NEWS BULLETIN

November 21, 2019 --- Vol. 25, No.50November 2019

BLM releases draft analysis for NPR-A plan

The federal Bureau of Land Management said this morning that it is seeking public input on the draft environmental impact statement for a new integrated activity plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. BLM said the notice of availability will publish in the Federal Register tomorrow.

The agency issued a notice of intent to prepare a new plan Nov. 20, 2018, following up on an order by then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke at the end of May 2017 which required a rework of the existing NPR-A plan to determine if more land in the reserve could be opened for oil and gas leasing. The plan currently in place was issued in 2013 and places much of the northern part of NPR-A off limits to oil and gas leasing and development.

"With advancement in technology and increased knowledge of the area, it was prudent to develop a new plan that provides greater economic development of our resources while still providing protections for important resources and subsistence access," BLM Alaska State Director Chad Padgett said in a statement.

The agency said that in addition to advances in technology, a 2017 survey by the U.S. Geological Survey calculating a significantly higher estimate of technically recoverable oil required a new NPR-A management strategy. BLM said new information from caribou monitoring reports not available in 2012 also informed the new analysis.

Four alternatives are included.

Alternative A is the status quo, with 11.8 million acres for development under the 2013 record of decision.

Alternative B decreases land available for leasing and new infrastructure to 11.4 million acres and designates all special areas as unavailable.

Alternative C increases land for available leasing and new infrastructure to 17.1 million acres, keeping a core area round Teshekpuk Lake as unavailable.

Alternative D increases land available for leasing and new infrastructure to 18.3 million acres, opening the entire Teshekpuk Lake special area and parts of the Utukok River Uplands special area.

Public comment closes Jan. 21, 2020. A number of public meetings are planned with times and locations to be announced later.

- KRISTEN NELSON

See story in Dec. 1 issue, available Friday, Nov. 29 at www.PetroleumNews.com.

Trump calls for ocean mapping of Alaska coastline

In a memorandum issued Nov. 19, President Donald J. Trump directed federal agencies to develop a national strategy to map the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and a strategy to map the Alaska coastline.

The Memorandum on Ocean Mapping of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone and the Shoreline and Nearshore of Alaska called on the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality to coordinate EZZ mapping strategy development. The director and chairman serve as cochairs of the Ocean Policy Committee, established by executive order June 19, 2018.

In addition, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the state of Alaska, and the Alaska Mapping Executive Committee are to develop a proposed strategy to map the shoreline and nearshore of Alaska within 180 days of Nov. 19.

The memorandum said "It is the policy of the United States to support the conservation, management, and balanced use of America's oceans by exploring, mapping, and characterizing the U.S. EEZ, including mapping the Arctic and Sub-Arctic shoreline and nearshore of Alaska," noting the area contains underutilized or undiscovered natural resources, including energy.

- STEVE SUTHERLIN

See item in Nov. 24 issue, available Friday, Nov. 22 at www.PetroleumNews.com.

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