The US Department of the Interior announced Jan. 4 the completion of the record of decision for the new integrated activity plan that will guide oil development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) on the Alaska North Slope.
The integrated activity plan expands the portion of NPR-A available for oil and gas leasing to 18.6 million acres from the 11.8 million acres open for leasing in the previous plan, completed in 2013.
The overall size of NPR-A is 23 million acres, much of it protected for wildlife habitat and the subsistence hunting and fishing of the Inupiat native people who live in the Arctic region, both inside and outside the NPR-A.
The plan includes additional restrictions for areas with greater environmental sensitivities because of their importance to caribou, birds, fish, and the Inupiat who rely on those animals for food. Teshekpuk Lake and its surrounding lakes and wetlands especially gets the extra restrictions, as do the calving area and migration routes for the Teshekpuk caribou herd.
The added restrictions take the form of such requirements as no surface occupancy, forcing horizontal or slant drilling from neighboring areas, and seasonal timing limitations on activities.
The plan was developed in cooperation with the Inupiat Community of the North Slope, the North Slope Borough, and the state government of Alaska.
Praise and opposition
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed the record of decision Dec. 31. The final procedural step drew praise Jan. 4 from Alaska’s congressional delegation and condemnation from the Wilderness Society.
“This strikes the right balance and fulfills the statutory purposes of the petroleum reserve,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said in a Jan. 4 statement released along with similar expressions of support from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Ala.) and Rep. Don Young (R-Ala.).
Young stressed the benefits for “the North Slope communities whose livelihoods depend on energy exploration. This roadmap will help pave the way toward greater upward mobility and economic opportunity, particularly in our Alaska Native communities.”
David Krause, Alaska assistant state director for the Wilderness Society, released a statement lamenting the plan for, as he put it, “throwing out conservation protections for globally unique places such as the Teshekpuk Lake wetlands complex.”
A lawsuit by environmental groups opposed to the plan was filed in August (OGJ Online, Aug. 26, 2020). The suit was stayed pending completion of the record of decision and now will be able to go ahead.
