Letter to Department Heads Directing Study of Petroleum Resources in Alaska's Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4.

[Dated September 16, 1976. Released September 17, 1976]

ON APRIL 5, 1976, I signed into law the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-258).

Section 105(b) of that Act requires that I direct appropriate Executive departments and agencies to conduct a study, in consultation with representatives of the State of Alaska, to determine the best overall procedures to be used in the development, production, transportation, and distribution of petroleum resources in the Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 4 in Alaska. It also requires that I make semiannual progress reports on this study to the Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and provides that the completed study, together with recommended procedures and proposed legislation, be submitted to those committees not later than January 1, 1980.

The Department of the Interior, with the active assistance of the Department of the Navy and the Federal Energy Administration, shall conduct the study required by Section 105(b) of that Act and, on a timely basis, shall prepare the required reports, recommend procedures, and prepare proposed legislation for my consideration and subsequent transmission to the designated committees of the Congress.

I urge you to complete the study and to develop recommendations and prepare proposed legislation for my review at the earliest practicable date, consistent with the intent of Congress and with my objective of securing the wise use of these resources for the national welfare.

Sincerely,

GERALD R. FORD