83 FR 38725 - Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Willow Master Development Plan Oil and Gas Prospect, Alaska

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 152 (August 7, 2018)

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).

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 7, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38725-38726]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[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]
 BILLING CODE 4310-JA-P