[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 171 (Friday, September 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53938-53940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20036]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK-931-1310-DB-CPAI]


Notice of Availability of the Alpine Satellite Development Plan 
Final Environmental Impact Statement; National Petroleum Reserve--
Alaska, and Colville River Delta

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Alpine Satellite Development Plan Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS). The FEIS 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 and 
the adjacent Colville River Delta.

DATES: Written comments on the FEIS will be accepted for 30 days 
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes 
the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Following this 
period of availability for public review, the BLM will issue a Record 
of Decision regarding the Preferred Alternative within its authority. 
Comments on EPA's NPDES GP coverage will also be accepted for the same 
30 days.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the FEIS should be sent to James H. 
Ducker, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office (931), 222 West 
7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7599. 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 request 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 FEIS will be available in either hard copy or on 
compact disk at the Alaska State Office, Public Information Center at 
222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska, 99513-7599. Copies of the FEIS 
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 or through BLM--Alaska's Web site 
at http://www.ak.blm.us.
    Written comments on EPA's NPDES GP should be sent to Cindi Godsey, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 222 W. 7th Avenue, Box 19, 
Anchorage, Alaska 99513.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Ducker, BLM Alaska State Office, 
907-

[[Page 53939]]

271-3130 or Gary Foreman, BLM Northern Field Office, 907-474-2339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CPAI proposes to develop five drilling pads 
and associated access roads, bridges, pipelines, power lines, and an 
airstrip. 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 
National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska; CD-6 and CD-7 are on lands 
administered by the BLM in the National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska. 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 FEIS evaluates a range of alternatives, consistent with 
applicable law, by which to accomplish the proposed action while 
mitigating adverse impacts. Five action alternatives that fulfill the 
purpose and need of the proposed action are presented and analyzed, 
including a Preferred Alternative. The Preferred Alternative is a 
modification of the applicant's proposal, includes components from each 
of the action alternatives analyzed in the DEIS and reflects 
consideration of public and agency comments, regulatory needs, and 
further mitigation of environmental concerns. The Preferred Alternative 
would authorize development of the five pads at the locations requested 
by CPAI. Gravel roads would connect CD-4 through CD-7 to the Alpine 
Central Processing Facility; CD-3 would be accessed by use of an 
airstrip or by ice road. Substantial portions of the road and pipeline 
on BLM-managed lands would be moved outside of a setback from Fish 
Creek, bridges across the Nigliq Channel and the Ublutuoch River would 
be from bank to bank, all pipelines would be elevated a minimum of 7 
feet above the ground as measured at the vertical support members, and 
all power lines would be placed in cable trays mounted on the vertical 
support members. The other alternatives include the applicant's 
proposal (Alternative A) and variations that included such features 
alternative road, bridge, pipeline, and pad locations; access only by 
airplane or helicopter; a mix of road and air access; a 5-feet high 
pipeline; and power transmission on power poles or buried in the 
ground. The No Action Alternative is presented as a benchmark, enabling 
the public and decision makers to compare the magnitude of 
environmental affects of the action alternatives. The alternatives 
cover the full range of reasonable development scenarios.
    Also included in the FEIS 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. In addition to 
development proposed by CPAI, the EIS analyzes development options for 
pads, pipelines, and other facilities throughout the Plan Area in order 
to identify potential mitigation measures for future development in the 
area. FFD is provided for analysis purposes only, and neither the 
Preferred Alternative nor the Record of Decision will include FFD as 
part of the action proposal. Decisions on future proposals for 
developments in the area would be addressed through additional NEPA 
analysis.
    Section 810 of the Alaska National Lands Conservation Act requires 
the BLM to evaluate the effects of plans presented in this FEIS 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 
Draft EIS found that the proposal and some alternatives may 
significantly restrict subsistence activities. As a consequence, BLM 
held public hearings on subsistence in conjunction with the public 
meetings to accept comments on the Draft EIS in the northern Alaskan 
communities of Nuiqsut, Barrow, Atqasuk, and Anaktuvuk Pass. Appendix B 
of the FEIS describes how the Preferred Alternative and the other 
action alternatives may significantly restrict subsistence activities. 
In addition, all alternatives may significantly restrict subsistence in 
the cumulative case. The Appendix makes determinations required by 
Section 810 prior to authorizing an action.
    The EPA has made a tentative determination to issue coverage under 
the North Slope General Permit AKG-33-0000 (NSGP) to ConocoPhillips 
Alaska, Incorporated, for discharges of domestic wastewater from the 
Alpine Satellite Development Plan. Persons wishing to comment on EPA's 
tentative determinations of General Permit (GP) coverage may do so in 
writing within the public notice period. Comments must be received by 
EPA no later than 30 days following the date the EPA publishes the 
Notice of Availability for the FEIS in the Federal Register, to be 
considered in the EPA's final determinations regarding NPDES GP 
coverage.
    All comments regarding NPDES GP coverage should include: (1) The 
name, address, and telephone number of the commenter; (2) a concise 
statement of the exact basis for any comment; and (3) the relevant 
facts upon which the comment is based. For additional information 
regarding the NPDES GP, please refer to Appendix M: Public Notice of 
Coverage Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 
General Permit to Discharge to Waters of the United States for 
Facilities Related to the Extraction of Oil and Gas on the North Slope 
of the Brooks Range, Alaska (AKG-33-0000) in the FEIS. 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 scoping meetings were held in 
Anchorage, Barrow, Nuiqsut, and Fairbanks between March 6 and March 20, 
2003. Public comments were received on the DEIS from January 16 through 
March 8, 2004, and during that period public comment meetings were held 
in Anaktuvuk Pass, Anchorage, Atqasuk, Barrow, Nuiqsut, and Fairbanks.
    The BLM and four cooperating agencies--EPA, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers (USACE), U.S. Coast Guard, and the State of Alaska have also 
conducted government-to-government consultation with three Native 
Alaskan 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 environmental impact 
statement.
    The development on Federal lands within the National Petroleum 
Reserve-Alaska 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 (IAP/
EIS). The Record of Decision (ROD) for this development environmental 
impact statement may amend the IAP/EIS. Any amendment, including 
exceptions to requirements to the IAP/EIS, would be limited to those 
changes necessary for the development

[[Page 53940]]

authorized by BLM in the ROD and will not constitute a general 
amendment of the 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 FEIS 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.

Henri R. Bisson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 04-20036 Filed 9-2-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JA-P