Stevens concerned about draft

by The Associated Press

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is concerned about federal legislation proposed by the oil industry to streamline permits for a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope.

The legislation could give the companies an expedited permit review if they choose to bypass Alaska by crossing the Beaufort Sea and then heading south through Canada, a route Stevens opposes.

“It was characterized to me as giving the (companies) the final decision on where the route would go for the pipeline, and I am opposed to that,” Stevens said in Fairbanks in mid-August.

“We’re already on record that we do not want that northern route, and I would not support legislation that would give anyone the power to make that decision,” he said.

The draft legislation was drawn up by ExxonMobil, BP and Phillips Petroleum, the three companies studying whether to build the pipeline. The companies say the draft legislation is about regulations, not routes.

Stevens shared his concerns about the draft with state lawmakers who were in Fairbanks for hearings of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Natural Gas Pipelines.

John Katz, the state’s Washington, D.C.-based director of federal relations, told the joint committee the draft would place a “significant amount” of control over the process in the hands of the companies.

Katz said the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Act, enacted in the late 1970s, streamlined the permit process for a pipeline route along the Alaska Highway.

“The (companies’) amendments would allow the application of an expedited process to any route,” Katz said.

Representatives of the oil companies said the draft legislation is neutral on a route.