[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 111 (Wednesday, June 9, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32365-32366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-13016]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK-930-1310-DP-NEAM]


Proposed Amendment to the Integrated Activity Plan for the 
Northeast National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

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

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management announces the availability of 
the Draft Amendment to the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska 
(NPR-A) Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (IAP/
EIS). The planning area is roughly bounded by the Beaufort Sea to the 
North, the Ikpikpuk River to the west and the Colville River to the 
east and south of the planning area (Map 1-3). In November 2000, 
Congress passed and the President signed the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act Amendments of 2000 (EPCA), which directed the 
Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretaries of 
Energy and Agriculture, to conduct an inventory of oil and natural gas 
resources beneath federal lands and to identify the extent and nature 
of any restrictions or impediments to the development of these 
resources. In 2002, the President's National Energy Policy Development 
Group recommended that the President direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to consider additional environmentally responsible oil and gas 
development, based on sound science and the best available technology, 
through further lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska 
and that such consideration should include areas not currently leased 
within the northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: NPR-A Planning Team, 
Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office (931), 222 West 7th 
Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7599. Comments can also be submitted at 
the project Web site http://nenpra.ensr.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. BLM will not consider anonymous comments. All 
submissions from

[[Page 32366]]

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 amended DIAP/DEIS will be available in either hard copy or on 
compact disks at the Alaska State Office Public Room at 222 West 7th 
Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7599 at the above address. The entire 
document can also be reviewed at the project Web site http://www.ak.blm.gov/nwnpra.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Childs (907) 271-1945; [email protected]) or Mike Kleven (907) 474-2317, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This IAP/EIS amendment contains three 
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 that are consistent with EPCA and the President's 
Energy Policy. First, will BLM conduct oil and gas lease sales in the 
planning area on lands currently unavailable or surface-restricted, 
and, if so, which of those lands will be made available for leasing? 
Second, what measures should BLM develop to protect important surface 
resources during oil and gas activities?
    Alternative A, the No Action Alternative, makes approximately 87 
percent of 4.6 million acres available for oil and gas leasing and 
calls for no change from the status quo rendered under the 1998 Record 
of Decision (ROD) for the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska. 
Under Alternative A, no leasing would occur on lands currently 
unavailable, and the existing No Surface Restrictions would be 
maintained. Alternatives B, the Preferred Alternative, and C make 
progressively more land available to leasing. Alternative B makes 
approximately 96% percent of 4.6 million acres in the planning area 
available for oil and gas leasing, and Alternative C makes 100 percent 
of 4.6 million acres in the planning area available for oil and gas 
leasing. Mitigating measures would provide protections for natural and 
cultural resources under all alternatives, but their nature, number and 
scope would vary among alternatives.
    Alternative A would maintain the current land allocation that makes 
approximately 840,000 acres either unavailable (600,000 ac) or surface 
restricted (240,000) to leasing. It maintains the 79 prescriptive 
stipulations set forth in the 1998 ROD. The Preferred Alternative, 
Alternative B, makes approximately 213,000 acres of sensitive bird 
habitat north of Teshekpuk Lake unavailable to leasing. This 
alternative also contains a mitigation package that is comprised of a 
combination of prescriptive and performance-based mitigations very 
similar to those developed for the 2004 Northwest National Petroleum 
Reserve--Alaska ROD. Performance-based mitigations provide the BLM and 
other land users, including industry, greater flexibility by 
emphasizing the intent or objective of the mitigation to protect the 
environment. In addition, there are site-specific mitigations 
protecting key biological resources throughout the planning area. 
Alternative C contains no land allocation prohibiting leasing, and 
includes performance-based mitigations similar to those in Alternative 
B and site-specific mitigations protecting identified key biological 
resources throughout the planning area.
    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--The Colville River 
Special Area and the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area. As required by 43 CFR 
2361.1, all three alternatives proposed through this amendment process, 
using stipulations, Required Operating Procedures (ROPs), and 
allocation decisions, mitigate or avoid unnecessary surface damage and 
miminize ecological disturbance throughout the reserve to the extent 
consistent with the requirement of the National Petroleum Reserve 
Protection Act (NPRPA) for the exploration of the reserve. Also, each 
alternative presents for public comment a different approach to 
providing maximum protection to surface resources within designated 
Special Areas.
    Public participation has occurred throughout the period since the 
Notice of Intent to Prepare the Amendment and Environmental Impact 
Statement was published on June 23, 2003. In addition to holding 
scoping meetings in Anaktuvuk Pass, Nuiqsut, Atqasuk, Barrow, Fairbanks 
and Anchorage, several public meetings 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 the meetings to seek input 
from a variety of public sources with information in related fields. 
Information from these meetings has also been helpful in developing 
this draft document.
    The BLM has worked closely with native communities within or 
adjacent to the planning area in developing this draft IAP/EIS. In 
addition to native representatives, the State of Alaska, the North 
Slope Borough, and other Federal agencies have participated in meetings 
that identified areas of concern to be addressed during the development 
of the alternatives presented here. BLM is solely responsible for the 
form of alternatives evaluated.
    Section 810 of the Alaska National Lands Conservation Act requires 
the BLM to evaluate the effects of the alternatives 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 that Alternative C and 
the cumulative case for all alternatives may significantly restrict 
subsistence activities. Therefore, the BLM will hold public hearings on 
subsistence in conjunction with the public meetings in the potentially 
affected communities.

DATES: Written comments on the Amended DIAP/DEIS will be accepted for 
45 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Future 
meetings or hearings and any other public-involvement activities will 
be announced at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media 
news releases, and/or mailings. 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).
    Copies of the draft IAP/EIS amendment will be available for public 
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; Z.J. Loussac Public Library, 
Anchorage, AK; Noel Wien Public Library, Fairbanks, AK.

    Dated: March 31, 2004.
Curtis J. Wilson,
Acting Chief, Planning and Resources, Alaska State Office.
[FR Doc. 04-13016 Filed 6-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JA-P