[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 164 (Friday, August 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48661-48662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16694]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK-930-07-1310-DS]


Notice of Availability and Announcement of Public Meetings and 
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) Subsistence 
Hearings; Northeast National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska Supplemental 
Draft Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability and Announcement of Public Meetings and 
ANILCA Subsistence Hearings.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Alaska State Office, is 
issuing the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska (NPR-A) 
Supplemental Draft Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact 
Statement (IAP/EIS) for public comment and announces pending Draft IAP/
EIS public meetings/ANILCA subsistence hearings to receive comments on 
the IAP/EIS and its findings regarding the ANILCA Sec.  810 analysis of 
impacts to subsistence use.

DATES: Written comments on the Draft IAP/EIS must be received within 60 
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes 
their Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Draft IAP/EIS 
public meetings and/or ANILCA subsistence hearings will be held in the 
following communities in Alaska: Anaktuvuk Pass, Anchorage, Atqasuk, 
Barrow, Fairbanks, Nuiqsut, and Wainwright. The date, time, and 
location of the meetings will be announced through public notices, 
media news releases, and/or other mailings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: Northeast NPR-A 
Supplemental IAP/EIS Comments, ENSR Project Office, 1835 South Bragaw 
Street, Suite 490, Anchorage, Alaska, 99508; faxed to 888-907-3677; 
hand delivered to ENSR at the above address, or to the BLM Public 
Information Center in the Federal Building, 222 West 7th Avenue, 
Anchorage, Alaska, 99513; or forwarded electronically through the 
project Web site at http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/planning/npra_general/ne_npra/ne_npr-a_supplement.html. Before including your 
address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying 
information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire 
comment--including your personal identifying information--may be made 
publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to 
withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    The Draft IAP/EIS can be reviewed at BLM's Alaska Web site at 
http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/planning/npra_general/ne_npra/ne_npr-a_supplement.html. CD or paper copies may be requested by calling 
Jim Ducker, BLM's project lead at 907-271-3130.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Ducker, BLM Alaska State Office, 
907-271-3130.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Supplemental IAP/EIS supplements the 
Northeast NPR-A Amended IAP/EIS, which was completed in January 2005 
and was followed with a Record of Decision in January 2006. On 
September 25, 2006, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska 
found the Amended IAP/EIS analysis failed to fully consider the 
cumulative effects of oil and gas leasing in the planning area and in 
the adjacent Northwest NPR--A planning area and vacated the Record of 
Decision for the Amended IAP/EIS. The supplemental IAP/EIS provides 
additional analysis necessary to fully address the deficiencies noted 
by the court and updates relevant sections of the document with 
information that has become available since the completion of the 
Amended IAP/EIS. The public is especially encouraged to comment on this 
additional and updated analysis, and to identify measures that could 
reduce impacts to resources or uses that could be impacted by oil and 
gas activities. Like the Amended IAP/EIS, the Supplemental IAP/EIS 
considers additional oil and gas leasing opportunities in the same 
approximately 4.6 million acres in the northeast portion of the 
National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska. The Supplemental IAP/EIS considers 
the same issues and almost identical alternatives as were addressed in 
the Amended IAP/EIS.
    Section 810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 
requires the BLM to evaluate the effects of the alternatives presented 
in this Draft IAP/EIS on subsistence activities,

[[Page 48662]]

and to hold public hearings if it finds that any alternative may 
significantly restrict subsistence activities. The analysis of 
environmental consequences indicates that the cumulative effects, when 
taken in conjunction with all action alternatives meets the ``may 
significantly restrict threshold'' for each subsistence use, resulting 
in a positive finding pursuant to ANILCA Sec.  810.
    Therefore, the BLM will hold public hearings on subsistence in 
conjunction with the public meetings in the potentially affected 
communities of Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk, Barrow, Nuiqsut, and 
Wainwright.

Thomas P. Lonnie,
State Director.
 [FR Doc. E7-16694 Filed 8-23-07; 8:45 am]
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