Biden administration sets stage for minimal second lease sale in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Alex DeMarban, Anchorage Daily News on Nov 6, 2024

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Biden administration on Wednesday issued a final environmental review for a second lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The administration also identified a preferred alternative for the sale that would offer 400,000 acres in the refuge’s coastal plane, the minimum acreage required by Congress for the sale in the 2017 Tax Act.

The goal is limiting the footprint where seismic exploration could take place and avoiding sensitive polar bear dens and caribou herd calving areas, the U.S. Interior Department said in a prepared statement.

The potential surface disturbance would be limited and would include “no surface occupancy” provisions to avoid ground disturbance in certain areas.

The 2017 Tax Act required the federal government to hold two lease sales in the coastal plain of the refuge. The final environmental review for the sale will be followed by a final decision from the Biden administration choosing a leasing alternative. A date for the lease sale has not been set, but it must be held by Dec. 22.

The first lease sale was held in 2021 under former President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday was elected to a second term that begins Jan. 20. President Joe Biden’s administration canceled the small number of leases issued in that sale, saying it did not meet legal requirements.

Most of the leases were sold to an Alaska development agency that is suing the federal government over the cancellation. The agency, the Alaska Industrial and Export Development Authority, is preparing to buy more leases in the second sale.

The first lease sale saw no interest from major oil companies and was largely considered a flop.

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