[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 18 (Friday, January 28, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4140-4141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1730]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AK-931-1310-DT-NPRA]


Notice of Availability of the Amendment to the Northeast National 
Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Final Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental 
Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Amendment to the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-
Alaska (NPR-A) Final Integrated Activity Plan/ Environmental Impact 
Statement (IAP/EIS) will be made available to the public for a 30-day 
period beginning on the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
files a Notice of Availability of the Final IAP/EIS in the Federal 
Register. The EPA notice is expected to occur on or about January 28, 
2005. A Record of Decision (ROD) will be issued after the 30-day 
availability period. The ROD will identify the selected alternative as 
well as mitigation measures.
    The Final IAP/EIS addresses two primary objectives for the 
amendment of the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska IAP/EIS.
    1. Consider making available all or portions of lands currently 
closed to oil and gas leasing in the Planning Area; and,
    2.Consider developing performance-based lease stipulations and ROPs 
to provide the BLM greater flexibility in protecting important surface 
resources from the impacts of oil and gas activities, similar to those 
developed for the Northwest National Petroleum Reserve--Alaska.
    Location of the Document: The Final IAP/EIS will be available in 
either hard copy or on compact disk at the Alaska State Office, Public 
Information Center at 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99513-
7599. Copies of the Final IAP/EIS will also be available at the 
following locations: Tuzzy Public Library, Barrow, Alaska; City of 
Nuiqsut, Nuiqsut, Alaska; City of Atqasuk, Atqasuk, Alaska; City of 
Anaktuvuk Pass, Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska; City of Bethel, Bethel, Alaska, 
Z. J. Loussac Public Library, Anchorage, AK; Noel Wien Public Library, 
Fairbanks, AK.
    The final IAP/EIS will also be available on the project Web site at 
http://nenpra.ensr.com/nenpra/default.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Childs, BLM Alaska State office 
(907) 271-1985.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Northeast Planning Area (Planning Area) 
boundary encompasses approximately 4.6 million acres located in the 
northeastern portion of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The 
Planning Area is roughly bounded by the Beaufort Sea to the North, the 
Ikpikpuk River to the west and the Colville River to the east and south 
of the planning area. The 1998 Record of Decision (ROD) for the 
Northeast Planning area provided 87% of the area for oil and gas 
leasing; however, approximately 840,000 acres, much of the area 
surrounding the Teshekpuk Lake, including the lake, was made 
unavailable for leasing under the 1998 ROD. In 2002, the President's 
National Energy Policy Development Group recommended that the President 
direct

[[Page 4141]]

the Secretary of the Interior to consider additional environmentally 
responsible oil and gas development, based on sound science and the 
best available technology, through further lease sales in the National 
Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and that such consideration should include 
areas not currently leased within the northeast corner of the National 
Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. In addition, Public Law 96-514 of December 
12, 1980, amended the NPRPA authorizing oil and gas leasing in the 
reserve and as codified in 42 U.S.C. 6508 stated, ``There shall be 
conducted, not withstanding any other provision of law and pursuant to 
such rules and regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, an 
expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the 
National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; provided, that: (1) Activities 
undertaken pursuant to this section shall include or provide for such 
conditions, restrictions, and prohibitions as the Secretary deems 
necessary or appropriate to mitigate reasonably foreseeable and 
significantly adverse effects on the surface resources of the National 
Petroleum Reserve in Alaska * * *.'' In exercising this authority a 
revised Preferred Alternative which incorporates additional surface 
protection measures has been developed to safeguard important resources 
and subsistence activities. This Final IAP/EIS amendment contains four 
alternatives for a land management plan for the 4.6 million-acre 
planning area and assessments of each plan's impacts on the surface 
resources present there, as well as the cumulative effects of each 
alternative.
    A Draft Amended IAP/EIS was made available for a 76-day comment 
period on June 9, 2004. Scoping and comment meetings on the Draft IAP/
EIS were held in Bethel, Nuiqsut, Atqasuk, Barrow, Anaktuvuk Pass, 
Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Washington, DC. The Northeast Planning Area 
provides particularly important habitat for caribou, waterfowl, 
subsistence species, and other waterfowl. Many of the local residents 
of the area rely on harvesting these resources for subsistence 
purposes. Ensuring adequate protection of these resources has been one 
of the main focuses of public comment. The BLM held public hearings on 
subsistence as well as public hearings on the Draft IAP/EIS. The first 
set of subsistence hearings was held in conjunction with the public 
hearings on the Draft IAP/EIS during the weeks of June 28, August 9 and 
16 in Bethel, Nuiqsut, Atqasuk, Barrow, Anaktuvuk Pass, Fairbanks, 
Anchorage (all in Alaska) and Washington, DC. An additional set of 
subsistence hearings was held in the effected Alaska North Slope 
communities of Nuiqsut, Ataqasuk, Barrow and Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska, as 
well as the community of Bethel, Alaska, in the Yukon Delta, during the 
weeks of October 25 and November 29. Under the final Preferred 
Alternative, approximately 4,389,000 acres of BLM administered 
subsurface estate within the Planning Area would be available for oil 
and gas leasing. Teshekpuk Lake would be deferred from oil and gas 
leasing under this alternative. In addition, there would be no 
recommended Wilderness Study Areas or Wild and Scenic Rivers. Lease 
stipulations and required operating procedures under the final 
Preferred Alternative, would establish setbacks prohibiting permanent 
facilities within \1/4\ to 1 mile along major rivers and 1 to 3 miles 
along Fish Creek; \1/4\ mile shoreward from deep water lakes and \3/4\ 
mile along coastal areas, to protect subsistence resources/activities 
and other important surface resources. No Surface Occupancy for 
permanent oil and gas development stipulations were included which 
would protect goose molting areas, caribou movement corridors, and the 
southern caribou calving grounds. Multi-year studies would be required 
prior to development to protect spectacled and Steller's eiders, 
yellow-billed loons, and caribou. Other stipulations and required 
operating procedures would establish restrictions and guidance that 
apply to waste prevention and spills, water use, winter overland moves 
and seismic activity, exploratory drilling, aircraft use and 
subsistence consultation.
    The no action alternative calls for continuation of current 
management, which does provide for continued leasing in the area 
previously made available for oil and gas leasing through the 1998 
Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska IAP/EIS and Record of 
Decision. Alternatives A through C make progressively more land, 
available for oil and gas leasing. The final Proposed Action, 
Altnerative D, would make a more land available Alternatives A, but 
less land available than Alternatives B or C. Alternative A, makes 
available 87% of the planning area available for oil and gas leasing; 
Alternative B makes 96% percent of the planning area available for oil 
and gas leasing; Alternative C makes 100% of the planning area 
available for oil and gas leasing; and the final Proposed Action, 
Alternative D, makes approximately 95% available for oil and gas 
leasing. Performance-based stipulations and (ROPs) would provide 
protection for natural and cultural resources under all alternatives: 
B, C, and D, but their nature, number and scope varies between the 
alternatives. Alternative A, the No Action Alternative, would continue 
to protect the planning area with stipulations implemented throughout 
the 1998 Northeast Record of Decision.

    Dated: December 6, 2004.
Henri R. Bisson,
State Director, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 05-1730 Filed 1-27-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JA-P