The US Bureau of Land Management reported it will begin a 60-day public scoping period to assist in preparing an environmental impact statement for oil and gas leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain.
“Developing our resources there is an important facet for meeting our nation’s energy demands and achieving energy dominance,” Assistant Interior Sec. for Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash said.
Members of Alaska’s congressional delegation—Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Don Young—issued a joint statement supporting the action. All are Republicans.
BLM said the public scoping process is designed to help identify relevant issues that will influence the EIS’s scope and guide its development. Public meetings will be held in Anchorage, Arctic Village, Fairbanks, Kaktovik, and Utqiagvik, it said. Public comments on scoping issues for the proposed EIS will be accepted through June 19, BLM said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
Nick Snow
NICK SNOW covered oil and gas in Washington for more than 30 years. He worked in several capacities for The Oil Daily and was founding editor of Petroleum Finance Week before joining OGJ as its Washington correspondent in September 2005 and becoming its full-time Washington editor in October 2007. He retired from OGJ in January 2020.