Sec. 5007. Coastal Plain environmental protection
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The Secretary shall, consistent with the requirements of section 5003, administer this subtitle through regulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, prohibitions, stipulations, and other provisions that— ensure the oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities on the Coastal Plain shall not result in any significant adverse effect on fish and wildlife, the habitat of fish and wildlife, or the environment; require the application of the best commercially available technology for oil and gas exploration, development, and production on all new exploration, development, and production operations; and ensure that the maximum amount of surface acreage covered by production and support facilities, including airstrips and any areas covered by gravel berms or piers for support of pipelines, does not exceed 10,000 acres on the Coastal Plain for each 100,000 acres of area leased.
With respect to any proposed drilling and related activities, the Secretary shall require that— a site-specific analysis be made of the probable effects, if any, that the drilling or related activities will have on fish and wildlife, the habitat of fish and wildlife, subsistence resources, and the environment; a plan be implemented to avoid, minimize, and mitigate (in that order and to the extent practicable) any significant adverse effect identified under paragraph (1); and the development of the plan shall occur after consultation with the agency or agencies having jurisdiction over matters mitigated by the plan.
Prior to implementing the leasing program authorized by this subtitle, the Secretary shall prepare and promulgate regulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, prohibitions, stipulations, and other measures designed to ensure that the activities undertaken on the Coastal Plain under this subtitle are conducted in a manner consistent with the purposes and environmental requirements of this subtitle. The proposed regulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, prohibitions, and stipulations for the leasing program under this subtitle shall require compliance with all applicable provisions of Federal and State environmental law and compliance with the following:
Standards at least as effective as the safety and environmental mitigation measures set forth in items 1 through 29 at pages 167 through 169 of the document of the Department of the Interior entitled Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement and dated April 1987 relating to the Coastal Plain. Seasonal limitations on exploration, development, and related activities, where necessary, to avoid significant adverse effects during periods of concentrated fish and wildlife breeding, denning, nesting, spawning, and migration based on a preponderance of the best available scientific evidence that has been peer reviewed and obtained by following appropriate, documented scientific procedures, the results of which can be repeated using those same procedures.
That exploration activities, except for surface geological studies— be limited to the period between approximately November 1 and May 1 each year; and be supported, if necessary, by ice roads, winter trails with adequate snow cover, ice pads, ice airstrips, and air transport methods, except that exploration activities may occur at other times if the Secretary finds that the exploration will have no significant adverse effect on the fish and wildlife, the habitat of fish and wildlife, and the environment of the Coastal Plain.
Design safety and construction standards for all pipelines and any access and service roads, that minimize, to the maximum extent practicable, adverse effects on— the passage of migratory species such as caribou; and the flow of surface water by requiring the use of culverts, bridges, and other structural devices. Prohibitions on general public access and use on all pipeline access and service roads. Stringent reclamation and rehabilitation requirements, consistent with the standards set forth in this subtitle, requiring the removal from the Coastal Plain of all oil and gas development and production facilities, structures, and equipment upon completion of oil and gas production operations, except that the Secretary may exempt from the requirements of this paragraph those facilities, structures, or equipment that the Secretary determines would assist in the management of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and that are donated to the United States for that purpose.
Appropriate prohibitions or restrictions on access by all modes of transportation. Appropriate prohibitions or restrictions on sand and gravel extraction. Consolidation of facility siting. Appropriate prohibitions or restrictions on the use of explosives. Avoidance, to the extent practicable, of springs, streams, and river systems, the protection of natural surface drainage patterns, wetlands, and riparian habitats, and the regulation of methods or techniques for developing or transporting adequate supplies of water for exploratory drilling.
Avoidance or minimization of air traffic-related disturbance to fish and wildlife. Treatment and disposal of hazardous and toxic wastes, solid wastes, reserve pit fluids, drilling muds and cuttings, and domestic wastewater, including an annual waste management report, a hazardous materials tracking system, and a prohibition on chlorinated solvents, in accordance with applicable Federal and State environmental law (including regulations). Fuel storage and oil spill contingency planning.
Research, monitoring, and reporting requirements. Field crew environmental briefings. Avoidance of significant adverse effects upon subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping by subsistence users. Compliance with applicable air and water quality standards. Appropriate seasonal and safety zone designations around well sites, within which subsistence hunting and trapping shall be limited. Reasonable stipulations for protection of cultural and archeological resources. All other protective environmental stipulations, restrictions, terms, and conditions determined necessary by the Secretary.
In preparing and promulgating regulations, lease terms, conditions, restrictions, prohibitions, and stipulations under this section, the Secretary shall consider— the stipulations and conditions that govern the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska leasing program, as set forth in the 1999 Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska Final Integrated Activity Plan/Environmental Impact Statement; the environmental protection standards that governed the initial Coastal Plain seismic exploration program under parts 37.31 to 37.33 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations; and the land use stipulations for exploratory drilling on the KIC–ASRC private land that are set forth in appendix 2 of the August 9, 1983, agreement between Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and the United States.
The Secretary shall, after providing for public notice and comment, prepare and update periodically a plan to govern, guide, and direct the siting and construction of facilities for the exploration, development, production, and transportation of Coastal Plain oil and gas resources. The plan shall have the following objectives: Avoiding unnecessary duplication of facilities and activities. Encouraging consolidation of common facilities and activities. Locating or confining facilities and activities to areas that will minimize impact on fish and wildlife, the habitat of fish and wildlife, and the environment.
Using existing facilities wherever practicable. Enhancing compatibility between wildlife values and development activities. The Secretary shall— manage public land in the Coastal Plain subject to section 811 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act ( 16 U.S.C. 3121 ); and ensure that local residents shall have reasonable access to public land in the Coastal Plain for traditional uses.
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Sec. 5007
Coastal Plain environmental protection
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