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Coast Guard bill features Arctic flavor Alaska Sen. Begich introduces legislation with provisions on ‘domain awareness,’ icebreakers; bill draws bipartisan support Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, has introduced a Coast Guard bill with significant Arctic provisions.
The bill (S. 2444) is meant to authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard for fiscal years 2015 and 2016.
It has provisions on “domain awareness” in the Arctic, on the nation’s icebreaker fleet, and on oil spill response.
Cosponsors on the bill include Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
Begich chairs the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard.
In a press release, Begich said he expects the Commerce Committee to formally consider the Coast Guard bill in June, and the full Senate to take it up later in the summer.
New committee With climate change and diminishing ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, the Coast Guard and other federal and state officials are becoming increasingly concerned about the potential for increased human activity in the polar sea.
The Coast Guard in recent years has conducted special air and sea patrols in the Arctic, especially during times of offshore oil and gas drilling.
S. 2444 authorizes establishment of an Interagency Arctic Maritime Domain Awareness Committee to foster cooperation and information sharing among multiple federal departments and agencies.
The bill defines domain awareness as “the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact the safety, security, economy, or environment of the United States.”
The committee would involve the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, Transportation, State and Interior, plus agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation. The Coast Guard commandant would chair the committee.
The bill calls for the committee, once established, to quickly develop a five-year strategic plan to “guide interagency and international intergovernmental cooperation and coordination for the purpose of improving maritime domain awareness in the Arctic.”
Icebreaker provisions A big concern for Alaska’s congressional delegation is the government’s thin icebreaker fleet.
The Coast Guard has three icebreakers, but only two - the heavy-duty Polar Star and the medium-duty Healy - are operational. The Polar Sea, sister ship of the Polar Star, is laid up in its homeport of Seattle.
The aging Polar Sea once had been headed for scrap. The Begich bill authorizes a total of $110 million over two years to refurbish the vessel.
Begich said his bill also includes language that “increases competition in the design and construction of new heavy icebreakers.”
Other provisions The bill also has a section titled “Prompt publication of oil spill information.”
The bill says: “In any response to an oil spill in which the Coast Guard serves as the Federal on-scene coordinator leading a unified command, the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall publish, on a publicly accessible website, all written incident action plans prepared and approved as a part of the response to the oil spill.”
S. 2444 also has a section that provides for an “inflationary adjustment” for the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council. The congressionally sanctioned, Kenai-based council monitors oil tankers and other industry activity in the inlet.
The bill would amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to increase annual industry funding for the council to at least $1.4 million, up from the current maximum of $1 million.
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