Pipeline jobs promised to natives under section 29: twenty percent Native hire is the goal of Alyeska.

• Author: Colby, Nicole A. Bonham
• Position: Alaska Native BUSINESS NEWS

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On paper, the Section 29 requirements of the federal Agreement and Grant of Right-of-Way for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and corresponding Alaska Native Utilization Agreement (ANUA) are spelled out in dry legalese. But in application, the tangible result poses a far-reaching human impact to the Alaska economy and its goal of cultural work force diversity. Today, companies like Anchorage-based Kakivik Asset Management are successfully meeting or exceeding the Section 29 requirements of 20 percent Alaska Native hire for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. (APSC) major contractors.

Such figures add credence to the intended goal of a diverse labor force that realizes benefit through increased training, education and life opportunity.

A HISTORY IN OIL

It was in autumn 2004 that then-Secretary of Interior Gale Norton signed the latest renewal of ANUA-its fourth renewal since debuting in 1995. Through a separate agreement and separate renewal schedule, the ANUA flows from the original federal right-of-way agreement, which was obtained by trans-Alaska pipeline owners in 1974 as a renewable right-of-way to build and operate the pipeline across the federal and state lands. The right-of-way itself is good for 30 years and was renewed in January 2003.

The ANUA component affords recruitment, testing, training, placement, employment and job counseling for Alaska Natives, with the ultimate design to see Alaska Natives fill 20 percent of the combined full-time jobs of the pipeline operator and its contractors. When Norton signed the renewal, Alaska Natives constituted 447, or 20 percent, of total trans-Alaska oil pipeline system workers. That compared to only 8 percent in 1995. This year, as of the end of first quarter 2007, the Alyeska Alaska Native work force totaled 156 (20.8 percent) and the contractor work force totaled 220 (23.3 percent), according to the company.

The ANUA is again scheduled for renewal after December 2007. Confirming the renewal date, Alyeska's Alaska Native Program Manager Bonnie Jo Savland also notes, "Alyeska Pipeline Service Company and its contractors have met, or exceeded, the 20 percent overall work force goals as required by the ANUA since 2004." In terms of cumulative impact to the Alaska economy and employment landscape, Savland says the result has a long-term impact. "In my estimation, the impact to the Alaska economy by Section 29 and the ANUA is very important, both in terms of dollars spent and...