[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 99 (Wednesday, May 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36020-36022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-12787]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Alaska OCS Region

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the final environmental impact 
statement (EIS) for the proposed Liberty Development and Production 
Project in Beaufort Sea, Alaska.

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SUMMARY: MMS announces the availability of the final EIS prepared by 
MMS for the Liberty Project in Foggy Island Bay offshore Beaufort Sea, 
Alaska.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Persons interested in reviewing the 
final EIS ``OCS EIS/EA, MMS 2002-19'' (Volumes I-IV) can contact the 
MMS Alaska OCS Region. The documents are available for public 
inspection between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through 
Friday at: Minerals Management Service, Alaska OCS Region, Resource 
Center, 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 330, Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4363, 
telephone: (907) 271-6070, or (907) 271-6621, or toll free at 1-800-
764-2627. Requests may also be sent to MMS at [email protected]. You 
may obtain single copies of the final EIS, or a CD/ROM version, or the 
Executive Summary from the same address.
    You may look at copies of the final EIS in the following libraries:


[[Page 36021]]


Alaska Pacific University, Academic Support Center Library, 4101 
University Drive, Anchorage, Alaska;
Alaska Resources Library and Information Service, U.S. Department of 
the Interior, 3150 C Street, Suite 100, Anchorage, Alaska;
Alaska State Library, Government Publications, State Office Building, 
333 Willoughby, Juneau, Alaska;
Canadian Joint Secretariat Librarian, Inuvikon Northwest Territories, 
Canada;
Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Yellowknife, Northwest 
Territories, Canada;
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Noel Wien Library, 1215 Cowles Street, 
Fairbanks, Alaska;
Ilisaavik Library, Shishmaref, Alaska;
Juneau Public Library, 292 Marine Way, Juneau, Alaska;
Kaveolook School Library, Kaktovik, Alaska;
Kegoyah Kozpa Public Library, Nome, Alaska;
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Information Services 
Division, Seattle, Washington;
North Slope Borough School District, Library/Media Center, Barrow, 
Alaska;
Northern Alaska Environmental Center Library, 218 Driveway, Fairbanks, 
Alaska;
Tikigaq Library, Point Hope, Alaska;
Tuzzy Consortium Library, Barrow, Alaska;
University of Alaska Anchorage, Consortium Library, 3211 Providence 
Drive, Anchorage, Alaska;
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, Government 
Documents, 310 Tanana Drive, Fairbanks, Alaska;
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute, Government 
Documents, Fairbanks, Alaska;
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Institute of Arctic Biology, 311 Irving 
Building, Fairbanks, Alaska;
University of Alaska, Southeast, 11120 Glacier Highway, Juneau, Alaska;
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Library, U.S. Department of Defense, 
Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska;
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Library, 1011 East Tudor Road, 
Anchorage, Alaska;
Valdez Consortium Library, 200 Fairbanks Street, Valdez, Alaska;
Z.J. Loussac Library, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage, Alaska.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposal. The British Petroleum Exploration 
(Alaska) (BPXA) Inc. submitted a proposal to develop the Liberty oil 
field from a manmade gravel island constructed on the Federal OCS 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 central Beaufort 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, associated 
infrastructure, subsea buried oil pipeline (6.1 miles long), and an 
above-ground onshore pipeline (approximately 1.5 miles long) south to 
tie in with the Badami common carrier pipeline system, a new onshore 
gravel mine site, and ice roads.
    The Development and Production Plan (DPP) for the Liberty Project 
requires approval by MMS, the lead permitting agency, and by the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers (COE), Alaska District Office, and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10, which are cooperating 
agencies. Together, these agencies have federal jurisdiction over the 
development and production of the oil resources, including 
construction, drilling, production, and transportation from the project 
to a common carrier pipeline. Additional permits from the State of 
Alaska and from the North Slope Borough would be required.
    MMS held a series of scoping meetings in Alaska. Based on the most 
significant issues raised in those meetings, MMS identified and 
evaluated a variety of alternatives in the EIS. Including BPXA's 
proposal, these alternatives examine: three island locations and 
pipeline routes; four pipeline designs; two types of upper slope 
protection for the production island; two gravel mine sites; two 
pipeline burial depths; and some combinations of these possibilities. 
The final EIS also examines the No Action alternative. MMS and the 
cooperating agencies held public hearings in Alaska in February 2000. 
MMS received both written and oral comments, which were incorporated in 
the final EIS.

Change in Status

    In January 2002, BPXA publicly announced they were putting the 
Liberty Project on hold pending an ongoing re-evaluation of project 
configuration and costs. On March 5, 2002, BPXA sent a letter to MMS 
and other agencies stating that pending completion of project re-
evaluation, affected agencies should consider submitted permit 
applications incomplete and recommended processing of these 
applications be suspended. Also in March, BPXA indicated informally 
that submission of a modified DPP for the Liberty Project would likely 
take 6 months or more.
    MMS has decided to publish and file with EPA this final EIS for the 
Liberty DPP because it includes substantial changes made in response to 
comments on the draft EIS. Also, MMS expects this final EIS will serve 
as a reference document for future projects. The COE and EPA, as 
cooperating agencies, had intended to use this final EIS as the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document supporting permitting 
decisions by these agencies.
    The COE and EPA hereby solicit comments on the adequacy of, and 
alternatives considered in, this final EIS. Due to the applicant's re-
evaluation of the project design, and the incomplete status of permit 
applications, the COE and EPA are not soliciting comments on their 
permit decisions at this time. When revised permit applications are 
received with project changes, the COE and EPA will issue public 
notices to request comments on the project proposal. Depending on the 
changes made, comments received, and any new information available, the 
three agencies will evaluate whether or not to use this final EIS as 
the primary NEPA documentation, issue a supplemental EIS, or issue new 
environmental documentation to meet the agencies' respective NEPA 
compliance and permit evaluation requirements.
    Any written comments on this final EIS should be provided to MMS. 
Address your comments to the Regional Director, Alaska OCS Region, 
Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, 
Alaska 99508-4363. Our practice is to make comments, including the 
names and home address of respondents, available for public review. An 
individual commenter may ask that we withhold their name, home address, 
or both from the public record, and we will honor such a request to the 
extent allowable by law. If you submit comments and wish us to withhold 
such information, you must state so prominently at the beginning of 
your submission. We will not consider anonymous comments, and we will 
make available for inspection in their entirety all comments submitted 
by organizations or businesses or by individuals identifying themselves 
as representatives of organizations or businesses.


[[Page 36022]]


    Dated: May 16, 2002.
Thomas A. Readinger,
Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 02-12787 Filed 5-21-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P