[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9015-9016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-4416]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Outer Continental Shelf, Beaufort Sea
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for Proposed Offshore Oil and Gas Development and Production of
the Liberty Project in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea.
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SUMMARY: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is evaluating, through
an EIS, approval of a Development and Production Plan (DPP) submitted
by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. for activities to develop an offshore
oil and gas discovery in Federal waters of the Beaufort Sea northeast
of the Prudhoe Bay oilfields.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Fred King, Leasing Activities
Section, Minerals Management Service, Alaska OCS Region, 949 E.
36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4302;
telephone (907) 271-6696.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Authority
This Notice is published pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as amended, and the
regulations issued thereunder (40 CFR Part 1501).
2. Purpose of Notice of Intent
The MMS is announcing its intent to prepare an EIS on the proposed
DPP for the Liberty Project in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. This
announcement initiates the scoping process for this EIS.
The BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. proposes to develop the Liberty
oilfield from a man-made gravel island constructed on the Federal Outer
Continental Shelf in Foggy Island Bay in approximately 22 feet of water
inside the Barrier Islands. The Liberty project, which is located
approximately 5 miles offshore the coast, is about midway between Point
Brower to the west and Tigvariak Island to the east. The proposed
island would be located in Federal waters between McClure Islands and
the coast. The overall project includes a gravel island, stand-alone
processing facilities on the island, associated infrastructure, subsea
buried oil and utility pipelines (approximately 6.1 miles long), and an
above-ground onshore pipeline (approximately 1.5 miles long) south to
tie-in with the Badami pipeline system, an onshore gravel mine site,
and ice roads. The BP Exploration proposes a construction start-up in
December 1999, and that will conclude in December 2000. Initial
development drilling will begin in October 2000 and conclude in April
2002. Production operations are expected to begin December 2000, and
continue for an estimated 15-year field life.
The Liberty DPP will require approval by MMS, the lead permitting
agency with jurisdiction over the development project, including
construction, drilling,
[[Page 9016]]
and operations. Other Federal, State, and local agencies such as the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Fish
and Wildlife Service (FWS), the State of Alaska (State) agencies, and
the North Slope Borough (NSB) also have permit and other approval or
authorization responsibilities over selected aspects of the project.
No development or production activities can be conducted until MMS
has approved the DPP and the DPP has received coastal zone consistency
concurrence from the State.
3. Alternatives
Alternatives considered in the EIS will include the action as
proposed by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. as described in their DPP and
a no action alternative. Other possible alternatives that may be
considered include variations of the proposed action and alternatives
identified during the scoping process.
4. Public Involvement and Scoping
The MMS consulted with Federal, State, and local agencies in
January 1998 on the proposed action. At this time the Corps has
indicated that they will be a cooperating agency for the EIS. Possible
significant issues to be addressed in the draft EIS include: oil spill
risk and spill response capabilities, potential effects on bowhead
whale migration and subsistence hunting of whales and other marine
mammals, and the potential effects of dredging and fill operations on
the area known as the Boulder Patch. The MMS is requesting comments
from Federal, State, and local governments and other interested parties
on the scope of the EIS, significant issues that should be addressed,
and additional alternatives that should be considered. Comments should
be sent to the address given above and enclosed in an envelope labeled
``Comments on the Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS on the Liberty
Project, Beaufort Sea.'' Comments are due no later than 45 days from
publication of this Notice.
Public information versions of the Liberty Project DPP submitted by
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. are available for review at the Minerals
Management Service, Alaska OCS Region, Public Information Resource
Center, 949 E. 36th Avenue, Room 330, Anchorage, Alaska.
Copies of the DPP are also available for inspection in the following
locations:
Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library (Noel Wien Library) 1215
Cowles Street, Fairbanks, Alaska
State of Alaska, Division of Governmental Coordination, 240 Main
Street, Suite 500, Juneau, Alaska
Office of the Mayor, North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska
Office of the Mayor, City of Nuiqsut, Nuiqsut, Alaska
Office of the Mayor, City of Kaktovik, Kaktovik, Alaska
Tuzzy Consortium Library, Barrow, Alaska
Minerals Management Service, Engineering & Operations Division, 381
Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia
5. Meeting Schedule
Scoping meetings are tentatively planned for the communities of
Barrow, Nuiqsut, Kaktovik, and Anchorage in mid-to-late March 1998. A
public announcement of the final decision on the dates and locations of
the scoping meetings will be made at a later date.
Dated: February 17, 1998.
Carolita U. Kallaur,
Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 98-4416 Filed 2-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
