[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 7, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38725-38726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-16783]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[18X.LLAK930100.L51010000.000000.LVRWL18L1090]
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Willow Master Development Plan Oil and Gas Prospect, Alaska
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, and the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production
Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Alaska
State Office, Anchorage, Alaska, intends to prepare a Master
Development Plan Environmental Impact Statement (MDP/EIS) for the
Willow oil and gas prospect within the Bear Tooth Unit of the National
Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A).
DATES: This Notice initiates the public scoping process for the Willow
oil and gas prospect MDP/EIS. Comments on issues, impacts, and
potential alternatives to be analyzed may be submitted in writing until
September 6, 2018. The BLM will hold public scoping meetings in
Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nuiqsut, and Utqiagvik. The dates, times, and
locations of scoping meetings will be announced through local news
media, newspapers, and the BLM Alaska website. Any Federal, state,
local
[[Page 38726]]
agency, or Tribe that is interested in serving as a cooperating agency
for the development of the MDP/EIS is asked to submit such requests to
the BLM by September 6, 2018.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues related to the scope of
the proposed Willow MDP/EIS by any of the following methods:
Email: [email protected].
Mail: Willow MDP/EIS Scoping Comments, Bureau of Land
Management, 222 West 7th Avenue, Stop #13, Anchorage, AK 99513.
Requests for information regarding the Willow MDP/EIS and
cooperating agency requests may be mailed to: Attn: Willow MDP/EIS, 222
West 7th Avenue, Stop #13, Anchorage, Alaska 99517. You may also
request to be added to the mailing list for the MDP/EIS.
Documents and other information pertaining to the MDP/EIS are
available on the BLM Alaska website at http://www.blm.gov/alaska.
You may examine documents pertinent to this proposal at the BLM
Alaska Public Room, Arctic District Office, 222 University Avenue,
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709, and at the BLM Alaska Public Information
Center, Alaska State Office, 222 West 7th Ave., Anchorage, Alaska
99513.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ferris Couture, BLM Alaska State
Office, 907-271-1306. People who use a telecommunications device for
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-
8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The
FRS 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: ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. (ConocoPhillips)
initiated discussions with the BLM regarding potential development of
its recently announced Willow oil and gas prospect, which is located on
Federal oil and gas leases ConocoPhillips holds within the Bear Tooth
Unit of the NPR-A approximately 30 air miles west of the Native Village
of Nuiqsut. The BLM manages approximately 23 million acres comprising
the NPR-A, located on Alaska's North Slope.
On May 10, 2018, ConocoPhillips submitted a letter requesting the
development of the Willow prospect through a MDP/EIS. The letter,
available on the BLM Alaska website, includes a description of the
foreseeable infrastructure and activity associated with the proposed
Willow prospect development and a map of the proposed area of
development. Analyzing the entire proposed Willow development in a
single MDP/EIS will allow the BLM to make determinations of National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) adequacy when individual applications
for permits to drill are submitted. This is expected to result in a
quicker and more efficient process for the approval of applications for
permits to drill.
The MDP/EIS will analyze the environmental impacts and appropriate
mitigation measures to reduce adverse effects to surface resources of
the proposed Willow prospect which would involve the construction,
operation, and maintenance of an oil and gas development project which
may include: One central processing facility, an infrastructure pad, up
to five drill pads with up to fifty wells on each pad, access and
infield roads, an airstrip, pipelines, a gravel mine, and a temporary
island to support module delivery via sealift barges.
The MDP/EIS will be prepared in accordance with recently issued
Executive Orders and Secretarial guidance on streamlining and improving
the NEPA and other regulatory processes. At present, the BLM has
identified the following preliminary issues for evaluation in the MDP/
EIS, impacts to: Subsistence use and access; biological resources,
including caribou, polar bears, spectacled and Stellar eiders, yellow
billed loons, and fisheries; social and cultural resources; air quality
and climate; and aquatic resources.
The BLM will use NEPA public participation guidelines to assist the
agency in satisfying the public involvement requirements under Section
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108),
pursuant to 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3).
The information about historic and cultural resources within the
area potentially affected by the Willow development project will assist
the BLM in identifying and evaluating impacts to cultural resources in
the context of both NEPA and Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personally identifiable information in your comment, you should
be aware that your entire comment--including your personally
identifiable information--may be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask the BLM in your comment to withhold your personally
identifiable information from public review, we cannot guarantee that
we will be able to do so.
The BLM will consult with federally recognized Tribes on a
government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175
and other policies. Tribal concerns will be given appropriate
consideration.
Federal, state, local agencies, and Tribes that may be interested
in or substantially affected by the proposal that the BLM is evaluating
are invited to request participation in the development of the MDP/EIS
as cooperating agencies. Appropriate cooperating agencies are those
with jurisdiction by law and/or those that can offer special expertise
in the development of the MDP/EIS.
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7.
Karen E. Mouritsen,
Acting State Director, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 2018-16783 Filed 8-6-18; 8:45 am]
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