[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 21 (Monday, February 2, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4974-4975]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2059]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK-930-04-1310-DB]


Notice of Availability and Announcement of Public Subsistence-
Related Hearings; Alpine Satellite Development Plan, Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement; National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and 
Colville River Delta

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability and announcement of public subsistence-
related hearings: Alpine Satellite Development Plan, Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement; National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and 
Colville River Delta.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Alpine Satellite Development Plan Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS). The DEIS provides National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) analysis and examines potential impacts of ConocoPhillips 
Alaska, Inc.'s (CPAI) proposed action to develop five satellite oil 
accumulations in the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-
A) and the adjacent Colville River Delta. CPAI proposes to develop five 
drilling pads and associated access roads, bridges, airstrips, 
pipelines and power lines. The pads are termed CD-3, CD-4, CD-5, CD-6, 
and CD-7. In the Colville River Delta, CD-3 is on State of Alaska land 
and CD-4 is on land owned by Kuukpik Corporation, a Native-owned 
corporation created under the authority of the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act for the village of Nuiqsut. CD-5 is on land conveyed to 
Kuukpik within the NPR-A; CD-6 and CD-7 are on lands administered by 
the BLM in the NPR-A. The company proposes to place 20 to 30 wells on 
each pad and to transport the unprocessed, three-phase (oil, gas, and 
water) drilling product to the Alpine Central Processing Facility for 
processing. Processed oil would be placed in the existing pipeline 
system for transport to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.
    The DEIS evaluates a range of alternatives, consistent with 
applicable law, by which to accomplish the proposed action while 
mitigating adverse impacts. Four action alternatives that fulfill the 
purpose and need of the proposed action are presented and analyzed. The 
No Action Alternative is presented as a benchmark, enabling the public 
and decision makers to compare the magnitude of environmental effects 
of the action alternatives. The alternatives cover the full range of 
reasonable development scenarios. The Agency's preferred alternative 
has not been identified in the DEIS, but will be identified in the 
final EIS.
    Also included in the DEIS is an analysis of full-field development 
(FFD) for an 890,000-acre area that includes the Colville River Delta 
west of its eastern-most channel and extends west to the vicinity of 
the mouth of the Kogru River on the west side of Harrison Bay and south 
from the Kogru River mouth for approximately 45 miles. Though FFD is 
not proposed at this time, the BLM considers it likely that development 
besides that currently proposed by CPAI will occur in this area over 
the next 20 years. As a result, the DEIS evaluates and analyzes 
alternative development options for potential future development. This 
approach gives the public and decision makers a comprehensive overview 
of proposed and potential future development in the area. An agency-
preferred alternative or Record of Decision will not be developed for 
FFD. Decisions on future proposals for developments in the area would 
be addressed through additional NEPA analysis tiered or incorporated by 
reference to the final EIS.
    Section 810 of the Alaska National Lands Conservation Act requires 
the BLM to evaluate the effects of plans presented in this DEIS on 
subsistence activities in the area of the proposed action and 
alternatives, and to hold public hearings if it finds that any 
alternative may significantly restrict subsistence activities. The 
analysis of environmental consequences indicates

[[Page 4975]]

the proposed action and two alternatives may significantly restrict 
subsistence activities. In addition, all alternatives may significantly 
restrict subsistence in the cumulative case. Therefore, the BLM is 
holding public hearings on subsistence in conjunction with the public 
meetings discussed below.

DATES: Written comments on the DEIS will be accepted until March 1. 
Public meetings or hearings are scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. at the 
following locations and dates:

Barrow, Alaska, February 9, 2004, North Slope Borough Assembly Chambers
Nuiqsut, Alaska, February 10, 2004, Kisik Community Center
Atqasuk, Alaska, February 12, 2004, Village Community Center
Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska, February 17, 2004, Village Community Center
Fairbanks, Alaska, February 18, 2004, Noel Wein Public Library
Anchorage, Alaska, February 23, 2004, Wilda Marston Theater, Z.J. 
Loussac Library
An open house will precede each meeting at 5:30. The above meetings, 
any changes or rescheduling of the above meetings, and any additional 
public meetings will be announced through public notices, media news 
releases, and/or other mailings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: Alpine Satellite 
Development Plan EIS, Entrix Project Office, 3701 E. Tudor Road, Suite 
208, Anchorage, Alaska, 99507; faxed to 907-563-0439; hand delivered to 
Entrix, Inc., 3701 E. Tudor Road, Suite 208, Anchorage, Alaska, or to 
the BLM Public Information Center in the Federal Building, 222 W. 7th 
Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska; or forwarded electronically to the project 
Web site 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. The DEIS will be 
available in either hard copy or on compact disk at Entrix, Inc., 3701 
E. Tudor Road, Suite 208, Anchorage, Alaska, 99507; and the Alaska 
State Office, Public Information Center at 222 West 7th Avenue, 
Anchorage, Alaska, 99513-7599. Copies of the DEIS will also be 
available for public review at the following locations: City of 
Anaktuvuk Pass, Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska; Loussac Library and Alaska 
Resources Library and Information Service, Anchorage, Alaska; City of 
Atqasuk, Atqasuk, Alaska; Tuzzy Public Library, Barrow, Alaska; City of 
Nuiqsut, Nuiqsut, Alaska; and Noel Wein Library, Fairbanks, Alaska. The 
entire document can be reviewed at the project Web site at http://www.alpine-satellites-eis.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Ducker, BLM Alaska State Office, 
907-271-3130; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public participation has occurred throughout 
the period since the BLM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the 
Federal Register on February 18, 2003, announcing the intent to begin 
preparation of the Alpine Satellite Development Plan EIS. Public 
meetings were held in Anchorage, Barrow, Nuiqsut, and Fairbanks between 
March 6 and March 20, 2003. The BLM and four cooperating agencies--U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(USEPA), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the State of Alaska have also 
conducted government-to-government consultation with three Native 
governments: the Native Village of Barrow, the Inupiaq Community of the 
Arctic Slope, and the Native Village of Nuiqsut, and have worked 
closely with the North Slope Borough, the local government of Nuiqsut, 
and other Federal agencies on the DEIS.
    The development on Federal lands within NPR-A is subject to the 
management direction provided by the 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 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 changes necessary 
for the development authorized by BLM following completion of the final 
EIS and will not constitute a general amendment of the Northeast NPR-A 
IAP/EIS.
    EPA is a cooperating agency because it potentially has a permitting 
decision to make on the disposal of wastewater from camps under an 
NPDES permit. The alternatives presented in the DEIS discuss the use of 
a general permit or an individual permit. The USACE as a cooperating 
agency will review the proposed project pursuant to relevant Federal 
jurisdiction.

    Dated: December 8, 2003.
Henri R. Bisson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 04-2059 Filed 1-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JA-P