[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44277-44278]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-18469]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLAK930000.L16100000.DF0000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Integrated Activity Plan and 
Environmental Impact Statement for the National Petroleum Reserve--
Alaska

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Alaska State Office, 
Anchorage, Alaska, intends to prepare an Integrated Activity Plan (IAP) 
with an associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) planning area. This notice 
announces the beginning of the scoping period to solicit public input 
and comments.

DATES: The public scoping period will begin upon publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. Formal scoping will end no sooner than 
60 days from publication of this notice; a final end date will be 
announced through a press release and the BLM-Alaska Web site, http://www.blm.gov/ak. Comments on management decisions, resources to be 
addressed, and issues for analysis will help define the proposed 
actions and alternatives for the NPR-A IAP/EIS. You can submit comments 
in writing to the addresses listed below. The BLM will announce all 
public meetings, times, and locations through the local news media and 
on the agency Web site. The BLM will hold public scoping meetings in 
Anaktuvuk Pass, Anchorage, Atqasuk, Barrow, Fairbanks, Nuiqsut, and 
Wainwright. The BLM may hold additional public scoping meetings in 
other communities if there is strong community interest.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ak.
     Fax: 907-271-5479.
     Mail: BLM Alaska State Office, Attention--NPR-A Planning 
Team, 222 West 7th Avenue, 13, Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7599.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Ducker, 907- 271-3130; e-mail: 
[email protected]; or by mail: Bureau of Land Management, 222 West 7th 
Avenue, 13, Anchorage, Alaska 99513-7599. You may also request 
to be added to the mailing list. Documents pertinent to this plan may 
be examined at the following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ak.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
intends to prepare an IAP with an associated EIS for the NPR-A planning 
area. The NPR-A IAP/EIS will consider management of BLM-administered 
lands within the NPR-A. The lands in the NPR-A total approximately 22.1 
million acres of surface and subsurface lands, and an additional 
200,000 subsurface-only acres underlying Native Corporation-owned 
surface lands.
    The Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6501, et 
seq.), as amended, excludes the NPR-A from the application of Section 
202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1701, et 
seq.), as amended, which is the basis for the BLM's Resource Management 
Plans. The BLM conducts its planning within NPR-A through IAPs. The BLM 
complies with all applicable laws in the preparation of an IAP, 
including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species 
Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the National Historic 
Preservation Act. The BLM will work collaboratively with interested 
parties to identify the management decisions best suited to local, 
regional, and national needs and concerns.
    The purpose of the public scoping process is to determine the 
management decisions and resources to be addressed and the issues for 
analysis. This information will influence the development of the 
proposed action and alternatives, and guide the environmental analysis.
    You may submit written comments on management decisions and 
resources to be addressed and issues for analysis to the BLM at any of 
the public scoping meetings, or use any of the methods listed in the 
ADDRESSES section above. The result of this planning effort will 
supersede the current plans for the Northwest (2004) NPR-A, Northeast 
(2008) NPR-A, and Colville River Special Area (2008). 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. BLM 
personnel, through discussions within the BLM and with other agencies, 
individuals, and outside groups, have identified preliminary issues for 
analysis and the proposed scope of this plan. Most issues relate to 
management of oil and gas activities and the protection of resources 
and residents

[[Page 44278]]

of the region from those impacts in the NPR-A. Of special note are 
impacts to the resources and uses of the area near Teshekpuk Lake and 
to the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. The BLM has developed the following 
preliminary criteria for developing the proposed actions and 
alternatives:
     The plan will consider the lands and waters administered 
by the BLM within the NPR-A.
     All decisions in the plan will be consistent with the 
Naval Petroleum Reserve Production Act of 1976, including the 
requirements to manage the NPR-A consistent with the total energy needs 
for the Nation and to protect the environmental, fish and wildlife, and 
historical and scenic values of the NPR-A.
     The existing plans defer oil and gas leasing in 
approximately 1.57 million acres in northwestern NPR-A and 430,000 
acres north and east of Teshekpuk Lake. The lands in northwestern NPR-A 
are deferred from leasing until 2014 and the lands near Teshekpuk Lake 
until 2018. The new plan will make management decisions for these areas 
that will become effective at the expiration of their respective 
deferral periods.
     Action alternatives will be consistent with requirements 
for protection of spectacled and Stellar's eiders described in the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service's 2008 Biological Opinion for the northern 
NPR-A planning areas and any new Biological Opinion received as a part 
of this planning effort.
     The plan will address oil and gas leasing and will use 
scoping to identify other management decisions and resources to be 
addressed.
     The resource protection measures applied to oil and gas 
authorizations will be as consistent as possible in all areas covered 
by the plan, recognizing the differing values within the NPR-A.
     The BLM will consider subsistence resources and users and 
minimize adverse impacts to subsistence uses in accordance with Section 
810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).
     The plan will protect valid existing rights.
     The BLM will consider plans and policies of adjacent land 
owners/managers.

Julia Dougan,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-18469 Filed 7-27-10; 8:45 am]
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