[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 35 (Friday, February 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9920-9921]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03682]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management


Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Alpine Satellite Development Plan for the 
Proposed Greater Mooses Tooth Unit Development Project, Alaska

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Arctic Field Office, 
Fairbanks, Alaska, issues the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for public comment and announces upcoming public 
meetings and subsistence hearings to receive comments on the Draft 
Supplemental EIS and the proposed project's potential to impact 
subsistence resources and activities. Pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Supplemental EIS is 
being prepared to supplement the Alpine Satellite Development Plan 
(ASDP) Final EIS, dated September 2004, regarding the establishment of 
satellite oil production pads and associated infrastructure within the 
Alpine field.

DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS within 60 days following 
the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. Written comments on the Draft 
Supplemental EIS will be accepted until April 22, 2014.
    Draft Supplemental EIS public meetings will be held in the 
following communities in Alaska: Anaktuvuk Pass, Anchorage, Atqasuk, 
Barrow, Fairbanks, Nuiqsut, Point Lay, and Wainwright. The public 
meetings at Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk, Barrow, Nuiqsut, Point Lay, and 
Wainwright will incorporate subsistence hearings. The date, time, and 
location of the meetings will be announced on BLM Alaska's Web site, 
through public notices, media news releases, and/or other mailings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed to: GMT1 SEIS Comments, 
Attn: Bridget Psarianos, 222 West 7th Avenue,  13 Anchorage, 
AK 99513-7504; faxed to 907-271-3933; hand delivered to the BLM Public 
Information Center in the Federal Building, 222 West 7th Avenue, 
Anchorage, AK 99513-7504; or emailed to: [email protected]
    Copies of the Draft Supplemental EIS are available for public 
inspection at the BLM Public Information Center in the Federal 
Building, 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99513-7504; and the 
Fairbanks District Office at 1150 University Avenue, Fairbanks, AK 
99709. The Draft Supplemental EIS can be reviewed at BLM Alaska's 
ePlanning Web site at http:www.blm.gov/ak/GMT. A CD or paper copy may 
be requested by calling Bridget Psarianos, BLM project lead at 907-271-
4208.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bridget Psarianos, BLM Alaska State 
Office, 907-271-4208. Persons who use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal business 
hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to 
leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive 
a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ASDP Draft Supplemental EIS analyzes an 
application by ConocoPhillips, Alaska, Inc. (CPAI) for issuance of a 
right-of-way grant and related authorizations to construct, operate, 
and maintain a drill site, access road, pipelines, and ancillary 
facilities to support development of petroleum resources at the Greater 
Mooses Tooth Unit  1 (GMT1) drill site within the National 
Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The BLM manages the surface and 
subsurface at the proposed drill site and a majority of the proposed 
infield road and pipeline route is on BLM-managed lands. The proposed 
GMT1 site is approximately 14 miles west of the CPAI-operated Alpine 
Central Processing Facility (CD-1). The proposed drill site would be 
operated and maintained by Alpine staff and supported using CD-1 
infrastructure. The Draft Supplemental EIS will evaluate any relevant 
new circumstances and information which have arisen since the ASDP 
Final EIS was issued in September 2004, update alternatives, and 
address any changes to CPAI's proposed development plan for GMT1. The 
Draft Supplemental EIS will result in a Record of Decision (ROD) that 
will approve, deny, or approve with modification, CPAI's application, 
as well as incorporate any additional mitigation measures that may be 
relevant. The Draft Supplemental EIS analyzes CPAI's proposed project, 
three action alternatives to the proposed project, including an 
alternative that does not include a road between GMT1 and the currently 
permitted Colville Delta 5 pad, and a no action alternative. The key 
issues in the Draft Supplemental EIS center on oil and gas production 
decisions, the protection of physical, biological, and subsistence 
resources, and the evaluation and consideration of appropriate on-sight 
and compensatory mitigation measures.
    Section 810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 
requires the BLM to evaluate the effects of the alternatives presented 
in the Draft Supplemental EIS on subsistence activities, and to hold 
public hearings if it finds that any alternative may significantly 
restrict subsistence activities. The analysis of environmental impacts 
in the Draft Supplemental EIS indicates that the action alternatives 
and the cumulative impacts may significantly restrict subsistence 
activities in Nuiqsut; the cumulative impacts may also significantly 
restrict subsistence activities in Barrow, Atqasuk, Wainwright, Point 
Lay, and Anaktuvuk Pass. 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, Point Lay, and Wainwright.
    Written comments should be submitted by any of the methods listed 
in the ADDRESSES section. Before including your address, phone number, 
email 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 view, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.


[[Page 9921]]


    Authority: 40 CFR 1502.9, 40 CFR 1506.6, 43 CFR Part 2880.

Bud Cribley,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-03682 Filed 2-20-14; 8:45 am]
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