The US Bureau of Land Management said it will publish a notice of intent to begin development of a new integrated activity plan and associated environmental impact statement for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. BLM’s Nov. 20 announcement came in response to Secretarial Order 3352 which called for a new IAP and EIS in June 2017 for the 22.1 million-acre reserve originally set aside in 1923 as an emergency oil supply for the US Navy.
The order called for the review and development of a revised IAP “that strikes an appropriate balance of promoting development while protecting surface resources.” BLM said it also acted after the State of Alaska and the North Slope Borough asked the US Department of the Interior to invest more in transportation and help build capacity to accommodate increasing production on Alaska’s North Slope.
“Production from federal leases is being realized 95 years after the then Naval Petroleum Reserve was established,” Assistant Interior Sec. for Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash said. “As development and production increases into the NPR-A and as advances in technologies are discovered for use on the North Slope of Alaska, [DOI] determined it is appropriate to consider a different approach to management of the NPR-A.”
BLM said that the new IAP and EIS will include:
• Consideration of a range of leasing alternatives that open new areas to leasing.
• Examination of current special area boundaries.
• Consideration of new or revised lease stipulations and best management practices.
The new plan also will incorporate the most current information and lay out management goals and objectives that are environmentally responsible, respect traditional uses of the land, and maintain access to subsistence resources, the agency said.
It said that a 45-day public comment period, including public meetings in ANS communities as well as Anchorage and Fairbanks, began on Nov. 20. Public meeting dates, times, and locations will be announced through local media as well as the BLM Alaska State Office web site.
That office previously announced that it will offer some 2.85 million acres within the NPR-A at a Dec. 12 lease sale in Anchorage (OGJ Online, Nov. 12, 2018).
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].