To submit comments: Public input critical to protect coastlines and communities in Alaska

On October 15, 2019 Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation opened a public scoping process to solicit comments and input from stakeholders, the public, and industry on areas where Alaska oil spill regulations (18 AAC 75, Article 4) and Alaska State Statute 46.04 (AS 46.04), Oil and Hazardous Substance Pollution Control, could be streamlined.

The Council is encouraging the public to submit comments:

During the current scoping period, we encourage the public to provide input which strongly opposes any legislative or regulatory changes that would erode oil spill prevention and response standards.
After the public scoping, ADEC will review the input received and put forth any potential changes, followed by a formal public comment period for those proposed changes. There is a 30-day minimum required for such public comment periods. We encourage the public to insist on more than the required minimum 30-day public comment period for any proposed revisions put forth by ADEC. We must ensure adequate time to analyze proposed changes and gather input from all interested public stakeholders. This is essential to make sure proposed changes do not weaken important oil spill prevention and response measures that many people fought so hard to implement after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

UPDATE: The deadline for comments has been extended to March 16, 2020.

To submit your comments

Resources:

New 1/28/2020: Quick facts – background information to help you write your comments.

Here are four fact sheets created by the Council. They contain background on how changes to laws or regulations might affect you or what you care about the most. Please use these to help you write your comments.