Comment Deadline Extended on Biden Plan for Alaska Petroleum Reserves

WASHINGTON — The Bureau of Land Management is extending the public comment period on the proposed new protections for about 13 million acres of pristine wilderness in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

The new deadline for commenting on the rule is now Nov. 17. The BLM is encouraging anyone wanting to comment to do so at https://www.regulations.gov. 

The BLM manages the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska in accordance with the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976, which requires the agency to balance oil and gas development with the protection of fish and wildlife, subsistence, recreational and other values.

The reserve itself is a 23 million acre area that sits atop an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil on Alaska’s North Slope. 

Originally set aside by President Warren G. Harding as an emergency oil supply for the U.S. Navy, administration of the reserve was transferred to the BLM as part of the adoption of the 1976 act.

Attempts to open even a portion of the reserve for drilling go back to the 1980s, when the Reagan administration recommended it be opened for that purpose. President Reagan’s goal, however, was stymied by Democratic lawmakers.

A portion of the reserve area, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, was opened to drilling under President Donald J. Trump, a decision that sparked outrage over what environmentalists maintain is the largest remaining extensive piece of untouched wilderness in the nation.

“We will continue to fight this at every turn,” said Adam Kolton, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, in a statement at the time. 

“Any oil company that would seek to drill in the Arctic Refuge will face enormous reputational, legal and financial risks,” Kolton said.

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order halting Arctic drilling and a year later he suspended the leases that had been granted by the Trump administration, on the grounds that the related environmental reviews had been faulty.

The rule now open for comment was announced Sept. 6, the same day the Biden administration announced it was prohibiting new oil and gas leasing in 10.6 million acres of the petroleum reserve and unilaterally canceling all drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The administration’s action also mandated that an additional 2.4 million acres would be subject to strict new safeguards, effectively requiring a showing that any development on them would result in minimal effects on wildlife.

The agency itself described the new rule on its website as a “framework for balancing development with the protection of Special Areas — lands that harbor significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife, historical and scenic values.”

“We have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all ages,” Biden said in a written statement released by the White House.

“Canceling all remaining oil and gas leases issued under the previous administration in the Arctic Refuge and protecting more than 13 million acres in the western Arctic will help preserve our Arctic lands and wildlife, while honoring the culture, history, and enduring wisdom of Alaska Natives who have lived on these lands since time immemorial,” the president said.

The proposed rule now open for public comment would limit future oil and gas leasing and industrial development in the Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay Special Areas in Alaska — places known for their globally significant habitat for wildlife, including grizzly and polar bears, caribou and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds.

Building off the agency’s current “Integrated Activity Plan,” which guides its decision-making process, the rule would outright prohibit any new leasing in 10.6 million acres of the reserve, more than 40% of its total area.

In addition, the proposal would establish a new framework for managing and protecting the reserve’s sensitive fish and wildlife, subsistence, recreational and other resources

Specifically, the new framework would:

• Require the BLM to conduct an evaluation at least once every five years to determine whether to identify new Special Areas and enhance protections for existing Special Areas.
• Establish that “assuring maximum protection of significant resource values is the management priority for Special Areas” as required by federal law.
• Require the BLM to prepare a Statement of Adverse Effect if oil and gas activities would cause unavoidable adverse effects on a Special Area, and to minimize or mitigate those effects to the “maximum extent possible.”
• Require the adoption of conditions, restrictions and prohibitions to mitigate the adverse effects of proposed oil and gas activities outside of Special Areas. 

The new rule would also incorporate several key components of the current Integrated Activity Plan by:

• Incorporating the existing Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, Peard Bay, Teshekpuk Lake, and Utukok River Uplands Special Area designations and specifying the “significant resource values” associated with each of those areas.
• Identifying where oil and gas leasing and the construction of new infrastructure is permitted.
• Authorizing limited exceptions to development restrictions, including to support the needs of communities in and around the reserve.

The proposed rule also contains provisions intended to protect the subsistence uses and resources of Indigenous communities in Alaska, allowing them to continue to hunt, fish and live on land throughout the reserve.

Bureau officials said the proposed rule would not affect existing oil and gas leases or operations in the reserve. Areas closed to leasing and new infrastructure under the current Integrated Activity Plan would remain closed in the proposed rule. 

They also said the BLM would continue to honor any valid existing rights within (and outside) of those areas.

The proposed rule would, however, raise the bar for future development clear guidelines that are consistent with the current management plan for the reserve.

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