[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 143 (Thursday, July 24, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 43258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16978]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK-930-08-1310-DR-NESP]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the 
Northeast National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska (NPR-A) Supplemental 
Integrated Activity Plan (IAP)

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Record of Decision (ROD).

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SUMMARY: The BLM announces the availability of the ROD for the 
Northeast NPR-A planning area, located within the NPR-A in northern 
Alaska.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Northeast NPR-A Supplemental IAP ROD are 
available upon request from Jim Ducker, Alaska State Office, Bureau of 
Land Management, 222 W. 7th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99513, or via the 
Internet at http://www.blm.gov/ak.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Ducker, Environmental Program 
Analyst, Alaska State Office, Bureau of Land Management, 222 W. 7th 
Avenue, Suite 13, Anchorage, AK 99513, (907) 271-3130.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Northeast NPR-A Supplemental IAP ROD 
completes a planning effort initiated in 2003 to amend the Northeast 
NPR-A IAP of 1998. The BLM completed the Northeast NPR-A Amended IAP/
EIS in 2005 and issued a ROD based on the IAP/EIS in January 2006. In 
September 2006, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska 
found the Amended IAP/EIS's analysis inadequate and vacated the ROD for 
the Amended IAP/EIS. The BLM initiated the Supplemental IAP/EIS to 
address the inadequacies of the Amended IAP/EIS. The BLM issued a Draft 
Supplemental IAP/EIS for the planning area in August 2007 and a Final 
Supplemental IAP/EIS in May 2008.
    The plan adopted in the Supplemental IAP ROD is essentially the 
same as Alternative D, the Preferred Alternative, in the Final 
Supplemental IAP/EIS. The ROD makes approximately 4 million acres 
available for oil and gas leasing immediately and approximately 430,000 
additional acres available for leasing after ten years. The ROD 
provides for protection of surface values in lands available for 
leasing through a range of protective measures, such as restrictions on 
where permanent oil and gas facilities may be located, seasonal 
restrictions on certain activities, and restrictions on how activities 
may be conducted to minimize impacts. Most changes between the Final 
Supplemental IAP/EIS and the ROD reflect adoption of potential 
mitigation measures to provide additional protection for air quality, 
fish, birds, and public health.

Thomas P. Lonnie,
State Director.
[FR Doc. E8-16978 Filed 7-23-08; 8:45 am]
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