[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 35 (Friday, February 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9920-9921]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03682]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement for the Alpine Satellite Development Plan for the
Proposed Greater Mooses Tooth Unit Development Project, Alaska
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Arctic Field Office,
Fairbanks, Alaska, issues the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for public comment and announces upcoming public
meetings and subsistence hearings to receive comments on the Draft
Supplemental EIS and the proposed project's potential to impact
subsistence resources and activities. Pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Supplemental EIS is
being prepared to supplement the Alpine Satellite Development Plan
(ASDP) Final EIS, dated September 2004, regarding the establishment of
satellite oil production pads and associated infrastructure within the
Alpine field.
DATES: To ensure comments will be considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS within 60 days following
the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of
Availability in the Federal Register. Written comments on the Draft
Supplemental EIS will be accepted until April 22, 2014.
Draft Supplemental EIS public meetings will be held in the
following communities in Alaska: Anaktuvuk Pass, Anchorage, Atqasuk,
Barrow, Fairbanks, Nuiqsut, Point Lay, and Wainwright. The public
meetings at Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk, Barrow, Nuiqsut, Point Lay, and
Wainwright will incorporate subsistence hearings. The date, time, and
location of the meetings will be announced on BLM Alaska's Web site,
through public notices, media news releases, and/or other mailings.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed to: GMT1 SEIS Comments,
Attn: Bridget Psarianos, 222 West 7th Avenue, 13 Anchorage,
AK 99513-7504; faxed to 907-271-3933; hand delivered to the BLM Public
Information Center in the Federal Building, 222 West 7th Avenue,
Anchorage, AK 99513-7504; or emailed to: [email protected]
Copies of the Draft Supplemental EIS are available for public
inspection at the BLM Public Information Center in the Federal
Building, 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99513-7504; and the
Fairbanks District Office at 1150 University Avenue, Fairbanks, AK
99709. The Draft Supplemental EIS can be reviewed at BLM Alaska's
ePlanning Web site at http:www.blm.gov/ak/GMT. A CD or paper copy may
be requested by calling Bridget Psarianos, BLM project lead at 907-271-
4208.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bridget Psarianos, BLM Alaska State
Office, 907-271-4208. Persons who use a telecommunications device for
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at
1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal business
hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to
leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive
a reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ASDP Draft Supplemental EIS analyzes an
application by ConocoPhillips, Alaska, Inc. (CPAI) for issuance of a
right-of-way grant and related authorizations to construct, operate,
and maintain a drill site, access road, pipelines, and ancillary
facilities to support development of petroleum resources at the Greater
Mooses Tooth Unit 1 (GMT1) drill site within the National
Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The BLM manages the surface and
subsurface at the proposed drill site and a majority of the proposed
infield road and pipeline route is on BLM-managed lands. The proposed
GMT1 site is approximately 14 miles west of the CPAI-operated Alpine
Central Processing Facility (CD-1). The proposed drill site would be
operated and maintained by Alpine staff and supported using CD-1
infrastructure. The Draft Supplemental EIS will evaluate any relevant
new circumstances and information which have arisen since the ASDP
Final EIS was issued in September 2004, update alternatives, and
address any changes to CPAI's proposed development plan for GMT1. The
Draft Supplemental EIS will result in a Record of Decision (ROD) that
will approve, deny, or approve with modification, CPAI's application,
as well as incorporate any additional mitigation measures that may be
relevant. The Draft Supplemental EIS analyzes CPAI's proposed project,
three action alternatives to the proposed project, including an
alternative that does not include a road between GMT1 and the currently
permitted Colville Delta 5 pad, and a no action alternative. The key
issues in the Draft Supplemental EIS center on oil and gas production
decisions, the protection of physical, biological, and subsistence
resources, and the evaluation and consideration of appropriate on-sight
and compensatory mitigation measures.
Section 810 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
requires the BLM to evaluate the effects of the alternatives presented
in the Draft Supplemental EIS on subsistence activities, and to hold
public hearings if it finds that any alternative may significantly
restrict subsistence activities. The analysis of environmental impacts
in the Draft Supplemental EIS indicates that the action alternatives
and the cumulative impacts may significantly restrict subsistence
activities in Nuiqsut; the cumulative impacts may also significantly
restrict subsistence activities in Barrow, Atqasuk, Wainwright, Point
Lay, and Anaktuvuk Pass. Therefore, the BLM will hold public hearings
on subsistence in conjunction with the public meetings in the
potentially affected communities of Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk, Barrow,
Nuiqsut, Point Lay, and Wainwright.
Written comments should be submitted by any of the methods listed
in the ADDRESSES section. Before including your address, phone number,
email address, or other personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including your
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public view, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
[[Page 9921]]
Authority: 40 CFR 1502.9, 40 CFR 1506.6, 43 CFR Part 2880.
Bud Cribley,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-03682 Filed 2-20-14; 8:45 am]
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