[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9015-9016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-4416]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Outer Continental Shelf, Beaufort Sea

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for Proposed Offshore Oil and Gas Development and Production of 
the Liberty Project in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea.

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SUMMARY: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is evaluating, through 
an EIS, approval of a Development and Production Plan (DPP) submitted 
by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. for activities to develop an offshore 
oil and gas discovery in Federal waters of the Beaufort Sea northeast 
of the Prudhoe Bay oilfields.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Fred King, Leasing Activities 
Section, Minerals Management Service, Alaska OCS Region, 949 E. 
36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4302; 
telephone (907) 271-6696.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Authority

    This Notice is published pursuant to the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as amended, and the 
regulations issued thereunder (40 CFR Part 1501).

2. Purpose of Notice of Intent

    The MMS is announcing its intent to prepare an EIS on the proposed 
DPP for the Liberty Project in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. This 
announcement initiates the scoping process for this EIS.
    The BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. proposes to develop the Liberty 
oilfield from a man-made gravel island constructed on the Federal Outer 
Continental Shelf in Foggy Island Bay in approximately 22 feet of water 
inside the Barrier Islands. The Liberty project, which is located 
approximately 5 miles offshore the coast, is about midway between Point 
Brower to the west and Tigvariak Island to the east. The proposed 
island would be located in Federal waters between McClure Islands and 
the coast. The overall project includes a gravel island, stand-alone 
processing facilities on the island, associated infrastructure, subsea 
buried oil and utility pipelines (approximately 6.1 miles long), and an 
above-ground onshore pipeline (approximately 1.5 miles long) south to 
tie-in with the Badami pipeline system, an onshore gravel mine site, 
and ice roads. The BP Exploration proposes a construction start-up in 
December 1999, and that will conclude in December 2000. Initial 
development drilling will begin in October 2000 and conclude in April 
2002. Production operations are expected to begin December 2000, and 
continue for an estimated 15-year field life.
    The Liberty DPP will require approval by MMS, the lead permitting 
agency with jurisdiction over the development project, including 
construction, drilling,

[[Page 9016]]

and operations. Other Federal, State, and local agencies such as the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Fish 
and Wildlife Service (FWS), the State of Alaska (State) agencies, and 
the North Slope Borough (NSB) also have permit and other approval or 
authorization responsibilities over selected aspects of the project.
    No development or production activities can be conducted until MMS 
has approved the DPP and the DPP has received coastal zone consistency 
concurrence from the State.

3. Alternatives

    Alternatives considered in the EIS will include the action as 
proposed by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. as described in their DPP and 
a no action alternative. Other possible alternatives that may be 
considered include variations of the proposed action and alternatives 
identified during the scoping process.

4. Public Involvement and Scoping

    The MMS consulted with Federal, State, and local agencies in 
January 1998 on the proposed action. At this time the Corps has 
indicated that they will be a cooperating agency for the EIS. Possible 
significant issues to be addressed in the draft EIS include: oil spill 
risk and spill response capabilities, potential effects on bowhead 
whale migration and subsistence hunting of whales and other marine 
mammals, and the potential effects of dredging and fill operations on 
the area known as the Boulder Patch. The MMS is requesting comments 
from Federal, State, and local governments and other interested parties 
on the scope of the EIS, significant issues that should be addressed, 
and additional alternatives that should be considered. Comments should 
be sent to the address given above and enclosed in an envelope labeled 
``Comments on the Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS on the Liberty 
Project, Beaufort Sea.'' Comments are due no later than 45 days from 
publication of this Notice.
    Public information versions of the Liberty Project DPP submitted by 
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. are available for review at the Minerals 
Management Service, Alaska OCS Region, Public Information Resource 
Center, 949 E. 36th Avenue, Room 330, Anchorage, Alaska. 
Copies of the DPP are also available for inspection in the following 
locations:

Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library (Noel Wien Library) 1215 
Cowles Street, Fairbanks, Alaska
State of Alaska, Division of Governmental Coordination, 240 Main 
Street, Suite 500, Juneau, Alaska
Office of the Mayor, North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska
Office of the Mayor, City of Nuiqsut, Nuiqsut, Alaska
Office of the Mayor, City of Kaktovik, Kaktovik, Alaska
Tuzzy Consortium Library, Barrow, Alaska
Minerals Management Service, Engineering & Operations Division, 381 
Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia

5. Meeting Schedule

    Scoping meetings are tentatively planned for the communities of 
Barrow, Nuiqsut, Kaktovik, and Anchorage in mid-to-late March 1998. A 
public announcement of the final decision on the dates and locations of 
the scoping meetings will be made at a later date.

    Dated: February 17, 1998.
Carolita U. Kallaur,
Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 98-4416 Filed 2-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P