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DNR, NSB sign MOU on O&G permitting
Commissioner Dan Sullivan of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and Mayor Charlotte Brower of the North Slope Borough signed a memorandum of understanding July 28 designed to coordinate authorization and permitting activities for North Slope oil and gas exploration and production.
The MOU states that the state and the NSB recognize the value of enhancing “collaboration, communication, and coordination in the review of exploration and development projects.” Responsible resource develop benefits both the borough and the state, the MOU notes, while the related activities “create impacts which disproportionately affect local populations.”
Companies involved in exploration and development are required to obtain a variety of permits and coordination among agencies reviewing applications or requesting information increases the effectiveness of authorizations and reduces the burden on applicants, the MOU says.
While DNR’s Office of Project Management and Permitting “has demonstrated an ability to effectively coordinate this permitting and authorization activity across federal, state and local agencies,” further coordination of regulatory activity between the borough and DNR may create additional benefits for the state, the borough and applicants.
The MOU also encourages DNR-borough cooperation “on issues of common interest that extend beyond efficient permitting and coordination.”
Quarterly meetings The MOU states that the DNR commissioner and the NSB mayor and/or representatives, will meet quarterly to discuss issues of concern with at least two of the meetings each year taking place in Barrow.
The NSB and DNR will encourage applicants to use Office of Project Management and Permitting processes, and to use pre-filing procedures “to identify issues early in the regulatory process.”
To the extent possible, the MOU says, the borough and DNR will share information and data relevant to projects and coordination calls will be held at least monthly between OPMP and the NSB, with the mayor identifying departments of the borough to participate.
The director of the OPMP and the director of the NSB Department of Planning and Community Services will each identify personnel to participate in a working group which will discuss ways to further streamline approval of project activity “and avoid duplication of effort or other waste and inefficiency.” The working group will report its findings to the directors.
—Petroleum News
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