{"id":153,"date":"2026-05-24T19:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T19:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=153"},"modified":"2026-05-24T19:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T19:09:07","slug":"oil-industry-has-an-idea-to-speed-permitting-on-western-arctic-leases-blm-likes-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=153","title":{"rendered":"Oil industry has an idea to speed permitting on western Arctic leases. BLM likes it."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Alaska\u2019s oil and gas lobby wants to expedite development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, an Indiana-sized piece of federal land in the Western Arctic<\/p>\n

Read more Dunleavy pins pipeline fate on tax break he wants Alaska lawmakers to approve<\/a><\/p>\n

And, just days after the Alaska Oil and Gas Association petitioned the government to adopt a new and faster permitting process, the Bureau of Land Management obliged, announcing it intends to write a new rule for the reserve. Drilling opponents call it a corporate giveaway.<\/p>\n

The idea is to avoid bureaucratic redundancy in what could be a busy period for the NPR-A. In a blockbuster lease sale in March, nine companies won leases on nearly 200 tracts in the petroleum reserve on the North Slope.<\/p>\n

Rather than have each company apply to the BLM for permits for each production site, the industry is asking the agency to make a rule granting permits as long as certain conditions are met.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal here is to create greater certainty and consistency for what we view as routine development activities in the petroleum reserve but continuing along strong environmental stewardship when we do it,\u201d said Steve Wackowski, president of the Alaska Oil & Gas Association, the trade group that proposed the process.<\/p>\n

The BLM could do one big environmental impact study covering the basic things that make up a production site, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo a limited amount of gravel roads, development pads, drilling pads that could be looked at, studied with potential to be codified in the rules, so we could go right to BLM and get a permit to build those facilities,\u201d Wackowski said.<\/p>\n

The request comes at a time when permitting reform has become a national cause. Producers of fossil and renewable energy alike are pushing Congress to make some changes, because the laws that slow oil drilling also delay transmission lines and solar farms. But one person\u2019s red tape is another\u2019s meaningful environmental protection. While Congress mulls a compromise, the Alaska oil industry is proposing a special process for the NPR-A.<\/p>\n

As AOGA proposes it, a company would apply for a permit in the reserve, specifying how many wells it wants, the size and locations of gravel pads and other construction. If the BLM decides it meets the definition of a production site as described in the rule, the permit would be granted within 60 days.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018This is how we heal:\u2019 Hoonah honors its veterans with two new memorials<\/a><\/p>\n

Wackowski points out it would only apply to BLM permits. Development near waterways would still require permits from the Corps of Engineers, he said, and the permitting process for state and North Slope Borough would be unchanged.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there still is a whole host of other permits and opportunities for public input with those other permits required,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Environmental advocates in the North Slope community of Nuiqsut call it a gift to industry.<\/p>\n

Matt Jackson, Alaska senior manager at The Wilderness Society, said the approach wrongly assumes that one part of the NPR-A is the same as any other.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re moving development into places where it’s never been before, into places with really important surface and cultural and subsistence values, and they deserve to be evaluated on their own merits, not with a cookie-cutter approach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And, Jackson said, the umbrella permitting concept doesn\u2019t take into account the cumulative effects of multiple projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have one drill pad, you know, a caribou can just go around that,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you have 10 drill pads on a line, stretching out for miles and miles with pipelines and roads and power lines, that makes a much bigger impact to the caribou moving to where they need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The BLM has kicked off a public scoping period<\/u> for an environmental impact study that would precede the rule. It\u2019s underway until July 6.<\/p>\n

Read more Alaska Legislature approves millions for facilities upgrades at Mt. Edgecumbe High School<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rather than study each proposal in the NPR-A, the industry wants the feds to study one and grant permits for all similar proposals. Foes deride the \u201ccookie-cutter\u201d approach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOil industry has an idea to speed permitting on western Arctic leases. 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