FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 6, 1998

BABBITT PRESENTS BIOLOGICALLY BASED NPR-A PLAN THAT BALANCES PROTECTION FOR WILDLIFE HABITAT WITH OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today announced a proposal for managing the 4.6 million acre northeast quadrant of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). The announcement comes after a comprehensive 18-month planning effort, led by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), that involved several other Department of the Interior agencies, the State of Alaska, and the North Slope Borough.

The plan will prohibit surface disturbance on sensitive wildlife habitat comprising almost one-third of the planning area. At the same time, taking into account the oil and gas industry's ability to reach some reserves through directional drilling, the plan makes 87 percent of the northeast quadrant of NPR-A available for leasing. The 580,000 acre area barred from leasing encompasses a zone of shallow lakes and tundra where thousands of geese molt each year and where the Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd calves in most years. In addition, 900,000 acres would be available for oil and gas leasing, with a prohibition on all surface activity, or would allow only exploratory drilling and essential road and/or pipeline crossings. Special stipulations would protect subsistence hunting and fishing and provide protection for the resource values found in the planning area.

"This is a good plan, based on sound science and a very public outreach process," Secretary Babbitt said. "Will everyone get what they want? No, they won't. We have barred, or limited oil and gas development in the key environmentally sensitive areas around Teshekpuk Lake and the Colville River. At the same time, we will be allowing oil and gas development on almost four million acres. A great deal of hard work went into the planning process and I believe the Department has complied with the law and the intent of Congress when it designated this region a National Petroleum Reserve," he said.

Under the preferred alternative, the BLM will make nearly all of the shallow lakes area north and east of Teshekpuk Lake unavailable for oil and gas leasing. This area is heavily used by geese during molting season. It also includes important calving and insect relief areas for caribou. Similarly, the plan would prohibit permanent oil and gas surface occupancy on Teshekpuk Lake and other locations important for fish and subsistence use. Altogether nearly one-third of the study area will bar surface development of oil and gas.

The plan would also:

prohibit oil and gas surface facilities around specific rivers and streams important for subsistence or raptors (with exceptions for essential pipelines and road crossings)

establish procedures so the people of the North Slope would be consulted before activities that may affect them could be conducted

establish a subsistence advisory panel

establish an interagency research and monitoring team made up of federal agencies, the State of Alaska, the North Slope Borough and others to coordinate research and monitor the effectiveness of stipulations on surface resources

develop a new management plan for the Colville River area and its resources

limit road construction to drilling areas

establish one-mile facility setbacks (other than pipelines and roads) around cabins and campsites.

BLM will accept comments from individuals or organizations through September 8, 1998. Following the comment period, the plan will become effective with the signing of a Record of Decision. Comments can be sent by mail or electronically to the following address:

by mail to:

NPR-A Planning Team

Bureau of Land Management

Alaska State Office (930)

222 W. 7th Avenue, #13

Anchorage, Alaska 99513

via e-mail to: [email protected]

via the NPR-A website to: http://aurora.ak.blm.gov/npra/

Copies of the plan are being mailed to selected libraries throughout Alaska and can be obtained from BLM offices in Alaska and Washington, D. C. An eight-page summary can be obtained from the BLM by calling (907) 271-5960.

"This plan merges the best science, the best technology and a fully open process to produce good management for this area," says BLM Alaska State Director Tom Allen. "We would like to thank all the people who have helped us develop the plan. We have benefited greatly from the many thoughtful comments we have received at public meetings and in writing from hundreds of individuals and organizations," he said.

-DOI-

Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska

Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement

Background

• In February 1997, the DOI initiated a comprehensive planning effort for the northeastern area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). The effort, led by the BLM, also involved the MMS, FWS, and USGS.
• The 23 million acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska lies between the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean. The planning area is approximately 4.6 million acres.
• The petroleum reserve was originally designated by President Harding in 1923 as the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4. It was renamed in 1976, with passage of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act (NPRPA), which also placed management of the lands under the Department of the Interior.
• The NPRPA authorized the Secretary to begin petroleum exploration, but production and development were prohibited until authorized by an Act of Congress.
• The Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1981 provided for competitive leasing of oil and gas within the NPR-A.

• The Department held four lease sales from 1982 through 1984. No leases from those sales were ever actively developed, and all have since expired.

Reasons for the Planning Process

• The BLM determined to answer two questions. First, what protections and enhanced management will be implemented for surface resources, such as wildlife, wildlife habitat, fisheries, paleontological, subsistence and recreational resources? Second, whether the BLM should conduct oil and gas lease sales in the planning area, and if so, which lands should be made available for leasing?

• The resources of the northeast area of NPR-A have become of greater interest in recent years as oil and gas development approached the reserve's eastern boundary.
• This section of the NPR-A is rich in wildlife resources. It would be inappropriate to consider leasing without establishing a plan to protect the other resources in the area. A long-term plan will allow for the continued protection of these resources.
• If there are lands suitable for oil and gas drilling, they should be developed in an environmentally and scientifically sound manner. The data gathered in this process will allow the Department to make future decisions about resource development and habitat protection.
• The planning process would allow for an open process with consultation. The Department committed to work with the State, North Slope Borough, Alaska Natives, local residents, industry and conservationists to provide a long-term management plan for everyone.

Process

• The BLM published a notice of intent to prepare the IAP/EIS in February 1997, requesting information, comments and a call for nominations.

• The BLM formed an interagency team, and began scoping. The BLM established a web site to share information with and receive comments from the public.

• The State of Alaska and the North Slope Borough appointed project liaisons to work on the plan.

• The BLM held five scoping meetings during March and April 1997. The BLM began to issue periodic newsletters, which were mailed to an ever-expanding list of recipients.

• The BLM and MMS held a science symposium in April 1997, gathering information from scientific experts. The symposium was open to the public and attended by over 130 people.

• A stipulation workshop to discuss protective stipulations to accompany alternatives including oil and gas activity was held in May 1997, and biologists gathered information to reduce impacts on waterfowl and caribou in the area.

• In July 1997, Secretary Babbitt spent five days in the planning area and spoke with members of the team and residents of the area.

• A subsistence workshop was held in August 1997. The workshop produced numerous recommendations, including recommendations that the BLM create a subsistence advisory panel and a coordinated research and monitoring program.

• The Draft IAP/EIS was released on the Internet in November 1997. It was distributed by mail in December.

• The BLM held 9 public hearings and 10 subsistence hearings on the Draft IAP/EIS. The agency received approximately 7,000 written comments.

• The comment period on the draft document closed on March 12, 1998.

• The final IAP/EIS will be released on August 7, 1998. The 30-day comment period on the Final IAP/EIS will close on September 8, 1998.

• A Record of Decision will be issued after September 8, 1998.

Preferred Alternative of the Final IAP/EIS

• provides for oil and gas leasing: 4 million acres (87% of planning area) will be available for leasing.
• protects important habitats: .6 million acres (13% of the planning area) are unavailable for leasing; 1.5 million acres (32% of the planning area) are unavailable for oil and gas leasing or allow no oil and gas surface facilities except for necessary pipeline and road stream crossings.

• protects critical waterfowl habitat--nearly all of the goose molting area, which lies north and east of Teshekpuk Lake, is unavailable for leasing; oil and gas facilities, including pipelines and exploration wells, are prohibited in the entire goose molting habitat.
• protects important caribou habitat--84% of the Teshekpuk Lake Caribou Herd's main calving area is protected by making it unavailable for surface leasing. The other 16% is protected by stipulations that minimize impacts.
• protects important raptor and passerine habitats--calls for Secretary to expand the Colville River Special Area to encompass all of the raptor (including arctic peregrine falcon delisted only in 1994) nesting habitat in the planning area; allows leasing, but restricts surface occupancy in raptor nesting habitat along the Colville, Kikiakrorak, and Kogosukruk Rivers; proposes cooperative project with the State of Alaska and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation to create a Bird Conservation Area centering on the Colville River's passerine habitat.
• provides for long-term protections: through a long-term management plan comprising management prescriptions that are based on state of the art biological and technological science.
• protects subsistence:

• protects subsistence areas--prohibits oil and gas facilities in riparian areas identified by North Slope residents and governments as important for subsistence (exploratory drilling and necessary pipelines and road crossings are allowed in some of these areas); identifies other areas for special consultation with affected communities.
• protects subsistence resources--through the caribou and riparian protections noted above and by limiting leasing to a small portion of the coast, the caribou, fish, and marine mammals important to subsistence users are protected.
• Subsistence Advisory Panel--the panel, designed to reflect subsistence users' concerns, will work with lessees and the BLM throughout the exploration and development phases to avoid conflicts between oil and gas development and subsistence.
• Cabins--prohibits oil and gas facilities near camps and cabins, and creates larger consultation zones around cabins.
• supports coordinated research and monitoring--an Interagency Research and Monitoring Team of Federal, State, and North Slope Borough representatives will coordinate and direct their agencies' research and monitoring efforts in the planning area, including studies regarding the effectiveness of stipulations and alternative protective measures. It will consult with the Subsistence Advisory Panel.
• provides for continued planning for the Colville River area--by requiring that the BLM develop a Colville River Management Plan for the Special Area in cooperation with adjacent landowners and other affected parties to address subsistence, wildlife, recreation, paleontological, and other issues. Prior to launching the plan, the agency will conduct a raptor workshop to review scientific literature on disturbance to raptors and identify potential additional mitigating measures. The Colville River planning effort would also work on the creation of a Bird Conservation Area.
• accommodates Kuukpik Corporation ANCSA selections--In its first oil and gas lease sale, BLM will defer leasing approximately 40,000 acres near Nuiqsut that Kuukpik identifies for selection.

  U.S. Department of the Interior