The Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council met virtually on December 3rd, 2021. Remote meetings continue as a precaution to protect the health and safety of CIRCAC Directors and staff.
We were pleased to hear from Commissioner Jason Brune of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. In November of 2021, ADEC released its proposed changes to the state’s oil spill prevention and response regulations. The Department has identified 32 sections for possible change in Section 18 of the Alaska Administrative Code dealing with oil spill response and prevention measures, including Contingency Plans, or C-Plans. CIRCAC staff is currently working through a comprehensive review of these proposed changes and will provide comments to the Department by the deadline of January 22, 2022.
CIRCAC has remained consistent in its position that any changes to the regulations should only strengthen existing protections. These regulations have been refined over the course of three decades, with input from the public and industry, leading to a comprehensive suite of regulations that have proven effective at preventing large scale spills and providing effective guidance and response strategies for other releases. We appreciate Commissioner Brune’s efforts to keep CIRCAC apprised of this review progress since it was launched in October of 2019 and we look forward to working with ADEC to ensure Alaska’s oil spill prevention and response regulations continue to protect our sensitive environment and resources in Cook Inlet.
The Board was also given a presentation by Marc Bayer, Vice President, Marine Operations at Marathon Petroleum. Presentations of this sort by experts at our partner organizations are invaluable for the Board’s ongoing education regarding best practices, safety standards and technological updates in the marine transport of crude oil.
Other business including adopting CIRCAC’s operating budget for 2022 and welcoming new staff to the organization; Cassandra Johnson, Accounting and Grants Manager and Candice Elias, Administrative Assistant.
Our December meeting typically provides an opportunity to look back on accomplishments of the previous 12 months. CIRCAC had many accomplishments in 2021, the most important of which was maintaining safe day-to-day operations amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and continuing to carry out the mission of the organization despite those challenges.
We very much look forward to meeting again in person in April of 2022; that decision will be made pending the status of the pandemic and with deference to safeguarding the health and safety of the public, our board members and staff.
