No substantial new info decisions

The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas has issued a decision of no substantial new information for the state’s fall 2015 Beaufort Sea, North Slope and North Slope Foothills areawide oil and gas lease sales.

The division issued a call for new information in March and received comments from the Alaska Regional Office of the National Park Service, which commented on the North Slope Foothills lease sale area’s shared boundary with the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Gates of the Arctic is south of the Foothills areawide lease sale.

The division said the National Park Service commented that oil and gas activities are incompatible with the purposes of the park and preserve and said effects on park and preserve resources and values from oil and gas activities on adjacent state lands should be evaluated and factored into leasing decisions and requested the opportunity to review lease sale information for lands near the boundaries of the park and preserve.

The director’s response to those comments was that mitigation measures in the final finding along with state and federal requirements are sufficient to protect park resources and said it would not supplement the finding with new lease sale stipulations. NPS also expressed concerns about drainage of resources from park and preserve lands, and the division said Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission statutes protect correlative rights.

The division also said agency and public information was requested at the time the 2011 final finding was made for the sale, and no comments were made at that time about areas of special concern requiring mitigation. The division also said no specific substantial new information was offered in the NPS comments.

- Petroleum News