Juneau -- A working group has been putting in long hours fine-tuning an oil spill prevention bill introduced this month by Senator Drue Pearce, (R-Anchorage). The bill, SB 273, would require non-tanker vessels and the railroad to provide the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) with an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan and provide proof of financial responsibility.

"Alaska arguably has the world's best oil spill prevention and response programs," said Pearce. "But the current program doesn't go far enough. This legislation would extend the existing law to cover the railroad and non-tanker vessels like commercial fishing vessels, cruise ships, processors - even the Alaska State Ferries."

Since 1995, non-regulated transportation operations have spilled 10 times more often and 50 times more oil product than regulated vessels like tankers. In the last five years there have been 93 spills from regulated vessels, spilling 5,286 gallons. In that same time period, there have been 945 spills from non-regulated vessels and the railroad spilling 258,000 gallons.

The railroad alone has suffered three derailments since 1992 and three spills in the last four months. The two most recent spills dropped 125,000 and 12,450 gallons of oil respectively.

"Alaska is the only West Coast state that has not extended its contingency plan and financial responsibility laws to include non-tank vessels, " said Pearce. "A working group of legislators and industry experts reviewing this bill want the same level of protection for Alaska, without the fear of unnecessary bureaucratic complexities."

The working group will resume their efforts on Thursday morning. SB 273 will be back before the Senate Resources Committee this Friday.