[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 98 (Friday, May 20, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29218-29219]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-12371]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers


Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities Foothills West 
Transportation Access Project

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Alaska District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) 
intends to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to 
identify and analyze the potential impacts associated with the proposed 
Foothills West Transportation Access Project (Foothills Project). The 
Corps is the lead Federal agency; the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR) are participating 
as cooperating agencies in the DEIS development process. The Corps will 
be evaluating a permit application for work under Section 10 of the 
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. 
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be used as a basis for 
the permit decision and to ensure

[[Page 29219]]

compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the proposed action 
and the DEIS can be answered by: Ms. Melissa Riordan, Regulatory 
Division, telephone: (907) 474-2166, or mail: U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, CEPOA-RD, 2175 University Avenue, Suite 201(E), Fairbanks, 
AK 99709-4927. You may also request to be added to the mailing list and 
find additional information at the following Web site: http://www.foothillswesteis.com.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Proposed Action. The Department of Transportation and Public 
Facilities (DOT&PF) is proposing to construct an all-season 
transportation access road from the Dalton Highway to Umiat, to 
increase access to potential oil and gas resources for exploration and 
development along the northwestern foothills of the Brooks Range, and 
within the National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska (NPR-A). The project is 
considered an important investment by the State of Alaska to further 
oil and gas resource exploration and development opportunities to 
benefit Alaska's economy.
    The proposed Foothills Project area is within the North Slope 
Foothills Areawide Oil and Gas Lease Sale Area between the Dalton 
Highway and Umiat. The project area is within the North Slope Borough; 
south of the Umiat baseline (principal east-west line dividing survey 
townships 1 north and 1 south of the Umiat Quadrangle, Alaska), west of 
the Dalton Highway, north of the Gates of the Arctic National Park and 
Preserve, and east of the National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska.
    Construction components of this project would include an all-season 
gravel road, associated bridges and other crossing structures (i.e., 
culverts), pull-outs, maintenance facilities, temporary construction 
camps, and material sites. The road would be designed to safely 
accommodate industrial traffic in arctic conditions. Although the road 
may be closed to the public during periods of exploration, development 
and production activities, the road may eventually be open to the 
general public. Depending upon the final route alignment, there could 
be up to six major river crossings. These are the Anaktuvuk, Chandler, 
Colville, Itkillik, Kuparuk, and Toolik rivers. Bridges and other 
crossing structures would be designed to accommodate industrial 
activities and weight loads associated with oil and gas pipelines. 
While subsequent efforts by industry to develop infrastructure such as 
oil and gas pipelines and their associated components are reasonably 
foreseeable, these elements are not proposed by this action.
    2. Alternatives. A reasonable range of alternatives will be 
identified and evaluated through scoping and the EIS process. The 
DOT&PF has identified several possible road corridors between the 
Dalton Highway and Umiat within the Foothills Project area, including a 
preferred corridor that goes from Galbraith Lake at milepost 278 on the 
Dalton Highway and heads in a northerly, and then northwesterly, route 
to Umiat. The intent of the DOT&PF is to identify a feasible corridor 
that concurrently accesses areas with high oil and gas potential, 
minimizes the distance between the road corridor and likely exploration 
areas, and traverses as much state land as possible. One or more 
corridors will be identified through scoping. Within the corridor(s), 
additional analysis would be conducted to determine optimal road 
alignments and river crossing locations.
    3. Scoping Process. The scoping period will begin on May 20, 2011 
and end on July 5, 2011.
    a. Public involvement. The Corps invites full public participation 
to promote open communication on the issues to be addressed regarding 
the proposed action. All Federal, state, Tribal, and local agencies, 
and other interested persons or organizations with an interest are 
urged to participate in the NEPA scoping process. Scoping meetings will 
be held to receive public input on the development of proposed 
alternatives to be reviewed in the EIS, and to identify significant 
issues to be analyzed.
    b. Scoping meetings. The Corps plans to hold scoping meetings in 
Anaktuvuk Pass, Anchorage, Barrow, Fairbanks, and Nuiqsut. Information 
about these meetings and meeting dates will be published locally, 
posted at http://www.foothillswesteis.com, or available by contacting 
the Corps as described above. A description of the proposed project 
will be posted on the project Web site prior to these meetings to help 
the public focus their scoping comments.
    4. Major Issues To Be Analyzed in the DEIS. The DEIS will analyze 
the potential social, economic, physical, and biological impacts on the 
affected areas. The following major issues will be analyzed in depth in 
the DEIS: road construction and operation and its effect on the 
surrounding communities; water resources; fish and wildlife; cultural 
and subsistence resources; hazardous materials; human health; 
socioeconomics; and secondary and cumulative impacts.
    5. Other Environmental Review and Consultation Requirements. Other 
environmental review and consultation requirements include: Magnuson 
Stevens Act for Essential Fish Habitat identification, Executive Order 
13175 Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments; 
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966; Section 
9 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899; and subsistence uses in 
accordance with Section 810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 
Conservation Act (ANILCA).
    6. Land Ownership. The lands within the Foothills Project area are 
mostly state lands, but also include Federal lands administered by the 
BLM, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation lands, and private lands.
    7. Estimated Date DEIS Available to Public. It is anticipated that 
the DEIS will be available June 2012 for public review.

    Dated: May 5, 2011.
Melissa C. Riordan,
Project Manager, Alaska District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
[FR Doc. 2011-12371 Filed 5-19-11; 8:45 am]
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