Interior seeks nominees for five Exxon Valdez spill advisory seats

The Interior Department is seeking nominations for five of the 10 seats on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Public Advisory Committee, the citizen panel that advises how money from the 1989 spill settlement is used to restore the region.

All five seats are vacant, according to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. They represent subsistence, Native landownership, recreation, science and technology, and the public at large.

Interior also sought nominees for three of them, subsistence, recreation and the public at large, in its last call in January 2025. That call also covered the commercial fishing seat, now held by John Williams of Cordova, whose term began Oct. 28.

The committee advises the Trustee Council, made up of three federal and three state agencies, on decisions about restoration projects and the use of the money the governments recovered for damage to natural resources, according to the notice, which is set to be published in the Federal Register on Monday.

Its remaining members are Michael Stekoll of Auke Bay, in the aquaculture and mariculture seat; Amanda Bauer of Valdez, commercial tourism; and three Cordova members: Williams, commercial fishing; Raven Cunningham, conservation and environmental; and John Whissel, sport hunting and fishing.

The committee was created under a 1991 court-approved agreement between the United States and Alaska. In September, Interior renewed its charter for two more years. The Interior secretary appoints members to four-year terms.

Anyone can submit a nomination, with a résumé describing the nominee's qualifications, to the Trustee Council's executive director. Nominations are due 90 days after Monday's publication, which would be Jan. 31.