Governor Bill Walker signed a tax increase for Alaska on Saturday, the state’s first in over a decade.
Wholesale refined fuels like gasoline and heating oil will be taxed but not aviation fuel or fuel used by the Alaska Marine Highway.
The one-cent per gallon increase is intended to fund the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Spill Prevention and Response division, which was previously funded by a 5-cent per barrel surcharge on oil but has fallen short due to low oil prices.
In a release Gov. Walker stated, “This bill provides long term stability to Alaska’s spill response efforts, I commend Representative [Cathy] Munoz and Senator [Peter]Micciche for their work on this important piece of legislation.”
