US limits oil and gas drilling and mining to protect public land in Alaska

The US Department of the Interior has announced that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has finalized the Management and Protection of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) rule and that it will also be publishing a Request for Information on expanding Special Areas within the NPR-A. The final rule codifies protections of over 5,2 million hectares of Special Areas in the western Arctic and supporting subsistence uses and needs for Alaska Native communities by limiting future oil and gas leasing and industrial development in the Teshekpuk Lake, Utukok Uplands, Colville River, Kasegaluk Lagoon, and Peard Bay Special Areas. The rule also codifies existing prohibitions on new leasing in 4.3 million hectares, more than 40% of the NPR-A, consistent with the current NPR-A Integrated Activity Plan (IAP). Additionally, the BLM released its “No Action” Record of Decision on the final supplemental environmental analysis of the Ambler Road project, a mine development in the Ambler District in north central Alaska, denying the right-of-way to build over 340 km of road across BLM-managed public lands. 

In September 2023, the BLM proposed the NPR-A rule and received more than 100,000 comments were received during the public comment period from all relevant stakeholders. The NPR-A, is a 93 million hectare area on the state's North Slope that is the largest tract of undisturbed public land in the United States. The new rule would prohibit oil and gas leasing on 4.3 million hectares while limiting development on more than 809,000 hectares. The rule would not affect existing oil and gas operations, with current oil and gas leases covering about 1 million hectares.