micciche  seeks  to replace  words  with  action, she  said,  and                                                               
opening  ANWR  facilitates the  desire  for  the U.S.  to  become                                                               
energy    independent   from    others.       Further,    today's                                                               
environmentally responsible  oil and gas related  activity in the                                                               
Arctic results in a significantly  smaller impact on these valued                                                               
lands; in fact, oil and gas  activities conducted in ANWR will be                                                               
monitored to  ensure traditional  lands and  wildlife populations                                                               
remain pristine and  productive.  Ms. Rowland  concluded that the                                                               
passage  of  SJR  3  continues   the  message  conveyed  by  past                                                               
legislatures.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:12:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR SADDLER opened public testimony.   After ascertaining no                                                               
one wished to testify, public testimony was closed.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  TUCK  opined   Alaska  has  clearly  demonstrated                                                               
through its procedures,  methods, and history on  the North Slope                                                               
that development can  be done right.  He  questioned why industry                                                               
would consider drilling in deep  water offshore with the inherent                                                               
risks,  when it  is possible  to drill  safely onshore,  within a                                                               
small footprint.  He expressed his support for the resolution.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON read from  a document provided by Arctic                                                               
Power,  Anchorage, Alaska,  entitled,  "49 ANWR  points from  the                                                               
49th State," as follows:                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
     1) The 10-02 Area has more conventional oil potential                                                                      
       in one spot than any single or collective regional                                                                       
     onshore location in North America.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR SADDLER stated the importance  for the state to continue                                                               
to make proclamations of the facts  of oil and gas development on                                                               
the North Slope.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
2:15:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  FEIGE  moved to  report  the  proposed House  committee                                                               
substitute  for CSSSSJR  3, Version  28-LS0331\P, Nauman/Bullock,                                                               
4/1/13, out of committee with  individual recommendations and the                                                               
accompanying zero  fiscal notes.   There being no  objection, HCS                                                               
CSSSSJR  3(RES) was  reported from  the House  Resources Standing                                                               
Committee.