The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plans to prepare an environmental impact statement for a possible oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet off Alaska’s south-central coast, BOEM said in an Oct. 23 Federal Register notice. Comments will be accepted through Dec. 8, it indicated.
The US Department of the Interior agency also has scheduled five public scoping meetings in Alaska about the matter in Seldovia on Nov. 12, Nanwalek on Nov. 13 at noon, Homer on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m., Soldotna on Nov. 15, and Anchorage on Nov. 24.
The EIS analysis will focus on the potential effects of leasing, exploration, development, and production of oil and gas in the proposed lease sale area, which BOEM said it identified in November 2013.
It said the identified area is closer to existing infrastructure, avoids nearly the entire area designated as critical habitat for the beluga whale and the northern sea otter, completely avoids the critical habitat for the Stellar sea lion and the North Pacific right whale, and reduces effects on national parks, preserves, and wildlife refuges.
The potential sale also excludes much of the subsistence-use area for the Native villages of Nanwalek and Port Graham which were identified during the last lease sale process in the area, BOEM said.
“We look forward to receiving thoughtful, substantial input on this EIS,” BOEM Acting Director Walter D. Cruickshank said on Oct. 21. “In particular, we need to hear from residents of the communities along Cook Inlet on how the proposed leasing area is currently being used and what specific areas need extra attention.”
The notice does not indicate that a final decision to hold the lease sale has been made, he emphasized. Information gathered during the scoping process will help BOEM prepare the EIS, which in turn will inform a final decision on whether to hold the sale, Cruickshank said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].