ABSTRACT
The rapid pace of climate change in the U.S. Arctic is posing an increased risk for oils spills from vessels traveling in Arctic waters and from above ground bulk fuel tanks located in every rural Arctic community. Arctic annual mean surface temperatures have increased by approximately three times the global average over the last 50 years. Specific consequences include, but are not limited to, reduced seasonal sea ice (further opening the Bering Strait to international traffic), significant shoreline erosion, increased permafrost thaw and more powerful storms, all leading to more severe infrastructure degradation. In some instances, entire Alaskan villages are forced to relocate from the lands their ancestors have called home for thousands of years. While some areas around the world are planning on how to react to the consequences of climate change, in the U.S. Arctic, consequences are being felt right now. Region by region, each community must cope with the difficulty of exposure to different climate change related shocks, risks, and contingencies to their established way of life. These documented vulnerabilities may be as unique as the communities, families and individuals that are affected. This makes building and sustaining resilient geographic communities and villages incredibly difficult. By merging legacy federal environmental law compliance programs with an intentional effort to build a dynamic community adaptive capacity the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has created a blueprint for building and sustaining resiliency within the Arctic. Therefore, government agencies with relevant statutory or regulatory compliance requirements, to include any of their associated public-private-partnerships, have a duty to incorporate adaptive capacity concepts within the bounds of their associated compliance verification program(s).
This paper describes how the USCG Sector Anchorage prevention, preparedness and response regulatory program activities changed in conjunction with the changing Arctic environment. Over the last 5 years, USCG Sector Anchorage has built the foundation for expanding community adaptation and mitigation strategies via well publicized Area Committee meetings and workshops, ensured prevention regulatory compliance and help with non-compliance, and then exercised interagency actions in conjunction with government and industry exercise requirements. Since 2019, USCG Sector Anchorage has acted upon two of the three lines of effort from the USCG's Arctic Strategic Outlook: partnerships and unity of effort. By merging legacy federal environmental law compliance programs with an intentional effort to build dynamic community adaptive capacity the USCG created a blueprint for building and sustaining infrastructure resiliency within the Arctic.