ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ARCTIC POLICY,
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND TOURISM
February 14, 2024
8:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Thomas Baker, Chair
Representative George Rauscher
Representative Jesse Sumner
Representative Cathy Tilton
Representative Jennie Armstrong
Representative Maxine Dibert
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Laddie Shaw
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 291
"An Act relating to reports of Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act corporations."
- MOVED HB 291 OUT OF COMMITTEE
PRESENTATION: ARCTIC POLICY: AN ALASKA PERSPECTIVE
- HEARD
PRESENTATION(S): MARINE EXCHANGE OF ALASKA
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 291
SHORT TITLE: ANCSA REPORTS
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) WRIGHT
01/24/24 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/24/24 (H) AET
02/09/24 (H) AET AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124
02/09/24 (H) Heard & Held
02/09/24 (H) MINUTE(AET)
02/14/24 (H) AET AT 8:00 AM BARNES 124
WITNESS REGISTER
CURTIS MCQUEEN, Executive Director
Alaska Native Village Corporation Association
Wasilla, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 291.
REPRESENTATIVE STANLEY WRIGHT
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: As prime sponsor, gave brief comment during
the hearing on HB 291.
PAUL FUHS, Arctic Goodwill Ambassador
Northern Forum
Adak, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave the presentation titled "Arctic
Policy: an Alaska Perspective."
STEVE WHITE, Executive Director
Marine Exchange of Alaska
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave the Marine Exchange of Alaska
presentation.
EDRIC CARILLO, Director of External Affairs
Marine Exchange of Alaska
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered a question during the Marine
Exchange of Alaska presentation.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:00:24 AM
CHAIR BAKER called the House Special Committee on Arctic Policy,
Economic Development, and Tourism meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Representatives Baker, Rauscher, Tilton, Armstrong, and Dibert
were present at the call to order. Representative Sumner
arrived as the meeting was in progress.
HB 291-ANCSA REPORTS
8:01:18 AM
CHAIR BAKER announced that the first order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 291, "An Act relating to reports of Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act corporations."
8:02:05 AM
CHAIR BAKER opened public testimony on HB 291.
8:02:19 AM
CURTIS MCQUEEN, Executive Director, Alaska Native Village
Corporation Association (ANVCA), testified that ANVCA submitted
a letter voicing the organization's full support of HB 291. He
emphasized his belief that HB 291 presented an "important
remedy" to a challenge that is facing many Alaska Native
corporations.
8:04:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON thanked Mr. McQueen for his testimony.
8:06:12 AM
CHAIR BAKER, after ascertaining that there was no one else who
wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB 291.
8:06:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE STANLEY WRIGHT, Alaska State Legislature, as
prime sponsor, thanked the committee for hearing HB 291.
8:07:05 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TILTON moved to report HB 291 out of committee
with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal
notes. There being no objection, HB 291 was reported out of the
House Special Committee On Arctic Policy, Economic Development,
and Tourism.
8:07:31 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:07 a.m. to 8:10 a.m.
^PRESENTATION: Arctic Policy: An Alaska Perspective
PRESENTATION: Arctic Policy: An Alaska Perspective
8:10:00 AM
CHAIR BAKER announced that the next order of business would be a
presentation, titled "Arctic Policy: an Alaska Perspective."
8:10:08 AM
PAUL FUHS, Arctic Goodwill Ambassador, Northern Forum, Gave the
presentation, titled "Arctic Policy: an Alaska Perspective." He
began the PowerPoint presentation [hardcopy included in the
committee packet], on slides 1-3, which displayed a map of
Alaska, along with an image of the Ursa Major constellation and
explained how that specific constellation is significant to the
presentation.
8:11:52 TIMESTAMP
The committee took an at-ease from 8:11 a.m. to 8:13 a.m.
8:13:52 TIMESTAMP
MR.FUHS resumed the presentation on slide 4, which displayed a
map of the geographic region that is encompassed by the Arctic
Circle. He skipped to slide 6, which addressed the concept of
continental shelf extension occurring along the North American
continent in its Arctic Region.
MR FUHS moved to slide 7, which touched on the proposal to
station a United States Coast Guard icebreaker-class vessel at
the Port of Nome, Alaska. He continued to slide 8, which
explained the logistics of the construction of an icebreaker-
class vessel.
8:17:06 AM
MR.FUHS moved to slide 9, which described Section 234 of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and explained
how it relates to Alaska's Arctic policy. He continued to slide
10, which highlighted the risk of piracy that an icebreaker-
class vessel might experience when transiting certain regions of
the globe.
MR. FUHS moved to slide 11, which aimed to describe the "twisted
logic" of certain legal decisions pertaining to resource
development in the Arctic. He continued through slides 12 and
13, which explained the 30x30x30 concept of conservation and
described how it could be implemented in Alaska.
8:22:09 AM
MR. FUHS moved to slide 14, which touched on the topic of
"discrimination in the Arctic" and explained what that term
means with regard to Alaska's Arctic policy. He continued to
slide 15, which touched on the recent divestment of the Goldman
Sachs Bank in its Arctic development. He moved to slide 16,
which highlighted specific legislative strategies that the
Alaska State Legislature could take to forward the Arctic policy
proposed in the presentation before the committee.
8:25:48 AM
MR. FUHS continued to slide 17, which explained the non-military
international Arctic organizations and relationships that Alaska
is or isn't yet apart of.
8:32:33 AM
MR. FUHS skipped to slide 19, which described the Oil Pollution
Act of 1990 and its impact on marine safety in Alaska's Arctic
waters. He skipped to slide 21, which displayed a graph
comparing different countries' Arctic oil exports by annual
volume and moved to slide 26, which displayed an image of
Russian rescue/salvage vessels. He continued to slide 27, where
he briefly touched on the "Jones Act" as it relates to
icebreakers operating in Alaska's Arctic Region.
8:38:54 AM
MR. FUHS backtracked to slide 23, which highlighted the joint-
operated automatic identification system (AIS) currently being
developed by the Marine Exchange of Alaska (MXAK) for use in the
Arctic Ocean.
MR. FUHS skipped forward to slides 28 and 29, both of which
emphasized the efforts being made by Russia and China to
establish a foothold in the Arctic Region of the globe. He
continued to slide 30, which displayed an image of a north slope
oil module and explained the logistics of installation and
operation.
8:42:08 AM
MR. FUHS moved to slide 31, which displayed a photo of a Russian
icebreaker and continued to slide 32, which elaborated on the
proposed development of liquified natural gas (LNG) plants in
the Arctic Region.
MR. FUHS moved to slide 33, which showed a video of a Russian
icebreaker moving through the Arctic ice and continued to slide
34, which displayed a map that highlighted the potential for
Adak, Alaska, to become an international shipping hub. He moved
through slides 34 and 35, both of which outlined current ship
movements and shipping patterns throughout Alaska's Arctic
Region. He concluded his presentation and offered to answer
committee questions.
8:46:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ARMSTRONG asked Mr. Fuhs if he had any
understanding behind the history of the United States Navy's
little presence in Alaska.
MR.FUHS answered that there was historically a pressure from
U.S. Congress for the United States Navy to downsize and remove
its presence from Alaska.
8:48:08 AM
The committee took an at-ease from 8:48 a.m. to 8:49 a.m.
^PRESENTATION(S): MARINE EXCHANGE OF ALASKA
PRESENTATION(S): MARINE EXCHANGE OF ALASKA
8:49:13 AM
CHAIR BAKER announced that the final order of business would be
the Marine Exchange of Alaska presentation.
8:49:21 AM
STEVE WHITE, Executive Director, Marine Exchange of Alaska, gave
the presentation by the Marine Exchange of Alaska. He began the
PowerPoint presentation [hardcopy included in the committee
packet], on slide 3, which explained the history of the Marine
Exchange of Alaska (MXAK) and continued to slides 4 and 5, which
highlighted the various services that MXAK provides to enhance
maritime awareness and safety in Alaska. He moved to slide 6,
which emphasized the necessity for the proposed Arctic Watch
program along Alaska's Arctic waters.
8:53:13 AM
MR. WHITE continued to slide 7, which highlighted the increased
risk associated with a higher volume of ship traffic in the
Arctic and moved to slide 8, which emphasized that "regulations
are not enough" in ensuring maritime safety in the Arctic. He
continued to slide 9, which outlined a series of tools that the
MXAK can utilize to mitigate the risk of passage in the Arctic
and moved to slide 10, which expounded on the need to minimize
passing ships' impact to surrounding wildlife. He continued to
slide 11, which highlighted how MXAK goes about emergency
assistance for vessels experiencing crises at sea.
8:57:59 AM
MR. WHITE moved to slide 12, which emphasized the risk of
vessels passing through the Arctic with no traffic management
and continued to slide 13, which displayed a map that
highlighted the more efficient route taken by a vessel as a
result of it participating in MXAK's at-sea traffic management
system. He moved to slide 14, which touched on the task of
preventing a disaster at sea and continued to slide 15, which
explained the goals of the Arctic Watch program. Slide 16,
which displayed a group photo of the MXAK's delegates at a
Bering Sea convention and continued to slide 17, which listed a
series of concerns that the MXAK would like to see addressed in
the Arctic.
9:03:11 AM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked where the group photo on slide 16
was taken.
9:03:25 AM
EDRIC CARILLO, Director of External Affairs, Marine Exchange of
Alaska, proffered that the photo was taken in front of the
Alaska State Archives in Juneau.
9:03:40 AM
MR. WHITE resumed the presentation on slide 18, which
highlighted MXAK's efforts to respond to local concerns
regarding maritime safety and continued to slide 19, which
emphasized MXAK's concern to preserve Arctic Indigenous people's
traditional way of life. He concluded the presentation on slide
20, which highlighted the "conduit" between vessels and coastal
communities. He thanked the committee for its time and offered
to answer questions.
CHAIR BAKER thanked Mr. White and Mr. Carillo and delivered
committee announcements.
9:06:22 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee On Arctic Policy, Economic Development, and
Tourism meeting was adjourned at 9:06 a.m.