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NPR-A, pipeline renewal top BLM list in Alaska, says Henri Bisson New BLM Alaska state director expects development proposal soon for NPR-A; next step environmental impact statement Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and renewal of the trans-Alaska pipeline right of way top the Bureau of Land Management’s Alaska list of oil and gas related projects, BLM’s new Alaska state director, Henri Bisson, told PNA Aug. 23.
Bisson, who was named to the position in May and had his first official day on the job July 15, came to Alaska from Washington, D.C., where he has been, since 1998, BLM’s assistant director for renewable resources and planning.
Bisson, who has a bachelor of science degree in forestry from the University of New Hampshire and a master of science degree in watershed management from the University of Arizona, joined BLM in 1974 as a forester in Redding, Calif.
In an assignment in Grand Junction, Colo., Bisson was one of BLM’s first interagency planners and in Montrose, Colo., he was assistant team leader on a regional coal environmental impact statement and later district planning coordinator and district planning chief, where he worked on an EIS for a Shell-Mobil carbon dioxide pipeline.
Bisson went through a departmental management training program in Washington, D.C., and “free floated in government for about 10 months. And it was during that time period that I worked on the hill on Don Young’s staff for a couple of months,” he said, but as an Interior Department intern, not an intern for Congressman Young.
Bisson was then named BLM assistant director for renewable resources and planning.
“Basically it’s a lead staff resource analyst and virtually everything going out from a policy standpoint crossed my desk… including Alaska programs,” he said. Bisson was in Washington, D.C., from 1982 to 1986.
He went to Phoenix as associate district manager and was district manager there from 1987 to 1992.
“During that time we probably had the largest land exchange program in the bureau happening,” he said, and he negotiated a number of land exchanges with the state as well as with private land owners.
Bisson was California district manager and then went back to Washington, D.C. as special assistant to the director and then assistant director for renewable resources and planning. All of the bureau’s programs “Along the way, either as a project manager or as a district manager, I’ve been involved in virtually all of the bureau’s programs in one way or another, including our lands and minerals programs,” Bisson said.
“Prior to coming here I did not have a lot of experience in oil and gas. It’s the one program that I’ve not had a lot of experience in, but I did work on oil and gas in Colorado, I worked on some environmental assessments for some of the leasing programs that we had in Montrose. But I was very engaged in the coal program when I was there.
“I’ve done a lot of work in hard rock minerals in every job I’ve had, but I have been engaged in pipelines and I’ve been involved in the authorization of a number of pipelines across California and Arizona, transmission lines, that sort of thing.
“So the oil and gas program is a big learning curve for me, but we’ve got terrific staff here — they’re great people and I’m learning quickly,” he said.
Major Alaska issues Some of the most significant issues in the president’s energy plan are in Alaska, Bisson said, including “two issues that need to be accomplished this year that are on the secretary’s performance agreement with the president.”
One was the second NPR-A lease sale, which took place in June.
“And the other is getting to a decision on Taps renewal.”
Another top priority, he said, is the decision on the northwest planning are in NPR-A, “which is the land-use plan effort that is under way right now.” A draft EIS will be out this fall.
If there is a gas line proposal, that would also rise to the top of BLM’s projects in Alaska, Bisson said, because a right of way application for a gas pipeline would trigger an environmental impact statement.
NPR-A leasing BLM has no NPR-A lease sales scheduled right now, Bisson said.
“We’re working on the NPR-A northwest plan, which could set the stage when we get through the plan, for additional leasing. And I would guess in a couple of years they’ll likely be another lease sale in NPR-A northeast,” he said.
Bisson said that additional lease sales could occur in the northeast NPR-A planning area, where the land-use plan was completed.
If the current planning effort goes according to schedule, and there is additional interest in the northeast NPR-A planning area where the agency has held two sales, another lease sale would probably be offered in the northeast planning area around June 2004, the same time as a first offering of the northwest NPR-A planning area.
“Once we get through the land-use planning and make those decisions, I think 2004 is when we can see some additional leasing,” Bisson said. Real potential for development Bisson said he thinks there is potential for development in the NPR-A.
“The potential for development is real, in terms of where some of the exploration has already occurred and I would expect that if it’s going to happen we’ll hear something soon from one or several companies,” he said.
To develop exploration discoveries, the companies would apply for full-field development.
Bisson said he thinks “the potential for somebody coming in with a development proposal is pretty serious. I think it’s going to happen soon. I don’t know when or exactly who’s going to come in and who the partners are going to be — but I think it’s going to happen soon.”
A company applying for full-field development would define the field they propose to develop, he said, and BLM would then analyze the proposal, do an environmental impact statement, look at the impacts and develop appropriate authorizations.
An EIS was done for the exploration phase in the northwest NPR-A, but “development has not been analyzed,” Bisson said.
Companies would also be expected to form units for development. Bisson said BLM has not yet received any unit applications.
Permitting to work on BLM land in Alaska is pretty much the same as elsewhere in the country, Bisson said.
“I think that what’s probably different up here are the mitigation measures, the terms and conditions, that were imposed as a result of the NPR-A northeast plan. There are a number of terms and conditions that are different than elsewhere because of the environment they have to work in,” he said.
Companies have drilled, Bisson said, and BLM has had no major compliance issues.
“So it’s working. It’s working quite well,” he said.
Minor reorganization possible BLM’s state office is in Anchorage. There are three field offices: Anchorage, Fairbanks and Glennallen.
Bisson said that “some of the oil and gas work is being done by the Anchorage field office folks statewide for other field offices and we’re looking at… some minor reorganization proposals to consolidate that…” No decisions have been made yet, he said, but BLM is looking at consolidating the minerals program — oil and gas and hard rock — so that the oversight will come out of one office, instead of several as is the case now.
Secretary will make decision The comment period on renewal of the rights of way for the trans-Alaska pipeline is closed, Bisson said. The agency has received some 300 comments. The bulk, he said, are repetitive, “people have just basically said the same thing.
“There’s probably about 50 to 60 comments that are original and specific and provide fairly detailed into the process,” he said. The agency is looking at all the comments and evaluating them, “and evaluating what changes we would need to make before we go to a final EIS, evaluating whether or not we want to adopt or should adopt any of the proposals that have come forward, including this issue of citizens’ oversight.”
The right of way is signed by the Secretary of the Interior, Bisson said, but the Alaska office will evaluate the comments, keep the secretary’s office informed and make recommendations on how to address the comments.
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