§ 3145. — Wildlife resources portion of study and impact of potential oil spills in Arctic Ocean.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC3145]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 51--ALASKA NATIONAL INTEREST LANDS CONSERVATION
SUBCHAPTER III--FEDERAL NORTH SLOPE LANDS STUDIES, OIL AND GAS LEASING
PROGRAM AND MINERAL ASSESSMENTS
Sec. 3145. Wildlife resources portion of study and impact of
potential oil spills in Arctic Ocean
(a) Wildlife resources
The Secretary shall work closely with the State of Alaska and Native
Village and Regional Corporations in evaluating the impact of oil and
gas exploration, development, production, and transportation and other
human activities on the wildlife resources of these lands, including
impacts on the Arctic and Porcupine caribou herds, polar bear, muskox,
grizzly bear, wolf, wolverine, seabirds, shore birds, and migratory
waterfowl. In addition the Secretary shall consult with the appropriate
agencies of the Government of Canada in evaluating such impacts
particularly with respect to the Porcupine caribou herd.
(b) Oil spills
(1) The Congress finds that--
(A) Canada has discovered commercial quantities of oil and gas
in the Amalagak region of the Northwest Territory;
(B) Canada is exploring alternatives for transporting the oil
from the Amalagak field to markets in Asia and the Far East;
(C) one of the options the Canadian Government is exploring
involves transshipment of oil from the Amalagak field across the
Beaufort Sea to tankers which would transport the oil overseas;
(D) the tankers would traverse the American Exclusive Economic
Zone through the Beaufort Sea into the Chuckchi Sea and then through
the Bering Straits;
(E) the Beaufort and Chuckchi Seas are vital to Alaska's Native
people, providing them with subsistence in the form of walrus,
seals, fish, and whales;
(F) the Secretary of the Interior has conducted Outer
Continental Shelf lease sales in the Beaufort and Chuckchi Seas and
oil and gas exploration is ongoing;
(G) an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean, if not properly contained
and cleaned up, could have significant impacts on the indigenous
people of Alaska's North Slope and on the Arctic environment; and
(H) there are no international contingency plans involving our
two governments concerning containment and cleanup of an oil spill
in the Arctic Ocean.
(2)(A) The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the
Governor of Alaska, shall conduct a study of the issues of recovery of
damages, contingency plans, and coordinated actions in the event of an
oil spill in the Arctic Ocean.
(B) The Secretary shall, no later than January 31, 1991, transmit a
report to the Congress on the findings and conclusions reached as the
result of the study carried out under this subsection.
(c) Treaty negotiations
The Congress calls upon the Secretary of State, in consultation with
the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Transportation, and the
Governor of Alaska, to begin negotiations with the Foreign Minister of
Canada regarding a treaty dealing with the complex issues of recovery of
damages, contingency plans, and coordinated actions in the event of an
oil spill in the Arctic Ocean.
(d) Report to Congress
The Secretary of State shall report to the Congress on the
Secretary's efforts pursuant to this section no later than June 1, 1991.
(Pub. L. 96-487, title X, Sec. 1005, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2453; Pub.
L. 101-380, title VIII, Sec. 8302, Aug. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 572.)
Amendments
1990--Pub. L. 101-380 inserted ``and impact of potential oil spills
in Arctic Ocean'' in section catchline, designated existing text as
subsec. (a), and added subsecs. (b) to (d).
Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 101-380 applicable to incidents occurring after
Aug. 18, 1990, see section 1020 of Pub. L. 101-380, set out as an
Effective Date note under section 2701 of Title 33, Navigation and
Navigable Waters.
Study on Barren-Ground Caribou
Section 306 of Pub. L. 96-487 provided:
``(a) The Congress finds that the barren-ground caribou are a
migratory species deserving of careful study and special protection, and
that the Western Arctic and the Porcupine herds of such caribou are of
national and international significance.
``(b) The Secretary of the Interior shall conduct, and the Governor
of Alaska is urged to cooperate with the Secretary in conducting, an
ecological study of the barren-ground caribou herds north of the Yukon
River and the herds that have been known to migrate between the United
States and Canada, including, but not limited to, a determination of the
seasonal migration patterns, reproduction and mortality rates,
composition and age structure, behavioral characteristics, habitats
(including but not limited to calving, feeding, summering and wintering
areas, and key migration routes) that are critical to their natural
stability and productivity and the effects on the herds of development
by man, predation, and disease. In conducting this study the Secretary
shall review the experience of other Arctic circumpolar countries with
caribou and is authorized to enter into such contracts as he deems
necessary to carry out portions or all of this study.''
