|
BLM publishes draft NPR-A plan & EIS Presents options with varying amounts of land withholding from development; will decide on preferred plan after public comments Alan Bailey Petroleum News
As the next step in preparing a new plan for the management of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the nearly 23 million acre region of remote Arctic land in the extreme northwest of the state, the Bureau of Land Management has published a draft integrated activity plan and environmental impact statement for public review.
The public review period will last until June 1.
“The remarkable resources in the NPR-A call for a sound plan, which fully considers the input of local communities and Alaska Natives, and enables the nation to harness these domestic energy supplies with the right safeguards in place,” said Bud Cribley, BLM-Alaska state director, on March 29 when announcing publication of the draft plan. “We need the public’s input to ensure the best management plan is put in place for this area.”
Entire NPR-A This new plan encompasses the whole of the reserve — there have previously been separate plans for northeast NPR-A and northwest NPR-A, with no plan ever having been completed for the more southerly part of the region.
In February 2011 Cribley told Petroleum News that BLM was developing a unified plan for the entire reserve, to look at the region as a whole rather than piecemealing individual planning decisions for individual areas. And the executive summary for the draft plan now confirms that view.
“The BLM is developing the plan for the entire NPR-A to address the nation’s need for production of more oil and gas through additional leasing in the NPR-A, and to protect surface values consistent with the exploration and development of oil and gas,” the executive summary says. “This plan will address the entire NPR-A, and thus provide greater management consistency throughout the Petroleum Reserve than existing separate plans.”
Differing priorities In juggling the differing and sometimes contending priorities of hydrocarbon resource development and wildlife resource conservation, the draft BLM document presents four alternative plans, with the agency deferring a decision on which plan to adopt until after reviewing public comments on its plan options.
Much of the controversy in the NPR-A development versus conservation debate has focused on the extreme northeastern part of the reserve, close to the Beaufort Sea coast, where the oil and gas potential is thought to be especially high near the crest of a major geologic structure called the Barrow Arch, but where the large Teshekpuk Lake supports several Arctic wildlife species.
“Of particular interest is the potential impact of development near Teshekpuk Lake, which is considered to have high oil and gas value, but is also of great importance for waterfowl, caribou (for calving and relief from insects) and subsidence,” the plan’s executive summary says. “The lands near Teshekpuk Lake are currently deferred from leasing until 2018, and all alternatives will honor the leasing deferrals until their expiration.”
With that caveat, the four alternatives in the plan all allow some level of oil and gas leasing while including varying amounts of land access restriction and other measures for environmental conservation.
No action alternative The first alternative, characterized as the “no action” alternative, envisages business as usual, with decisions made in the current plans for northwest and northeast NPR-A being carried forward into the future. That would make available 13 million acres of land for future oil and gas lease sales. However, any lease sales for 1.57 million acres in the far northwest corner of the reserve, inland from the Chukchi Sea coast, would be deferred until at least January 2014, and leasing in 425,000 acres north and east of Teshekpuk Lake would be deferred until at least July 2018. No oil and gas leasing would take place in the southern part of the reserve.
And lands with high surface resource values, such as caribou calving areas, would be protected through stipulations such as development timing restrictions and the required setbacks of permanent oil and gas facilities from some lakes and other geographic features.
High protection The second alternative emphasizes the protection of surface resources while making nearly 11 million acres of the reserve available for oil and gas leasing. While some land currently deferred from leasing would become available under this alternative after the current deferral dates, some of that deferred land would remain out of bounds. Two million acres would be added to the current protected area around Teshekpuk Lake. About 11.8 million acres of NPR-A in various areas viewed as having particular environmental sensitivity would be unavailable for oil and gas leasing, thus protecting the wilderness characteristics of the land, the draft document says.
And the second alternative involves recommending to the U.S. Congress that all or portions of 12 rivers should be included in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
Moderate protection The third alternative would make 17.9 million acres of NPR-A land available for oil and gas leasing, while making selected coastal areas and 4.4 million acres in the far south of the reserve unavailable. Land currently deferred from leasing would become available after the current deferral dates. Within this alternative, BLM envisages developing a plan for obtaining gravel for the construction of roads and pads. However, although leasing would be allowed on much land near Teshekpuk Lake, the construction of production pads would not be allowed on this land.
“This may require directional/horizontal drilling for substantial distances to reach oil and gas resources,” the draft BLM document says.
Alternative three also envisages a request to Congress to designate three rivers, including part of the Colville River, as “scenic” under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
Protection measures only The fourth alternative would make all NPR-A land, other than currently deferred land, available for future oil and gas leasing. Land with high surface resource value would be protected through stipulations, with some of these stipulations being less restrictive that in other plan alternatives. As in alternative three, this alternative includes the potential development of a plan for obtaining gravel. And the plan involves no new special protected area, or expansion to existing protected areas.
Alternatives two to four also consider the possibility of a future need for an infrastructure corridor across NPR-A, to enable the construction of facilities for the transportation of oil and gas from the Chukchi Sea, should oil and gas development in the Chukchi Sea take place. However, any plans for the development of Chukchi Sea related facilities would require reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, the draft document says.
Eliminated options BLM has eliminated from consideration any plan alternatives involving wilderness designations within NPR-A; the designation of wild lands; hard-rock or coal mining; the reduction or elimination of special environmental protection areas; the making of wild and scenic river designations for streams in northern portions of NPR-A, where NPR-A activity plans currently apply; the establishment of a national wildlife refuge in any part of NPR-A; and the prohibition of infrastructure development in support of Chukchi Sea oil and gas leases.
But, whichever alternative BLM ultimately chooses, the agency will continue to convey some federal land within NPR-A to Native Alaskans and Alaska Native corporations, under the terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and the Native Allotment Act, the draft document says. BLM will also continue to conduct environmental studies in the reserve. The agency will continue to deal with the remediation of old, legacy wells in NPR-A, as well as work with responsible parties “to encourage the cleanup of contaminated and solid waste sites,” the document says. And, potentially working with local residents and various government agencies, BLM will flesh out some details of NPR-A management, including the specification of arrangements for protecting special areas and the formation of cooperative agreements for environmental management.
|
