The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a legislative hearing on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 9:30 a.m. EDT (5:30 a.m. AKDT) in Room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. A total of 21 measures will receive testimony during the hearing, including several bills that Chairman Murkowski has introduced to address some of her top legislative priorities:

• S. 3203, the Alaska Economic Development and Access to Resources Act. This bill would facilitate responsible oil, gas, mineral, and timber production in federal areas in Alaska. It would significantly increase economic growth and create thousands of new jobs in Alaska while establishing vital revenue sources for the state and local governments. This measure reflects Murkowski’s continued efforts to overcome federal resistance to natural resource production in her home state.

• S. 3204, the King Cove Road Land Exchange Act. This legislation would authorize an equal value land exchange between the State of Alaska and the federal government for a 206-acre land road corridor. Not factoring in the accompanying land exchange, the corridor would account for approximately 0.07 percent of the 315,000-acre Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and is needed to facilitate an 11-mile, gravel, one-lane, non-commercial road segment that will connect existing roads running up to and within the refuge. Once the road is completed, King Cove will be linked to nearby Cold Bay, which features an all-weather runway, and finally have reliable access to emergency medical transportation. Without such transportation, the community has been forced to endure a total of 52 medevacs since December 2013, including 17 carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard.

• S. 3273, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Improvement Act of 2016. This bill would provide improvements to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) to address issues in a variety of communities across Alaska. ANCSA, passed 45 years ago, helps Alaska Native communities advance economically, and it was always intended to be a living law. This bill would amend the original Act to help communities from Barrow to Ketchikan, and from Shishmaref to Kaktovik. It would ensure the federal government lives up to the promises made to Alaska Natives, such as providing urban corporations for Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Haines, and improving the land selection process for Alaska Natives who served in the Vietnam War.

• S. 437, the Improved National Monument Designation Process Act. This bill amends the Antiquities Act to require, before the President can designate a national monument: (1) Congressional approval (2) certification of compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and (3) notice from the Governor of the State in which the proposed monument is located that the State legislature has enacted legislation approving the designation. The bill also prohibits the President from designating a national monument in marine waters unless: 1) the monument is specifically authorized by Congress; 2) the President has certified compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act; and 3) the Governor of each State located within 100 nautical miles of the proposed national monument submits notice that the State legislature has approved the proposed designation.  Finally, the bill requires a stakeholder process take place prior to the implementation of any restrictions on public uses within the designated area.
  
  
• S. 2056, the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Act. This bill would direct the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to establish the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System to monitor, issue warnings of, and protect U.S. citizens from undue and avoidable harm from volcanic activity.

• S. 3315, the Second Division Memorial Modification Act. This legislation would authorize the modification of the existing Second Division Memorial in Washington, D.C., by allowing the Second Indianhead Division Association Scholarship and Memorials Foundation to add three small benches honoring those who have fallen in service of our country at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), in Iraq, and in Afghanistan.

The hearing will be webcast live on the committee’s website. Witness testimony will be available online immediately before the start of the hearing. An archived video will be available on the committee’s website once the hearing is completed.