[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7802-7803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-3821]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK-930-03-1310-DO]


Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on 
a Proposed Development of Oil Facilities in the National Petroleum 
Reserve--Alaska and the Colville River Delta

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management; Alaska State Office, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for full field development in connection with 
ConocoPhillips's Alpine Satellite Development Program within the 
National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska (NPR-A) and in the Colville River 
Delta.

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SUMMARY: This document provides notice that the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) Alaska State Office will be preparing a full field 
development EIS in connection with the ConocoPhillips Alpine Satellite 
Development Program. The BLM is the lead Federal agency in the 
development of this EIS. The United States Army Corps of Engineers 
(USACE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the State of 
Alaska are cooperating agencies. The project area is located on the 
North Slope of Alaska in the Colville River Delta and in the northeast 
portion of the NPR-A.
    This EIS will fulfill the needs and obligations set forth by the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), other relevant laws and 
regulations, and the management policies of the BLM, the USACE, EPA, 
and the State of Alaska. The BLM will work collaboratively with 
interested parties to identify the issues concerning the project that 
need to be addressed in the EIS, assure an appropriate range of 
alternatives, and develop mitigation that is suited to local, regional, 
and national needs and concerns. The public scoping process will help 
identify these issues, alternatives, and potential mitigation, as well 
as help provide resource, socio-economic, subsistence, and other 
valuable information for the development of the EIS.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process. Scoping 
comments can be submitted in writing to the address listed below and 
will be accepted through March 31, 2003. All public meetings will be 
announced through the local news media, a mailing, and the web site 
developed for the project, http://www.alpine-satellites-eis.com.
    Public Participation: In order to ensure local community 
participation and input, public scoping meetings will be held in 
Anchorage, Barrow, Fairbanks, and Nuiqsut. In addition to the scoping 
process, there will be opportunities for public participation and 
comment on the draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be mailed to Alpine Satellite 
Development Program EIS, Entrix, Inc., 3701 East Tudor Road, Suite 205, 
Anchorage, Alaska 99507; faxed to 907-563-0439; hand-delivered to 
Entrix, Inc., 3701 East Tudor Road, Suite 205, Anchorage, Alaska or to 
the BLM Public Information Center in the Federal Building, 222 W. 7th 
Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska; or forwarded electronically through the 
project website at http://www.alpine-satellites-eis.com. Individual 
respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your 
name or street address from public review or from disclosure under the 
Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the 
beginning of your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the 
extent allowed by law. All submissions from organizations and 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be 
available for public inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For further information and/or to have your 
name added to our mailing list, contact Jim Ducker, Telephone 907-271-
3130; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The EIS will analyze the 
development proposal submitted by ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc (CPAI). 
The company's proposal includes development of two oil and gas 
accumulations in the Colville Delta east of NPR-A and three 
accumulations within NPR-A. The EIS also will examine full field 
development of additional well sites and one or more new processing 
facilities within the field.
    The development on Federal lands within NPR-A is subject to the 
management direction provided by BLM's Record of Decision for the 
Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Integrated Activity Plan/
Environmental Impact Statement (Northeast NPR-A IAP/EIS). The Record of 
Decision for this full field development EIS may amend the Northeast 
NPR-A IAP/EIS. Any amendment, including exceptions to requirements to 
the Northeast NPR-A IAP/EIS, would be limited to those necessary for 
the development authorized by BLM following completion of this EIS and 
will not constitute a general amendment of the Northeast NPR-A IAP/EIS.
    CPAI currently operates their Alpine Central Processing Facility 
(ACPF) near Nuiqsut, Alaska. CPAI has proposed to develop oil and gas 
from five satellites. Two satellites known as CD-3 (CD North during 
exploration) and CD-4 (CD South) are in the Colville Delta. Three other 
proposed satellites known as CD-5, CD-6, and CD-7 (Alpine West, 
Lookout, and Spark, respectively, during exploration) are in the NPR-A. 
The CD-3 and CD-4 satellite locations involve lands owned, 
respectively, by the State of Alaska and by Kuukpik Corporation, a 
Native-owned corporation created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 
Act (ANCSA). The state and another ANCSA corporation, the Arctic Slope 
Regional Corporation (ASRC), own the oil and gas associated with these 
two satellites. CD-5 is proposed to be located within NPR-A on Kuukpik 
land and an ASRC oil and gas lease. CD-6 and CD-7 are located on oil 
and gas leases in the Northeast portion of NPR-A that are administered 
by the BLM.
    CPAI's proposed development of CD-3 would consist of a gravel pad 
capable of supporting up to 32 wells. The site would also contain a 
gravel airstrip that would be used for access to the site. The proposed 
development of CD-4 would include a gravel pad capable of supporting up 
to 32 wells and the construction of a 3.6-mile gravel road that would 
connect the site to the Alpine facility. The proposed CD-5 would 
require a gravel pad capable of supporting 20-30 wells and the 
construction of approximately 3 miles of gravel road with a vehicle-
capable bridge to cross the Nigliq Channel. The proposed CD-6 
development would require a gravel pad capable of supporting up to 30 
wells and the construction of approximately 10 miles of all weather 
gravel road that would connect to CD-5. The proposed CD-7 production 
site development would require a gravel pad capable of supporting up to 
30 wells and the construction of approximately 6 miles of gravel road 
that would connect CD-6 and CD-7.
    Utility lines would connect each of the satellite pads to ACPF. Oil 
and gas products produced at these sites would be transported by a 
pipeline to the ACPF and after processing the finished product would be 
transported through an existing pipeline to the Kuparuk facility and 
from Kuparuk through

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existing pipelines to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

Henri R. Bisson,
State Director, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office.
[FR Doc. 03-3821 Filed 2-14-03; 8:45 am]
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