On October 19, 2005, I joined Senators Stevens, Murkowski, and Inouye in introducing the Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Security Act of 2005, which recognizes the right of native peoples to develop their lands.
The issue of ANWR and whether it should be opened to oil and gas development is one of the more controversial and difficult issues that we face. Over ten years, I have been absolutely clear that my support for energy development in northern Alaska is based on its importance for Native, indigenous peoples who live on and depend upon the resources of the coastal plain. My support has been based upon visits to the village of Kaktovik and other Arctic villages, and assurances from local officials and individuals that they want oil development, while protecting the environment and subsistence cultural traditions.
The Energy and Natural Resources Committee marked up legislation today as part of the budget reconciliation process. The Chairman's bill would open a small portion of the coastal plain of Alaska to oil and gas exploration and would provide $2.4 billion in federal revenues to help balance the budget. While I do not like legislating on budget bills, this avenue appears to be the only way to allow oil and gas exploration to proceed in an area hat was long-ago designated for study for oil and gas drilling under Section 1002 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (P.L.96-487).
When ANWR was established in 1980, Section 1002 of the Act set aside approximately 1.5 million acres on the Refuge's coastal plain, now referred to as "Section 1002," as an area for study, including an assessment of fish and wildlife resources on the coastal plain, the impacts of oil and gas exploration and development on those resources, and a delineation of the extent and amount of potential petroleum resources. Since that time, Section 1002 has always been an area where exploration and development could potentially occur. It is not part of the designated Wilderness Area in the Refuge, it has never been part of the Wilderness Area, and it is not new land carved out from the Wilderness Area.
The bill which was reported favorably by the Committee has been stripped down to its bare minimum to avoid parliamentary challenges under the Byrd rule. I see it as a temporary marker, because it is the only way to open the revenue stream that will allow the Inupiat of the North Slope to build their schools, warm their homes, and continue their subsistence lifestyle. This is something they've supported for over 20 years and something I've supported since 1995. Economic development of their lands should to be their choice, but with our help.
Because of the complex rules and procedures of the reconciliation process, particularly the Byrd rule, the reconciliation language in the Chairman's mark does not include broad provisions to protect Native interests and the environment. The bill falls short of the specific aid and environmental stipulations that I have always supported, and instead relies on committee report language to encourage the Secretary of the Interior to take the steps I feel are needed to protect Natives culture.
For that reason I have joined the Alaska Delegation in sponsoring separate stand-alone legislation on ANWR that will codify the provisions sought over the years to protect the indigenous peoples of northern Alaska, and needed to protect the Arctic environment. Over the last three months I have worked closely with officials of the City of Kaktovic, the elected body of the village, and representatives of the village corporation, the Kaktovic Inupiat Corporation, who own the surface rights to 90,000 acres in the coastal plain. They are people who are active whaling captains, city council members, and elders, whose families have been members of the village for generations. They are confident that the language in this bill will help them undertake economic development while maintaining cultural traditions and a healthy environment.
I will press for passage of the stand-alone bill, along with my colleagues Senators Stevens, Murkowski, and Inouye if the reconciliation bill becomes law. The bill includes several provisions requested by the Kaktovikmiut Inupiat. It includes community impact assistance in Section 12 for villages and boroughs that are directly impacted by exploration and production activities. The funds can be used to mitigate the effects of oil and gas exploration and development on environmental, social, cultural, recreation, and subsistence resources of the community. I recognize that while the coastal plain is not an ancestral homeland to some villages, it is considered an important place for them because their subsistence and cultural traditions are intertwined with the coastal plain. This bill recognizes that interdependence through the impact assistance.
The bill requires that the Secretary coordinate with Natives who will be most impacted by development to gain their wisdom and knowledge on how to bring about development with the least possible impact on the land and wildlife. The bill also calls for the Secretary of the Interior to consult with Alaskans and Kaktovik residents to gain their advice and knowledge before approving development activities on the coastal plain. To facilitate that consultation, the bill creates a State coordinator to be appointed by the Governor and requires a local coordination office to be opened in Kaktovik to make it easier for North Slope residents to express their viewpoints on development to federal agencies. It requires participation, coordination, and consultation with Kaktovik and Inupiat villagers on oil and gas development on their homelands.
The bill codifies 23 environmental stipulations that have been suggested over the years and are in previous ANWR bills. They include seasonal drilling and flight restrictions to protect wildlife. They require that the best available technology be used to produce energy, while also guaranteeing that it be done without significant impact to the environment. These are very important to the people of Kaktovic and they wanted it to be part of the legislation to open ANWR.
The bill also guarantees that no more than 2,000 acres of the coastal plains surface can be impacted by oil development while guaranteeing that Natives can also benefit from any oil found underneath their lands.
The "pared down" version that was marked up by the Energy Committee today was created to survive challenges to the Byrd rule. It is only a skeleton of what is needed to satisfy the people of Kaktovic that development will not harm their culture or their subsistence. I supported this version, but only because I know the conscience of the Senate will accept the protective language offered by the Alaska delegation, myself, and Senator Inouye on behalf of the people of Kaktovic.
I am confident that should the main reconciliation bill be approved, all sides will be willing to spell out in more detail the provisions needed to regulate Alaska oil development and be responsive to the desires of the Inupiat who live there. Because I am confident this more comprehensive legislation will pass, I supported the Energy Committee's reconciliation measure today.
I believe the bill we introduced today, the Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic energy Security Act of 2005, is a recognition of indigenous rights and desires of Kaktovikmiut Inupiat to develop their lands in a manner that recognizes their desires to maintain their culture and subsistence while at the same time providing careful stewardship of the environment.
