[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 239 (Friday, December 12, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65440-65441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-31771]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[AK-931-1310-00-NPRA]


Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Draft Integrated 
Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.

ACTION: Notice of availability and announcement of public subsistence-
related hearing schedule

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management announces the availability of 
Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Draft Integrated Activity 
Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (IAP/EIS). The planning area is 
roughly bounded by the Colville River to the east and south, the 
Ikpikpuk River to the west and the Beaufort Sea to the north. The IAP/
EIS contains five alternatives for a land management plan for the 4.6 
million-acre planning area and assessments of each plan's impacts on 
the surface resources present there. These alternatives provide varying 
answers to two primary questions. First, will BLM conduct oil and gas 
lease sales in the planning area and, if so, what lands will be made 
available for leasing? Second, what protections and enhancements will 
be implemented for natural and cultural resources and the activities 
that are based on these resources?
    Alternative A calls for no action, or no change from the status 
quo, and under it no leasing would occur. Alternatives B through E make 
progressively more land, and more environmentally sensitive land, 
available to possible leasing. Alternative B makes 43 percent 
available, Alternative C makes 74 percent available, Alternative D 
makes 89 percent available and Alternative E makes the entire planning 
area available. Restrictive stipulations would provide protections for 
natural and cultural resources under all alternatives, but their number 
and scope would vary between alternatives.
    Alternative A contains the fewest stipulations because it 
authorizes the fewest activities and entirely precludes leasing. As 
alternatives B through E make progressively more sensitive lands 
available for leasing, they also include increasing numbers of 
protective stipulations. Thus, while Alternative E opens the entire 
planning area to leasing it also has many specific stipulations whose 
intent is to ensure that sensitive natural resources are protected.
    Some alternatives contain proposals for specially designated areas 
that would enhance recognition of their values. The Secretary of the 
Interior is authorized to identify specific lands in the NPR-A as 
``Special Areas'', and there are two previously designated Special 
Areas within the planning area. Some alternatives recommend that the 
Pik Dunes, an unusual geologic feature in the planning area with 
importance for caribou, be added to the existing Teshekpuk Lake Special 
Area. Some alternatives also contain recommendations that lands along 
the Ikpikpuk River be designated as a Special Area for their 
paleontological values.

[[Page 65441]]

    Under various alternatives, BLM would recommend that Congress 
designate the Colville River a wild, scenic, or recreation river under 
the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. BLM is also proposing that it work with 
nearby Colville River land owners, including the State and Arctic Slope 
Regional Corporation, to create a Bird Conservation Area under the 
Partners in Flight Program. Finally, in some alternatives BLM is 
proposing a plan, or plans, to guide future studies of caribou and 
waterfowl populations in the Teshekpuk Lake area.
    Section 810 of the Alaska National Lands Conservation Act requires 
BLM to evaluate the effects of the alternative plans presented in this 
IAP/EIS on subsistence activities in the planning area, and to hold 
public hearings if it finds that any alternative might significantly 
restrict subsistence activities. Appendix D of the document indicates 
that alternatives D and E may significantly restrict subsistence 
activities, therefore, BLM is holding the public hearings whose dates 
are given below.

DATES: Written comments on the draft IAP/EIS must be submitted or 
postmarked no later than February 10, 1998. Oral and/or written 
comments may also be presented at seven public hearings to be held:

January 12, 1998, 7:30 pm, Atqasuk Community Hall, Atqasuk, Alaska
January 13, 1998, 7:30 pm, North Slope Assembly Chambers, Barrow, 
Alaska
January 14, 1998, 7:30 pm, Kisik Community Center, Nuiqsit, Alaska
January 15, 1998, 7:30 pm, Anaktuvuk Pass Community Hall, Anaktuvuk 
Pass, Alaska
January 21, 1998, 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm, Marston Theater, Loussac 
Library, Anchorage, Alaska
January 22, 1998, 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm, Carlson Center, Conference Room, 
Fairbanks, Alaska
January 26, 1998, 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm, Washington Capital Hilton, 
Federal Room, 16th and K Street NW, Washington, DC

    Any changes to the hearing schedule will be accompanied by 
appropriate public notice.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the document should be addressed to: 
NPR-A Planning Team, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office 
(930), 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7599. Comments can 
also be sent to the NPR-A home page (http;//aurora.ak.blm.gov/npra/).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gene Terland (907-271-3344; 
[email protected]) or Jim Ducker (907-271-3369; [email protected]). 
They can be reached by mail at the Bureau of Land Management (930), 
Alaska State Office, 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage Alaska 99513-7599.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Authority for developing this document is 
derived from the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the Naval 
Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 and the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
    The BLM leased tracts in the NPR-A in 1982 and 1983 (all now 
expired), but halted a lease sale in 1984 when no acceptable bids were 
made. Recently, interest in a lease sale has increased as oil and gas 
infrastructure moved west. Soon a development at the Alpine Field, in 
the Colville River delta, will bring a pipeline to within 10 miles of 
the eastern boundary of the planning area. None of the federal lands in 
the planning area are currently available to oil and gas leasing 
because existing NEPA documentation is dated and inadequate to meet 
current standards. Should BLM undertake a leasing program, this IAP/EIS 
will form the basic NEPA documentation to authorize leasing, and it 
will determine those lands that are available and those that are 
unavailable for leasing.
    Public participation has occurred throughout the period since the 
Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement was 
published on February 13, 1997. In addition to holding scoping meetings 
in Nuiqsit, Atqasuk, Barrow, Fairbanks and Anchorage several publicly 
attended workshops have addressed important issues within the planning 
area. The planning area provides particularly important habitat for 
caribou, waterfowl and other species and many of the local residents of 
the area rely on harvesting these resources for subsistence purposes. 
Ensuring adequate protection of these resources has been one of the 
driving forces behind workshops to seek input from a variety of public 
sources with expertise in related fields. Additional information from 
these workshops has also been helpful in developing this draft 
document.
    The BLM has worked very closely with the North Slope Borough and 
the State of Alaska in developing this draft IAP/EIS. Representatives 
of both organizations have directly participated in meetings that led 
to the development of the alternatives presented here, although BLM is 
solely responsible for the form the alternatives took. The Mineral 
Management Service of the Department of the Interior has also assisted 
BLM in developing the document.
    Copies of the draft IAP/EIS will be available for pubic review at 
the following locations: Tuzzy Public Library, Barrow, AK; City of 
Nuiqsut, Nuiqsut, AK; City of Atqasuk, Atqasuk, AK; City of Anaktuvuk, 
Pass, Anaktuvuk Pass, AK; and City of Wainwright, Wainwright, AK.
Tom Allen,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 97-31771 Filed 12-11-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JA-P