Senator BYRD. Is it proposed that the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs approve such a modification before it is made?

Mr. RASMUSSEN. The Secretary has submitted to the House and Senate committees his proposal for lifting of the freeze, and asked for their comments on this particular action.

Senator BYRD. So this is the status, as you have described it, then, of the efforts to amend Public Land Order 4582?

Mr. RASMUSSEN. This is correct.

Senator BYRD. Do you see any roadblocks on the way, or how do you anticipate the outcome? Do you see any problem?

Mr. RASSMUSSEN. I am not sure what the Senate or the House committees might decide.

Senator BYRD. Well, do you think this would be of importance to us before we appropriate this money?

Mr. RASMUSSEN. I would think that the need for supervising and getting ready for the pipeline permit, if and when it is issued, is paramount, and that the money should be made available very shortly.

Senator BYRD. Suppose the order were not to be amended and these construction permits then did not issue. What would happen to the money appropriated for monitoring the construction?

Mr. BEIRNE. Mr. Chairman, we are proceeding on the assumption that the permit will be issued. We must proceed on that basis, so that if it is issued, we are in a position to monitor the work immediately. We would propose to proceed to acquire the necessary equipment and so forth, but we would not employ more than a skeleton staff until such time as the permit was issued. And funds not required would be held and could be made available to offset the fire supplemental, or pay-raise supplemental, both of which will be coming before this committee in the next session.

Senator BYRD. Once the order is amended, how long, then, would it be before the construction permits would likely be issued? Mr. BEIRNE. We would think that almost immediately.

APPROPRIATION TIMING

Senator BYRD. This request for $1.5 million was first made as a reprograming proposal on September 9, 1969. That proposal was not ap proved. Presumably, none of the funds proposed to be reprogramed have been expended. Since this bill will not become law until about the end of this calendar year, why would it not be reasonable to allow only $1 million, or let us say, half a million dollars, for the remainder of fiscal year 1970?

Mr. RASMUSSEN. Our estimates are that we would need a million and a half dollars during the rest of this fiscal year to do the work that we anticipate will be needed.

Senator BYRD. Well, if we allowed $1 million, could we not, if the need was shown to exist in February or March of next year, appropriate the remainder in a supplemental?

Mr. RASMUSSEN. I suppose that it could be done that way. However, in order to secure the necessary personnel, make the arrangements for transportation, and supplies that are needed, we would need to start on that very shortly.

Senator BYRD. All right.

Thank you, Mr. Rasmussen. Thank you, gentlemen.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

SURVEYS, INVESTIGATIONS, AND RESEARCH

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM T. PECORA, DIRECTOR

ACCOMPANIED BY:

JOEL M. JOHANSON, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, PROGRAM
JOHN M. DeNOYER, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, RESEARCH
ROBERT H. LYDDAN, CHIEF TOPOGRAPHIC ENGINEER
HAROLD L. JAMES, CHIEF GEOLOGIST

ERNEST L. HENDRICKS, CHIEF HYDROLOGIST

RUSSELL G. WAYLAND, CONSERVATION DIVISION

FREDERICK E. STEARNS, BUDGET OFFICER

RICHARD R. HITE, DIRECTOR OF BUDGET, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

JUSTIFICATION

Senator BYRD. The Director, Dr. William T. Pecora, will now testify in behalf of the Geological Survey. Specifically, we are addressing our remarks to surveys, investigations, and research.

The Geological Survey proposes an addition of $700,000 to its fiscal year 1970 budget for work in connection with the proposed oil pipeline across Alaska. The justification for this request will be printed in the record.

(The justification follows:)

Includes carry-over balance of $621,415.

Includes employment financed from advances and reimbursements, and allocation accounts.

The 1968 Prudhoe Bay oil discoveries have triggered intense oil exploration and drilling on the Arctic North Slope of Alaska in what could be the largest oil find on the continent. Major efforts have been taken to find ways to transport this oil to market--the voyage of the S.S. Manhattan (a test of icebreaking tankers to operate eastward through the Northwest Passage to the Atlantic Coast) and the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez (thence by tanker to the West Coast). The quantity and quality of the petroleum reserves indicated by these discoveries, and the earlier work in the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 imply extensive and intensive economic activity on the North Slope in the coming years.

A minimum of physical environmental data is available to make the decisions inherent in the activity unleashed by the oil discoveries. Not only are the character and extent of the mineral resources unknown, but the Arctic environment itself is only imperfectly understood. This environment is unique and has been little studied. It involves temperature extremes, seasonal patterns, permafrost, and other unique flora and hydrologic conditions not found elsewhere in the United States. Despite the harshness of the climate, the Arctic ecology is fragile. The ability of man to work in and develop this hostile environment depends directly on his ability to preserve the ecology. The thermal regime depends upon the ecological system.

Once the thermal regime is disturbed melting of the permafrost produces an ever expanding area of unstable soil causing uneven subsidence, erosion, and permanent landscape scars. Other serious problems concerning water supply, waste disposal, and transport of petroleum exist.

Generally, data is needed for all of the Arctic area, but particularly in the immediate future for the "Transportation Corridor"--from Valdez on the Gulf of Alaska north through the Copper River Basin to Fairbanks, thence across the Brooks Range (Anaktuvuk and Dietrich passes are two among several routes being considered) and across the North Slope tundra to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Coast. An array of decisions concerning facility location, design and construction, protection of the environment, and land management must be made in the near future. All of the decisions need more data than is currently available.

Timing, however, is the all important factor in gathering data in the Arctic. The shortness of the Arctic summer (with natural light, absence of snow cover, and thawed soil) limits most field work to a couple of months. Cloud cover during the summer further reduces the opportunity for aerial photography. With the intense oil exploration underway, logistical support for any activity in the short summer is in extremely short supply and must be arranged far in advance of the date when scientists and engineers enter the field.

In response to the increasing need for data, the USGS initiated some work by redirection of effort within existing programs during the latter part of FY 1969, and early 1970, to provide some of the most critical data needed for U. S. Government decisions. This was accomplished by temporarily redirecting ongoing investigations and other work--the FY 1970 efforts total $500,000. However, the effort that can be so financed falls short of the needs for data to reach critical decisions that must be made during the following months.

The requested supplemental will permit taking full advantage of the 1970 summer field work season. Not only does a substantial portion of the work season occur in FY 1970, but the entire summer's work must be planned for and necessary contracts arranged for in a timely manner in January through March 1970. The primary effect of the supplemental will be to assure that much of the needed data will be available a year earlier. Specifically, the supplemental will permit the following increases over work made possible with redirected funds:

1. Topographic Surveys and Mapping

Supplemental funds of $300,000 are requested to initiate a program to provide topographic maps for the engineering and environmental studies required for transportation and resource development.

Need for increase: The increase is requested to extend the area for which 1/63,360-scale topographic maps will be compiled. These maps are essential as base material for investigation and activity in engineering planning, resource location and evaluation and environmental assessments. As an example, the preparation of requests for permits for planned transportation routes and decisions on those requests can be significantly improved if accurate basic mapping is available at a scale of 1/63,360 or larger with appropriate contour intervals. Maps of this quality covering the region do not exist. Accurate, detailed maps will also be extremely useful in planning and managing the developments that will follow initial engineering construction.

Redirection of FY 1970 topographic programs will permit initiating mapping operations for 10,000 square miles. The requested supplemental would extend the area to be covered by 15,000 square miles for a total of 25,000 square miles or most of the transportation corridors under consideration between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay. Completion of this mapping will be essential to the proper assessment of alternative transportation routes. Additional FY 1970 funds would permit obtaining equipment and contracting for logistics, including helicopters, this coming winter. Field work would begin in May 1970.