Senator Bob Smith
Hearing On S. 1311: A Bill To Create A Separate Region 11 for Alaska

Opening Statement

Good morning. Today, we will address the following topic: Should the EPA establish a separate region a Region 11 for the State of Alaska? That question is before us in the form of a bill S. 1311 that was introduced by our colleague Senator Murkowski from Alaska. Senate Bill 1311 would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to create a separate region for Alaska and would authorize such funding as is necessary to achieve that goal.

This bill stems from and reflects a longstanding interest on the part of Senators Murkowski and Stevens to see to the adoption of a separate EPA region for their home State. Several years ago, for example, this subject was addressed in a different context. Section 522 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1992 authorized the creation of a separate EPA region for Alaska. On the last day of the Bush Administration, EPA Administrator William Reilly signed an Administrative Order exercising that authority and creating a separate Alaska district. The Clinton Administration did not implement that order, however, and Alaska today is still part of EPA Region 10.

There are several arguments on each side of this issue. We have before us the written statements of today's witnesses, and we will hear from those witnesses their testimony pro and con on this bill. Rather than now summarize their positions, I will let the witnesses themselves make their own statements.

But out of respect for our colleague from Alaska, I will note that perhaps the most often-advanced argument in favor of this proposal is that the uniqueness of Alaska militates in favor of treating that state as a separate EPA Region. In that regard, American author Jack London once made two points that undergird the argument advanced by our colleague -- first, that Alaska is a unique land and, second, that, only by being willing to adapt to those features of Alaska that render it unique, can a person truly come to understand what it means to be an Alaskan. Let me read a quote from Jack London that makes those points ["In a Far Country" (1899), reprinted in The Portable Jack London 11-12 (Earle Labor ed. 1994)]:

"When a man journeys into a far country, he must be prepared to forget many of the things that he has learned, and to acquire such customs as are inherent with existence in the new land; he must abandon the old ideals and the old gods, and oftentimes he must reverse the very codes by which his conduct has hitherto been shaped. To those who have the protean facility of adaptability, the novelty of such change may even be a source of pleasure; but to those who happen to be hardened to the ruts in which they were created, the pressure of the altered environment is unbearable, and they chafe in body and spirit under the new restrictions which they do not understand. This chafing is bound to act and react, producing divers evils and leading to various misfortunes. It were better for the man who cannot fit himself to the new grove to return to his own country; if he delay too long, he will surely die.

"The man who turns his back upon the comforts of an elder civilization, to face the savage youth, the primordial simplicity of the North, may estimate success at an inverse ratio to the quantity and quality of his hopelessly fixed habits. He will soon discover, if he be a fit candidate, that the material habits are the less important. * * * For the courtesies of ordinary life, he must substitute unselfishness, forbearance, and tolerance. Thus, and only thus, can he gain that pearl of great price, true comradeship. * * *"

With all that in mind, let me thank our colleague Senator Murkowski for being here today to speak on behalf of his bill. Senator Murkowski, you have the floor.