Alaska Files ANWR Exploration Plan

According to the State of Alaska's Department of Natural Resources, Section 1002(a) of ANILCA director the Secretary of the Interior on managing Area1002, including assessment of its fish and wildlife resources, analyzing options for oil and gas development, and authorizing exploratory activities that avoid significant impacts to ANWR's resources.

Under Section 1002(e) of ANILCA, anyone can submit an exploration plan that meets the statute's criteria. When a plan is submitted, the secretary of the Interior must take specific actions, including approving a plan consistent with ANILCA's regulations within 120 days of submission.

The filing of a formal plan is the latest effort by Alaska over the past 20 years to open ANWR's Area 1002 for oil and gas exploration and production. In 1987, the Department of Interior recommended oil and gas development on Area 1002's coastal plain based on the findings of seismic activity conducted by 22 oil and gas companies in the mid-1980s. While 11 Alaska legislatures have passed bills and resolutions to support opening Area 1002 for oil and gas development, U.S. Congress has not opened the area for oil and activity.

However, the Draft ANWR Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Environmental Impact Statement published in 2010 did not include alternatives for oil and gas exploration and development but included the possibility of placing additional areas of ANWR as protected wilderness areas that would off-limits to exploration.

Jewell told Parnell in a June 28 letter that she and the federal government remain opposed to opening ANWR to oil and gas exploration. Jewell also told Parnell that seismic work is prohibited by ANILCA and that ANILCA's authorization to conduct exploration activity in the 1002 Area expired when DOI submitted its oil and gas report to Congress in 1987.

But Sullivan noted that DOI approved 1002 area exploration plans in the 1980s and that the law doesn’t contain a sunset provision, meaning the plans are still on the books.

Section 1002, which encompasses 1.5 million acres along Alaska's coastal plain, was specifically set aside by U.S. Congress to study its oil and gas potential.