Feds revise rules for polar bear harassment in Arctic drilling
The Fish and Wildlife Service revised the rules Wednesday governing how much Arctic oil drilling can hassle the Beaufort Sea's polar bears.
Pressed by litigation and an appellate court's order, the federal agency updated the regulation that authorizes the oil and gas industry's unintentional harassment of polar bears protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The new rules allow for more serious harassment than had previously been anticipatedbut don't cover 'lethal take' of the polar bears.
Advertisement
The Alaska Oil and Gas Association, which requested the updated regulations, is 'carefully reviewing' the final rule 'to assess its consequences for AOGA's members operating on the North Slope,' spokesperson Sarah Erkmann Ward said in a statement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Republicans Lavish Alaska With Benefits in Policy Bill, Grasping for a Key Vote
When Senate Republicans released the latest version of their sprawling domestic policy package in the wee hours of Saturday morning, it contained a number of new provisions that might have seemed out of place — including a measure aimed at helping Alaskan whaling captains. But the seemingly random items were anything but arbitrary; they appeared to be aimed at winning the support of a critical Republican holdout whose vote could make or break the measure: Senator Lisa Murkowski. Ms. Murkowski has made no secret of her problems with her party's bill and the harm she believes it could bring to her state. Chief among her concerns were new work requirements for Medicaid recipients and a provision that would require states to pay for a share of nutrition assistance payments currently paid entirely by the federal government. 'I want to try to do what we can to address certain aspects of our entitlement spending,' Ms. Murkowski said in an interview last weekend on CBS. 'We've got to do that. But doing it with the most vulnerable bearing the brunt of that is not the answer.' As G.O.P. leaders scrounged on Saturday for the votes to pass the legislation, they seem to have addressed many of her concerns, insulating Ms. Murkowski's state from some of its most painful cuts while including an assortment of other Alaska-friendly provisions in the bill. The latest version, which leaders hoped to begin voting on as early as Saturday afternoon, would provide a new tax exemption to fishers from villages in western Alaska. There is now an exemption from new work requirements for food assistance. And several provisions have been added that would funnel federal dollars to Alaskan health care providers. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Senate Republicans' new SNAP proposal prompts concern for Alaska GOP
A GOP-backed proposal that would shift some of the cost of food assistance to states for the first time is drawing renewed concern in the party, as critics argue the effort could lead to states cutting benefits on their own. Republicans are pushing to pass the proposal — which could see states with higher payment error rates covering a greater share of benefit costs under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — as a part of the broader spending cuts and tax package in the coming days. But that doesn't mean some Republicans aren't concerned about the measure. 'Our big thing is the data to be used, the data to be used on the error rate,' Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska.) told The Hill on Friday. 'So, that's important to make sure that the data is as accurate and reflective of the year you're judging as possible.' Numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed Alaska's payment error rate — which factors in overpayment and underpayment error rates — reached above 60 percent in fiscal year 2023. The national average hit 11.68 percent. Sullivan noted the state has seen much lower payment error rates prior to the pandemic and is on a path to improving those figures, noting new numbers are expected soon. But he added, 'It's still higher than our traditional error rate, and as you know, the cost share is based in part on that.' According to the Alaska Beacon, the state's error rate hiked after state officials said they violated federal rules in order to continue feeding people amid a significant backlog in applications. Under the initial plan crafted by the Senate Agriculture Committee, Republicans sought to require states to cover some SNAP benefit costs if they have a payment error rate above 6 percent beginning in fiscal 2028. The proposal in the megabill would also allow states with rates below that level to continue paying zero percent. It also proposes states with higher payment error rates cover a greater share of benefit costs. If the error rate is 6 percent or higher, states would be subject to a sliding scale that could see their share of allotments rise to a range of between 5 percent and 15 percent. However, Senate Republicans tweaked the plan after facing a setback when their 'state cost-share' proposal was rejected by the chamber's rules referee as part of a megabill the party hopes to pass in the coming days. A release from the agriculture committee said the updated plan would allow states to choose the payment error either fiscal year 2025 or 2026 to 'calculate their state match requirement that begins in Fiscal Year 2028.' For the following fiscal year, the 'state match will be calculated using the payment error rate from three fiscal years prior,' the committee said, adding a 'state must contribute a set percentage of the cost of its SNAP benefits if its payment error rate exceeds six percent.' Asked about further potential changes to the plan, Agriculture Committee chair Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) said Friday that negotiators 'worked really hard to try and get a situation that worked for as many people as we could, and I think we've achieved that.' 'Alaska is a unique state, unique situation, so I know that everybody's trying to work hard to accommodate situations that don't fit,' Boozman said Friday afternoon. 'So, I haven't heard of any changes, and I'm sure that, you know, [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune [(R-S.D.)] will grab me if that comes about.' 'On the other hand, he is trying to make it such that members can get their particular worries taken care of,' he said. Under a special process Republicans are using to pass the bill, they can move the legislation through the chamber with a simple majority. But with staunch Democratic opposition, they can only afford a few GOP defections to pass the bill, given their 53-seat majority. Asked briefly about the party's SNAP proposals later, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told The Hill, 'We're still in trouble on SNAP.' 'The implementation is still next to impossible for us,' she said. Republicans say the states' cost-share proposal would incentivize states to improve their error rates. But Sullivan and Murkowski aren't the only Republicans who have voiced concerns about the effort in recent weeks. Originally, the House plan called for all states to cover 5 percent of the cost of allotments in its initial version of Trump's megabill, with states that had higher payment error rates having to pay anywhere between 15 percent and 25 percent. However, the proposal was dialed back after concerns from other Republicans, including Sens. Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) and Jim Justice (W. Va.) over the measure. Asked if he's meeting with Boozman or Thune on the matter, Sullivan also told The Hill on Friday evening that he's 'meeting with everybody.' 'For me, it's just important to get the data as close to the date that you're judging,' Sullivan said, adding that he expects Alaska to see a notable drop in its error rate in a coming report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
Minimum wage set to rise in 15 cities and states in July. Here's where.
Hundreds of thousands of workers across more than a dozen cities and states will soon receive higher pay, thanks to minimum wage hikes set to go into effect July 1. More than 800,000 workers in two states —Alaska and Oregon — as well as Washington, D.C., will be impacted by higher minimum wages that take effect July 1, according to the left-leaning economic think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Additionally, a dozen cities and counties are also set to boost their baseline pay rates next month. The higher minimum wages come as the federal baseline rate remains at $7.25 an hour, where it's been parked since 2009. As the cost of living has crept higher in subsequent years, some states and municipalities have boosted their own minimum wages through a combination of ballot measures, inflation adjustments and legislation. "These minimum wage increases will put more money in workers' pockets, helping many of them and their families make ends meet," EPI state economic analyst Sebastian Martinez Hickey wrote in a post about the higher pay. "The average increase in annual wages for a full-time, year-round worker resulting from these minimum wage hikes ranges from $420 in Oregon to $925 in Alaska." About 58% of the workers who will receive pay hikes are women, while Black and Hispanic workers will also disproportionately benefit, according to the EPI's analysis. While the federal minimum wage hasn't budged in 16 years, there have been periodic attempts to boost it, with the latest coming from Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, who earlier this month introduced legislation to increase the national baseline wage to $15 per hour. He was joined by Vermont Democratic Sen. Peter Welch as a co-sponsor. Pay hikes in Alaska, D.C., and Oregon Alaska's baseline wage will rise by $1.09 to $13.00 an hour, which was approved via a ballot measure passed by voters. The boost will impact 6.3% of the state's workforce, or 19,400 people, who will see an average annual pay increase of $925, EPI calculates. In Washington, D.C., 7.5% of the workforce, or 62,200 workers, will benefit from the minimum wage rising by 45 cents to $17.95 an hour, thanks to an inflation adjustment formula. With the new minimum in place, a full-time worker in the nation's capital will earn an additional $727 in annual wages, on average, according to the EPI's calculations. Oregon's minimum wage will rise 35 cents to $15.05 an hour on July 1, also through an inflation adjustment, boosting pay for 9.4% of the state's workforce, or 801,700 workers. The average pay hike will equate to $420 annually. Where else are workers getting raises? In addition to Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C., 12 more cities and counties across California, Illinois and Maryland will boost their minimum wages next month: Alameda, California: The minimum wage will rise 46 cents to $17.46 Berkeley, California: The minimum wage will rise 51 cents to $19.18 Emeryville, California: The minimum wage will rise 54 cents to $19.90 Fremont, California: The minimum wage will rise 45 cents to $17.75 Los Angeles, California: The baseline wage will rise 59 cents to $17.87 Los Angeles County, California: The minimum wage will rise 54 cents to $17.81 Milpitas, California: The minimum wage will rise 50 cents to $18.20 Pasadena, California: The minimum wage will rise 54 cents to $18.04 San Francisco, California: The minimum wage will rise 51 cents to $19.18 Santa Monica, California: The minimum wage will rise 54 cents to $17.81 Chicago, Illinois: The minimum wage will rise 40 cents to $16.60 Montgomery County, Maryland: The minimum wage will rise 50 cents to $17.65
