SJR 17-ARCTIC COUNCIL TASK FORCE  CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI announced that the committee would take up SJR 17, which would welcome the Arctic Council Task Force for Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response to the state for its March 2012 meeting. 9:22:29 AM SHYAN ELY, staff, Senator Lesil McGuire, presented the resolution on behalf of the sponsor. She restated the purpose of SJR 17. She read from the following sponsor statement: The Arctic Council was established in 1996 as a high- level intergovernmental forum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, with the involvement of the Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. The Arctic Council consists of eight Arctic Nations: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States, as well as six international organizations representing Arctic indigenous peoples. On May 12 of 2011, the Arctic Council signed the Nuuk declaration which established an agreement on cooperation in aeronautical and maritime search and rescue in the arctic. In the Nuuk declaration, the Ministers of the Arctic Council member states decided to "establish a Task Force, reporting to the senior Arctic Officials, to develop an international instrument on Arctic marine oil pollution preparedness and response, and called for the Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) and other relevant working groups to develop recommendations and/or best practices in the prevention of marine oil pollution. The purpose of Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 17 is to welcome the Arctic Council Task Force for Arctic Marine Pollution Preparedness and Response to Alaska. The task force will be in Alaska in March of 2012 to exchange information and experiences regarding marine pollution preparedness and response. The task force is currently developing a framework for international cooperation between the eight arctic states to combat oil spill pollution. As the only arctic state in the nation, Alaska has an important role to play in protecting the arctic. As host for the March task force meeting, it is important that the state welcome the international delegates to Alaska and highlight the issues that are important to Alaskans. CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI asked how many task force members would be coming. MIKE PAWLOWSKI, staff, Senator Lesil McGuire, replied that a representative from each member nation would be attending, as well as support staff. SENATOR MEYER asked if version M was before the committee. CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI said yes. SENATOR MEYER asked if any Arctic countries would not be participating. MR. PAWLOWSKI explained that all eight Arctic Council members would be participating. 9:26:42 AM SENATOR PASKVAN questioned the term "response instrument". MR. PAWLOWSKI referred Senator Paskvan to the Aleutian Islands Risk Assessment Project as an example of the beginning of what a response instrument would be. He defined the term as an all- encompassing strategy for response. He explained that page 16 of the Aleutian Islands Risk Assessment talks about the current vessel traffic in the Aleutians. Over 2,000 vessels are transiting in the Aleutians in innocent passage every year. The instrument is a technical term at the international level under the International Maritime Organization that governs those issues. In SJR 17, on page 2, line 20, there is talk about engaging local authorities in contingency planning, and on lines 15 and 16, having adequate oil spill contingency plans and response capacity. The issue is that under international maritime law, Alaska does not have jurisdiction over vessels in innocent passage. Ultimate goal of the resolution is to get the Arctic Council to push for a voluntary framework of engagement at the international level. SENATOR MEYER asked for the date of the meeting. MS. ELY said it was on March 20, 2012. 9:29:11 AM SENATOR PASKVAN moved to report SJR 17, version M, from committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note. There being no objection, SJR 17 was moved from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.