GLOSSARY 

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Glossary-1 

GLOSSARY 

A

Acidophilus: Acid-loving (as in bacteria or plants); growing well in an acid medium. 

Active floodplain: The flat area along a waterbody where sediments are deposited by seasonal 

or annual flooding; generally demarcated by a visible high water mark. 

Aerial: Consisting of, moving through, found in, or suspended in the air. 

Alluvial: Sedimentary material consisting mainly of coarse sand and gravel. 

Alternatives: The different means by which objectives or goals can be attained. One of several 

policies, plans, or projects proposed for decision making. 

Ambient: A term used to describe the environment as it exists at the point of measurement and 

against which changes (impacts) are measured. 

Ambient air quality standard: Air pollutant concentrations of the surrounding outside 

environment that cannot legally be exceeded during fixed time intervals within a specific 

geographic area. 

Amphidromous: A term used to describe fish that spawn and overwinter in rivers and 

streams, but migrate during the ice-free summer from these freshwater environments into 

coastal waters months to feed. 

Anadromous: A term used to describe fish that mature in the sea and swim up freshwater 

rivers and streams to spawn. Salmon, steelhead, and sea-run cutthroat trout are examples. 

Anticline: An inverted bowl-shaped structure formed when sedimentary rock layers are folded 

to produce an arch or elongated dome. 

Anoxic: The condition of an environment in which free oxygen is lacking or absent. 

Anthropogenic: Of, relating to, or resulting from the influence of human beings on nature. 

Aquatic: Growing, living in, frequenting, or taking place in water; in this Amended IAP/EIS, 

used to indicate habitat, vegetation, and wildlife in freshwater. 

Aromatic hydrocarbon: A hydrocarbon with a molecular structure involving one or more 

benzene unsaturated resonant rings of six carbon atoms, and having properties similar to 

benzene, which is the simplest of the aromatic hydrocarbons.

Archaeological resource: Place(s) where the remnants (e.g., artifacts) of a past culture 

survive in a physical context that allows for the interpretation of these remains. 

Archaeological resources can be districts, sites, buildings, structures, or objects and can be 

prehistoric or historic in nature. 
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Aufeis: Thick ice that builds up as a result of repeated overflow. 

Authorized Officer (AO): Designated agency personnel responsible for a certain area of a 

project; for the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska, generally the BLM State 

Director.

B 

Barrel: Unit of measurement consisting of 42 gallons of oil or other fluid. 

Baseline data: Data gathered prior to the proposed action to characterize pre-development site 

conditions. 

Biodegradable: Capable of being broken down by the action of living organisms such as microorganisms. 

Biological Assessment (BA): A document prepared by or under the direction of a federal 

agency; addresses listed and proposed species and designated and proposed critical habitat 

that may be present in the action area, and evaluates the potential effects of the action on 

such species and habitat. 

Black water: Discharge that includes wastewater from any or all of the following: toilets, 

urinals, sewage treatment systems. 

Bonding capacity: An amount, determined by market analysts, based on a government 

entity’s prior bonding experience, actual repayment performance, and its ability to service 

future, periodic debt. It affects the ability of municipalities to issue and sell bonds to 

generate funds for capital improvements. 

Bore-hole: The opening in the ground that is created when drilling a well; may refer to the 

inside diameter of the bore-hole wall, the rock face that bounds the drilled hole. 

Bottomfast ice: Ice that is firmly attached or grounded to the bottom of a water body, which is 

often frozen from top to bottom. 

Brackish: Water that is intermediate between salt and fresh water; often occurs at the mouths 

of rivers, where fresh water mixes with salt water. 

Brine: General description of water that is produced with oil. The water is associated with the 

oil-producing formation and can have varying amounts of dissolved salts. 

Brood: A group of young birds being cared for by an adult bird; generally the surviving 

hatchlings from one or more clutches of eggs. 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM): An agency of the United States government, under the 

Department of the Interior, responsible for administering certain public lands of the United 

States. 

Burin: A tool flaked into a chisel point for inscribing or grooving bone, wood, leather, stone, or 

antler. 
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C 

Calving area: A large area where large mammals, particularly ungulates such as caribou, 

congregate to give birth to their young. 

Capital expenses: The money spent to purchase or upgrade physical assets, such as buildings 

or machinery. 

Carrion: Dead or dying flesh of animals. 

Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ): An advisory council to the President of the 

United States; established by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. It reviews 

federal programs for their effect on the environment, conducts environmental studies, and 

advises the President on environmental matters. 

Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 

(CERCLA): An act that provided the authority for money administered by the 

Environmental Protection Agency to identify and clean up hazardous waste sites; also 

known as Superfund. 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): A codification of the general and permanent rules 

published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal 

government. 

cfs: Cubic feet per second; 1 cfs equals 448.33 gallons per minute. 

Commercial field: Oil or natural gas fields that can be produced such that they provide a 

suitable return on investment. 

Commercial oil (or natural gas) reserves: Oil or natural gas reserves that can be produced 

such that they provide a suitable return on investment. 

Commercially recoverable: See commercial oil (or natural gas) reserves. 

Concern: A point, matter, or question raised by management or the public that must be 

addressed in the planning process. 

Conglomerate: Sedimentary rock consisting of gravel and small boulders. 

Consistency determination: A finding by a state or federal agency that a project or agency 

action is consistent with a required agency program, guideline, or regulation, such as the 

Alaska Coastal Zone Management Program.

Consultation: Exchange of information and interactive discussion; when the “C” in 

consultation is capitalized it refers to consultation mandated by statute or regulation that 

has prescribed parties, procedures, and timelines (e.g. Consultation under NEPA or Section 

7 of the Endangered Species Act). 
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Criteria: Data and information that are used to examine or establish the relative degrees of 

desirability of alternatives or the degree to which a course of action meets an intended 

objective. 

Cultural resources: The remains of sites, structures, or objects used by humans in the past, 

historic or prehistoric. More recently referred to as heritage resources. 

Cumulative effects or impacts: The impact on the environment which results from the 

incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonable 

foreseeable future actions, regardless of what agency (federal or non-federal) or person 

undertakes such actions. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor, but 

collectively significant actions, taken place over a period of time. 

D 

Demersal: Living near, deposited on, or sinking to the seabed. 

Density: The number of individuals per a given unit area. 

Deposit: A natural accumulation, as of precious metals, minerals, coal, gas, and oil that may be 

pursued for its intrinsic value; gold deposit. 

Development: The phase of petroleum operations that occurs after exploration has proven 

successful, and before full-scale production. The newly discovered oil or gas field is assessed 

during an appraisal phase, a plan to fully and efficiently exploit it is created, and additional 

wells are usually drilled. 

DEW-Line: Distant Early Warning Site. A site designed and built during the Cold War as the 

primary line of air defense warning of “Over the Pole” invasion of the North American 

Continent. 

Dilution: The act of mixing or thinning, and therefore decreasing a certain strength or 

concentration. 

Dispersion: The act of distributing or separating into lower concentrations or less dense units. 

Dissociable: Able to break up into simpler chemical constituents. 

Diversity: An expression of community structure; high if there are many equally abundant 

species; low if there are only a few equally abundant species. The distribution and 

abundance of different plant and animal communities and species within the area covered 

by a land and resource management plan. 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS): The draft statement of the environmental 

effects of a major federal action which is required under Section 102 of the National 

Environmental Policy Act, and released to the public and other agencies for comment and 

review. 

Drilling fluid (mud): A preparation of water, clay, and chemicals circulated in a well during 

drilling to lubricate and cool the drill bit, flush rock cuttings to the surface, prevent 
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Glossary-5 

sloughing of the sides of the hole, and prevent the flow of formation fluids into the bore-hole 

or to the surface. 

Drilling pad: A temporary drilling site, usually constructed of local materials such as gravel. 

Duck pond: A small, flat-bottomed plastic receptacle placed under a vehicle to catch and 

contain any contaminated fluids that may melt or drip from the underside of the vehicle. 

E 

Economically recoverable: See commercially recoverable.

Effect: Environmental change resulting from a proposed action. Direct effects are caused by the 

action and occur at the same time and place, while indirect effects are caused by the action 

but are later in time or further removed in distance, although still reasonably foreseeable. 

Indirect effects may include growth-inducing effects and other effects related to induced 

changes in the pattern of land use, population density, or growth rate, and related effects on 

air and water and other natural systems, including ecosystems. Effect and impact are 

synonymous as used in this document. 

Employment: Labor input into a production process, measured in the number of person-years 

or jobs; the number of jobs required to produce the output of each sector. A person-year is 

approximately 2,000 working hours by one person working the whole year or by several 

persons working seasonally. A job may be 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year. 

Endangered species: Any species of animal or plant that is in danger of extinction throughout 

all or a significant portion of its range; plant or animal species identified by the Secretary of 

the Interior as endangered in accordance with the 1973 Endangered Species Act. 

Energy budget: The flow of energy through an organism or ecosystem. For an organism, it is 

the amount of energy being absorbed (e.g., food) in relation to the amount of energy 

expended and lost as heat. 

Environment: The physical conditions that exist within an area (e.g., the area that will be 

affected by a proposed project), including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, ambient 

noise, and objects of historical or aesthetic significance. The sum of all external conditions 

that affect an organism or community to influence its development or existence. 

Environmental Assessment (EA): A concise public document, for which a federal agency is 

responsible, that serves to: 1) briefly provide sufficient evidence and analysis for 

determining whether to prepare an environmental impact statement or a finding of no 

significant impact; 2) aid an agency’s compliance with the National Environmental Policy 

Act when no environmental impact statement is necessary; and, 3) facilitate preparation of 

an environmental impact statement when one is necessary. 

Environmental Justice: The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, 

regardless of natural origin or income, with respect to the development, implementation, 

and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means 

that no group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socio-economic groups, should bear a 

disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from 
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Glossary-6 

industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, 

and tribal programs and policies. Executive Order 12898 directs federal agencies to achieve 

environmental justice as part of their missions by identifying and addressing 

disproportionately high adverse effects of agency programs, policies, and activities, on 

minority and low-income populations. 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): An analytical document prepared under the 

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that portrays the potential impacts to the 

environment of a Preferred Action and its possible alternatives. An ElS is developed for use 

by decision-makers to weigh the environmental consequences of a potential decision. 

Erosion: The wearing away of the land surface by running water, wind, ice, or other geologic 

agents, including gravitation creep. 

Eskimo: An ethnonym (name given to a group by another group) referring to speakers of the 

Inuit language family who live in the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America (e.g., 

Canada, Greenland and Alaska) and eastern Siberia. 

Essential Fish Habitat (EFH): As defined by Congress in the interim final rule (62FR 66551): 

“those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to 

maturity.” For the purpose of interpreting the definition of EFH habitat, “waters” include 

aquatic areas and their associated physical, chemical, and biological properties; “substrate” 

includes sediment underlying the waters; “necessary” refers to the habitat required to 

support a sustainable fishery and the managed species contribution to a healthy ecosystem; 

and “spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity” covers all habitat types utilized by 

a species throughout its life cycle. 

Estuary: An estuary is a partially enclosed body of water formed where freshwater from rivers 

and streams flows into the ocean, mixing with the salty seawater. Estuaries and the lands 

surrounding them are places of transition from land to sea, and from fresh to salt water. 

Ethnographic: Of or pertaining to the descriptive and analytical study of the culture of 

particular self-defined groups or communities. 

Exploration: The search for economic deposits of minerals, gas, oil or coal through the 

practices of geology, geochemistry, geophysics, drilling, shaft sinking, and/or mapping. 

F 

°F: Degrees Fahrenheit. 

Fast-ice zone: Area along the coast covered by sea ice that is continuous with and attached to 

the shoreline.

Feasible: Capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of 

time, taking into account economic, environmental, legal, social, and technological factors. 

Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS): A revision of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement that includes public and agency comments on the draft. 
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Fisheries habitat: Streams, lakes, and reservoirs that support fish populations. 

Fishery: The act, process, occupation, or season of taking an aquatic species. 

Floodplain: The lowland and relatively flat area adjoining inland waters, including, at a 

minimum, that area subject to a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. 

Fluvial: Of or relating to a stream or river. 

Fossil: Evidence or remnant of a plant or animal preserved in the earth’s crust (e.g., skeleton, 

footprint, or leaf print). 

Fossil fuel: Petroleum, natural gas, and coal; fuel derived from biologic material that was 

deposited into sedimentary rocks. 

Frequency: The number of samples in which a plant or animal species occurs divided by the 

total number of samples. 

Fugitive dust: Dust particles suspended randomly in the air, usually from road travel, 

excavation, and/or rock loading operations. 

G 

Game Management Unit (GMU): A geographic division made by the Alaska Department of 

Fish and Game for the management of fish and wildlife in the State. Different GMUs have 

different hunting and fishing seasons, bag limits, and other harvest rules. 

Geology: The scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the earth; the structure of 

a specific region of the earth’s surface.

Geomorphic: Pertaining to the structure, origin, and development of the topographical 

features of the earth’s crust. 

Gill net: Nets made of one or more layers of mesh, used to catch fish by entanglement as they 

attempt to swim through the net. 

Glacial drift: Unsorted sediments deposited by glaciers and not subsequently reworked by 

water; coarse-grained materials (e.g., rock and sand) suspended in a fine-grained (e.g., silt) 

matrix. The term applies to all mineral material transported by a glacier and deposited 

directly by or from the ice, or by running water emanating from a glacier. 

Global warming: An increase over time of the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere 

and oceans. It is generally used to describe the temperature rise over the past century or so, 

and the effects of humans on the temperature. 

Gray water: Discharge that includes wastewater from any or all of the following: kitchen sink, 

shower, drinking water, and laundry. 

Greenhouse gas: A gas, such as carbon dioxide or methane, that is relatively transparent to 

the higher-energy sunlight, but traps lower-energy infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases 
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have the ability to allow sunlight to warm the earth but trap the heat in, thereby potentially 

raising the earth’s temperature. Greenhouse gases associated with the “greenhouse effect” 

and global warming. 

Groundwater: Water found beneath the land surface in the zone of saturation below the water 

table. 

H 

Habitat: The natural environment of a plant or animal, including all biotic, climatic, and soil 

conditions, or other environmental influences affecting living conditions. The place where an 

organism lives. 

Hazardous waste: As defined by the Environmental Protection Agency, a waste that exhibits 

one or more of the following characteristics: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and/or 

toxicity. Hazardous wastes are listed in 40 CFR § 261.3 and 40 CFR § 171.8. 

Headwaters: The upper reaches of a stream where the stream forms. 

Hydrocarbon: A naturally occurring organic compound comprised of hydrogen and carbon. 

Hydrocarbons can occur in molecules as simple as methane (one carbon atom with four 

hydrogen atoms), but also as highly complex molecules, and can occur as gases, liquids, or 

solids. The molecules can have the shape of chains, branching chains, rings, or other 

structures. Petroleum is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons. The most common 

hydrocarbons are natural gas, oil, and coal. 

Hydrologic system: The combination of all physical factors, such as precipitation, stream flow, 

snowmelt, and groundwater that affect the hydrology of a specific area. 

I 

Impermeable: Not permitting passage of fluids through its mass. 

Impoundment: The collection and confinement, usually of water (in the case of mining, 

tailings materials), in a reservoir or other storage area. 

Increment: An amount of change from an existing concentration or amount, such as air 

pollutant concentrations. 

Indigenous: Having originated in and being produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally 

in a particular region or environment. 

Indirect impacts: Impacts that are caused by an action, but are later in time or farther 

removed in distance, although still reasonably foreseeable. 

Infrastructure: The underlying foundation or basic framework; substructure of a community 

(i.e., schools, police, fire services, hospitals, water, and sewer systems). 

Insect-relief area: An area of the North Slope with relatively low numbers of insects that is 

used by caribou for relief from insects. 
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Glossary-9 

Interstitial ice: Ice found in cavities or lodged between soil grains or rock crevices. 

Irretrievable: A term that applies to losses of production, harvest, or commitment of 

renewable natural resources. For example, some or all of the wildlife forage production from 

an area is irretrievably lost during the time an area is used as an oil or gas development 

site. If the use changes, forage production can be resumed. The production lost is 

irretrievable, but the act is not irreversible. 

Irreversible: A term that applies primarily to the use of nonrenewable resources, such as 

minerals or cultural resources, or to those factors that are renewable only over long time 

spans, such as soil productivity. Irreversible also includes loss of future options. 

Isobath: Depth interval contour, as commonly mapped for lake or ocean bottoms. 

J 

Jurisdictional wetland: A wetland area delineated and identified by specific technical 

criteria, field indicators, and other information, for the purposes of public agency 

jurisdiction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulates “dredging and filling” activities 

associated with jurisdictional wetlands. Other federal agencies that can become involved 

with matters that concern jurisdictional wetlands include the U.S. Department of Interior’s 

Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Natural Resource 

Conservation Service. 

K 

L 

Landfast ice: Stationary ice that is continuous with, and attached to, the shoreline and 

extends out into the waterbody. 

Landform: Any physical, recognizable form or feature on the earth’s surface having a 

characteristic shape, that is produced by natural causes. Landforms provide an empirical 

description of similar portions of the earth’s surface. 

Land management: The intentional process of planning, organizing, programming, 

coordinating, directing, and controlling land use actions. 

Landscape: The sum total of the characteristics that distinguish a certain area on the earth’s 

surface from other areas; these characteristics are a result not only of natural forces but 

also of human occupancy and use of the land. An area composed of interacting and 

interconnected patterns of habitats (ecosystems), which are repeated because of geology, 

landforms, soils, climate, biota, and human influences throughout the area. 

Land status: The ownership status of lands. 
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Land use allocation: The assignment of a management emphasis to particular land areas 

with the purpose of achieving the goals and objectives of some specified use(s) (e.g., 

campgrounds, wilderness, logging, and mining). 

Laterally discontinuous: Not continuous in the horizontal plane. For example, in an area 

with laterally discontinuous permafrost, the permafrost is not uniformly found across the 

entire area without interruption. 

Lead: Long cracks in the ice, used by both whales and boats to travel through the water. 

Liquid natural gas: Natural gas which has been liquefied by reducing its temperature to -260 

°F at atmospheric pressure. It will remain as a liquid at -116 °F and 673 pounds per square 

inch above atmospheric pressure. 

Listed species: Species that are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973 (as amended). 

Long-term impacts: Impacts that normally result in permanent changes to the environment. 

An example is the loss of habitat due to development of a gravel pit. For each resource, the 

definition of long-term may vary. 

M 

Maktak: Eskimo delicacy consisting of the skin and the thin layer of subcutaneous fat of 

whales. 

Management activity: A human activity imposed on a landscape for the purpose of 

harvesting, traversing, transporting, or replenishing natural resources. 

Management area: An area delineated on the basis of management objective prescriptions. 

Management concern: An issue, problem, or condition that influences the range of 

management practices identified in a planning process. 

Management direction: A statement of multiple use and other goals and objectives, and the 

associated management prescriptions, standards, and guidelines for attaining them (36 CFR 

§ 219.3). 

Masu: A starchy tuber found in Arctic and Subarctic regions (vernacular is “Eskimo potato”). 

Mean: A statistical value calculated by dividing the sum of a set of sample values by the 

number of samples. Also referred to as the arithmetic mean or average. 

Migratory: Moving from place to place, daily or seasonally. 

Mitigation: Steps taken to: 1) avoid an impact altogether by not taking a certain action or 

parts of an action; 2) minimize an impact by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action 

and its implementation; 3) rectify an impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the 

affected environment; 4) reduce or eliminate an impact over time by preserving and 
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Glossary-11 

maintaining operations during the life of the action; and, 5) compensate for an impact by 

replacing or providing substitute resources or environments (40 CFR Part 1508.20). 

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): Usually documents an agreement reached 

amongst federal agencies. 

N 

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): An act declaring a national policy to 

encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between humankind and the environment; 

promote efforts to prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and 

stimulate the health and welfare of humanity; enrich the understanding of the ecological 

systems and natural resources important to the nation; and establish a Council on 

Environmental Quality. 

Net present value (NPV): The difference between the discounted value (benefits) of all 

outputs to which monetary values or established market prices are assigned and the total 

discounted costs of managing the planning area. 

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES): A program authorized by 

Sections 318, 402, and 405 of the Clean Water Act, and implemented by regulations 40 CFR 

§ 122. The NPDES program requires permits for the discharge of pollutants from any point 

source into waters of the United States. 

No-Surface-Occupancy: An area that is open for mineral leasing but analysis has found that 

in order to protect other resource values, no surface occupancy is permitted for oil and gas 

facilities or infrastructure. 

O 

Objective: A concise, time-specific statement of measurable planned results that respond to 

pre-established goals. An objective forms the basis for further planning to define the precise 

steps to be taken and the resources to be used to achieve identified goals. 

Oiled: Having oil on skin, fur, or feathers after coming into contact with an oil spill. 

Ozone: Form of oxygen found largely in the stratosphere; a product of the reaction between 

ultraviolet light and oxygen. 

P 

Particulates: Small particles suspended in the air, generally considered pollutants. 

Pelagic: Pertaining to the ocean and especially to animals (typically marine mammals, birds, 

or fish) that live at the surface of the ocean away from the coast. 

Per capita income: Total income divided by the total population. 
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Performance-based stipulation: A stipulation applied to leases that provides a stated 

objective that must be met, along with requirements and guidelines, but provides some 

leeway as to how that objective can be met and maintained by the lessee; compare to 

prescriptive-based stipulation. 

Permafrost: Permanently frozen ground. 

Permanent oil and gas facilities: Production facilities, pipelines, roads, airstrips, production 

pads, docks, seawater treatment plants, and other structures associated with oil and gas 

production that occupy land for more than 1 winter season. Material sites and seasonal 

facilities, such as ice roads, are excluded, even when the pads are designed for use in 

successive winters. 

Permeability: The property or capacity of a porous rock, sediment, or soil for transmitting a 

fluid; a measure of the relative ease of fluid flow under unequal pressure. 

Photoperiod: In reference to cycles of light and darkness, the length of time that 

uninterrupted light is present, generally the length of daylight in a given 24 hour period. 

Physiographic province: A region having a particular pattern of relief features or land forms 

that differs significantly from that of adjacent regions (e.g., Arctic Coastal Plain). 

Pingo: A low conical hill or mound forced up by hydrostatic pressure in an area underlain by 

permafrost and consisting of an outer layer of soil covering a core of solid ice. Pingos range 

from 6 to 160 meters in height. 

Planning Area: An administrative unit determined by the Bureau of Land Management based 

on resources and management issues. Large properties (such as the National Petroleum 

Reserve – Alaska) are divided into smaller planning areas so that studies and management 

decisions can be made on a more local level. 

Plant community: A vegetation complex, unique in its combination of plants, which occurs in 

particular locations under particular influences. A plant community is a reflection of 

integrated environmental influences on the site, such as soils, temperature, elevation, solar 

radiation, slope aspect, and precipitation. 

Pollution: Human-caused or natural alteration of the physical, biological, and radiological 

integrity of water, air, or other aspects of the environment that produces undesired effects. 

Polygon: A surface landform resulting from repeated freeze-thaw cycles common in permafrost 

areas. Polygons are bounded by troughs of ice or water and generally occur in networks that 

form regular geometric designs with multiple square sides of nearly equal lengths. 

Polynyas: Non-linear openings in the sea ice. 

Porosity: The ratio of the volume of void space in a material (e.g., sedimentary rock or 

sediments) to the volume of its mass. 

Potable: Suitable, safe, or prepared for drinking, as in potable water. 
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Pot hunting: The removal or theft of artifacts from cultural resource sites by untrained 

individuals for profit and recreation. 

Prescriptive-based stipulation: A stipulation applied to leases with exacting requirements 

applying to lessee activities; compare to performance-based stipulation. 

Prevention of significant deterioration (PSD): A special permit procedure established in 

the Clean Air Act, as amended, used to ensure that economic growth occurs in a manner 

consistent with the protection of public health and preservation of air quality related values 

in national special interest areas. 

Pristine: Pure, original, and uncontaminated. 

Prospect: An area of exploration in which hydrocarbons have been predicted to exist in 

commercially recoverable quantities. 

Public scoping: A process whereby the public is given the opportunity to provide oral or 

written comments about the influence of a project on an individual, the community, and/or 

the environment. 

Pulse: A group of whales; the term is applied to whales migrating across the Chukchi and 

Beaufort seas, when there are more individuals in each pod of whales and more pods than 

usual. 

Pyrogenic: producing or produced by heat. 

Q 

R 

Raptor: Bird of prey; includes eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls. 

Recharge: Absorption and addition of water into the zone of saturation. 

Record of Decision (ROD): A document separate from, but associated with, an 

Environmental Impact Statement, which states the decision, identifies alternatives 

(specifying which were environmentally preferable), and states whether all practicable 

means to avoid environmental harm from the alternative have been adopted, and, if not, 

why not (40 CFR § 1505.2). 

Recoverable reserves: Oil and gas reserves that may be recoverable by the application of 

technology, but not necessarily commercially recoverable. 

Reservoir (oil or gas): A subsurface body of rock having sufficient porosity and permeability 

to store and transmit fluids. Sedimentary rocks are the most common reservoir rocks 

because they have more porosity than most igneous and metamorphic rocks and form under 

temperature conditions at which hydrocarbons can be preserved. A reservoir is a critical 

component of a complete petroleum system. 
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Glossary-14 

Resident: A species that is found in a particular habitat for a particular time period (e.g., 

winter resident or summer resident) as opposed to a species found only when passing 

through during migration. 

Resource Management Plan (RMP): Comprehensive land management planning document 

prepared by and for the Bureau of Land Management’s administered properties under 

requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Bureau of Land 

Management lands in Alaska were exempted from this requirement.

Rideup: A raised-relief ice formation that is formed when a moving ice sheet is forced up and 

over other structures such as land or ice. 

Riffles: Stream segments where the water is relatively shallow, current velocity is relatively 

high, and sediments are coarse; riffles are located in between areas of deeper, slower water 

(pools). 

Rift zone: Zone of faulting where rocks are pulled apart. 

Riparian: Occurring adjacent to streams and rivers and directly influenced by water. A 

riparian community is characterized by certain types of vegetation, soils, hydrology, and 

fauna and requires free or unbound water or conditions more moist than that normally 

found in the area. 

Risked mean: The arithmetic average of all possible resource outcomes weighted by their 

probabilities. Risked (unconditional) estimates of resources such as oil or natural gas 

consider the possibility that the area may be devoid of those resources. Statistically, the 

risked mean may be determined through multiplication of the mean of a conditional 

distribution by the related probability of occurrence. 

Rolligon: A brand name or make of wheeled vehicle that exerts low pressure on the ground, 

and is designed to travel across sensitive areas such as tundra with minimal disturbance. 

S 

Satellite field: An oil reserve located near an existing oil development, allowing shared use of 

the infrastructure. 

Scenic River: River designation, under the Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Program, on the 

basis of undisturbed and scenic character. Scenic rivers are given special management 

criteria by federal agencies. 

Scoping process: A part of the National Environmental Policy Act process; early and open 

activities used to determine the scope and significance of the issues, and the range of 

actions, alternatives, and impacts to be considered in an Environmental Impact Statement 

(40 CFR § 1501.7). 

Sediments: Unweathered geologic materials generally laid down by or within waterbodies; the 

rocks, sand, mud, silt, and clay at the bottom and along the edge of lakes, streams, and 

oceans. 
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Glossary-15 

Sensitive species: Plant or animal species that are susceptible or vulnerable to activity 

impacts or habitat alterations. Species that have appeared in the Federal Register as 

proposed for classification or are under consideration for official listing as endangered or 

threatened species. 

Short-term impacts: Impacts occurring during project construction and operation, and 

normally ceasing upon project closure and reclamation. For each resource the definition of 

short-term may vary. 

Sidetrack well: A secondary well-bore drilled away from an original well-bore. A sidetracking 

operation may be done intentionally or may occur accidentally. 

Significant: The description of an impact that exceeds a certain threshold level. Requires 

consideration of both context and intensity. The significance of an action must be analyzed 

in several contexts, such as society as a whole, and the affected region, interests, and 

locality. Intensity refers to the severity of impacts, which should weighted along with the 

likelihood of its occurrence. 

SOx: Sulfur oxides, including sulfur dioxide (SO2). A product of vehicle tailpipe emissions. 

Sociocultural: Of, relating to, or involving a combination of social and cultural factors. 

Socioeconomic: Pertaining to, or signifying the combination or interaction of social and 

economic factors. 

Soil horizon: A layer of soil material approximately parallel to the land surface that differs 

from adjacent genetically related layers in physical, chemical, and biological properties. 

Solid waste: Garbage, refuse, and/or sludge produced during oil and gas exploration and 

development activities. 

Spawning: Production, deposition, and fertilization of eggs by fish. 

Special Use Permit: A permit issued under established laws and regulations to an individual, 

organization, or company for occupancy or use of federal or state lands for some special 

purpose. 

Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan (SPCC): A plan that the 

Environmental Protection Agency requires to be on file within six months of project 

inception. It is a contingency plan for avoidance of, containment of, and response to spills or 

leaks of hazardous materials. 

Spine road: The existing all-season gravel road connecting the oil and gas facilities at Kuparuk 

(Kuparuk Base Camp) with those at Prudhoe Bay (Prudhoe Bay Operations Center). 

Standard: A model, example, or goal established by authority, custom, or general consent as a 

rule for the measurement of quantity, weight, extent, value, or quality. 

Stipulation: A requirement or condition placed by the Bureau of Land Management on the 

leaseholder for operations the leaseholder might carry out within that lease. The Bureau of 
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Glossary-16 

Land Management develops standard stipulations that apply to all future leases within the 

Northeast National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska. 

Stratigraphic trap: An oil or gas reservoir in which the hydrocarbons are trapped because of a 

lateral change in the physical characteristics of the reservoir or a change in the lateral 

continuity of the rocks. 

Strike: The act of throwing a darting gun harpoon with a black powder or penthrite bomb into 

a whale. A strike may or may not result in a dead whale, which may or may not result in a 

landed whale. The International Whaling Commission considers and counts the number of 

strikes and landed whales in their quota allocation to the U.S. government (and hence to the 

Alaska Eskimos). Unused strikes can be transferred to other individuals or groups 

harvesting whales. 

Subsistence: Harvesting of plants and wildlife for food, clothing, and shelter. The attainment 

of most of one’s material needs (e.g., food and clothing materials) from wild animals and 

plants. 

T 

Talik: An unfrozen section of ground found above, below, or within a layer of discontinuous 

permafrost. These layers can also be found beneath water bodies in a layer of continuous 

permafrost.

Tectonic plate: A large, thin, relatively rigid plate that moves relative to other plates on the 

outer surface of the earth. 

Terrestrial: Of or relating to the earth, soil, or land; inhabiting the earth or land. 

Thermokarst: Land-surface configuration that results from the melting of ground ice in a 

region underlain by permafrost. In areas that have appreciable amounts of ice, small pits, 

valleys, and hummocks form when the ice melts and the ground settles unevenly. 

Threatened species: A plant or animal species likely to become an endangered species 

throughout all or a significant portion of its range within the foreseeable future. 

Total petroleum system: The combination of geologic components and processes necessary to 

generate and store hydrocarbons, including a mature source rock, migration pathway, 

reservoir rock, trap, and seal. Includes all the petroleum generated by related source rocks 

and resides in a volume of mappable rocks. Geologic processes act upon the petroleum 

system and control the generation, expulsion, migration, entrapment, and preservation of 

petroleum. 

Traditional knowledge: An intimate understanding by indigenous peoples of their 

environment, which is grounded in a long-term relationship with the surrounding land, 

ocean, rivers, ice, and resources. This understanding includes knowledge of the anatomy, 

biology, and distribution of resources; animal behavior; seasons, weather, and climate; 

hydrology, sea ice, and currents; how ecosystems function; and the relationship between the 

environment and the local culture. 
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Glossary-17 

Transfer payment: Money given by the government to citizens, such as Social Security, 

welfare, and unemployment compensation. 

Trophic system: The process and organisms that move food energy through the ecosystem, 

often termed a food chain. 

Tundra: Level or undulating treeless plain characteristic of northern Arctic regions, consisting 

of black mucky soil with a permanently frozen subsoil and a dense growth of mosses, 

lichens, dwarf herbs, and shrubs. 

Turbidity: A measure of the amount of suspended sediment in water. 

U 

V 

W 

Waterflooding: The injection of water into geological reservoirs to maintain or increase 

pressure in the reservoir and thereby assist in the extraction of oil. 

Water quality: The interaction between various parameters that determines the usability or 

non-usability of water for on-site and downstream uses. Major parameters that affect water 

quality include: temperature, turbidity, suspended sediment, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, 

pH, specific ions, discharge, and fecal coliform. 

Wetlands (biological wetlands): Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface 

water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under 

normal circumstance do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in 

saturated soil conditions. Wetlands include habitats such as swamps, marshes, and bogs 

(see jurisdictional wetlands). 

Wildcat play: An unproven and prospective area of oil and gas potential that is outside of 

existing oil and gas producing areas or zones. 

Wilderness: Land designated by Congress as a component of the National Wilderness 

Preservation System. For an area to be considered for Wilderness designation it must be 

roadless and possess the characteristics required by Section 2(c) of the Wilderness Act of 

1964. These characteristics are: 1) naturalness - lands that are natural and primarily 

affected by the forces of nature; 2) roadless and having at least 5,000 acres of contiguous 

public lands; and 3) outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined 

types of recreation. In addition, areas may contain “supplemental values,” consisting of 

ecological, geological or other features of scientific, educational, scenic or historical 

importance. 
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