CIRCAC: risk assessment money in bill

The Cook Inlet Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council said July 5 that federal lawmakers have included “a long-awaited navigational risk assessment for Cook Inlet” in the U.S. Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2007.

CIRCAC said it worked with U.S. Congressman Don Young, R-Alaska, a senior member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to secure the provisions in the $8.3 billion bill.

The organization said the bill requires the Coast Guard to carry out comprehensive risk assessments in Cook Inlet and the Aleutian Islands “to more fully analyze the issues and risks associated with oil exploration and transportation.” Congressman Young and fellow drafters of the bill also expect the assessments to include recommendations to enhance the safety and security, or lessen potential adverse environmental impacts, of marine shipping.

“We’ve been promoting the need for a risk assessment for a long time and greatly appreciate Congressman Young’s concern for navigational safety in the region,” said CIRCAC Executive Director Michael Munger. “Cook Inlet already has a lot of existing and sometimes competing uses and a comprehensive assessment will help everyone interested in safer marine transport identify safety problems and propose solutions.”

The bill provides $1.8 million in each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to conduct the assessments.

The Cook Inlet assessment must be completed within one year of the bill’s passage, the Aleutian assessment within two years.

—Petroleum News