BLM exempts Alaska North Slope winter oil exploration from environmental review

Right · 1The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on Thursday 8 October 2026 that it was exempting winter oil and gas exploration in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) from review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 1 Mixed · 2The exclusion covers activities such as exploratory seismic surveys, exploration wells, and plugging and abandonment; Inside Climate News reported it was published in the Federal Register on Friday. 1 2 Right · 1Interior officials said they created the categorical exclusion after analysing “dozens of previous environmental assessments” of wintertime exploration, which they said showed no significant impacts when standard operating procedures and mitigation measures are followed. 1

Left · 1BLM Alaska State Director Kevin Pendergast said the change will let developers “more nimbly locate energy resources,” increasing domestic supply and lowering costs, and the agency cited a “long history” of exploration without significant or lasting environmental impact. 2 Right · 1BLM said it must still check each project for extraordinary circumstances, such as potential impacts to endangered species, before applying the exclusion. 1 Left · 1Critics dispute the approach. Andy Moderow of the Alaska Wilderness League called it a “drill first and discover the impacts later approach,” and Earthjustice attorney Janet Bering said it was finalised with “zero public input” and is unlawful. 2

Right · 1The Washington Examiner, citing an August Public Domain report, said sources told that outlet the exclusion criteria were drafted without a public comment period or input from people living near the NPR-A, and that environmentalists have long argued exploration should face scrutiny because seismic equipment can be very heavy. 1 Left · 1Inside Climate News reported that caribou herds in the region have fallen by more than half since the 1990s according to NOAA's 2024 Arctic Report Card, and that Iñupiat views are mixed: some communities expect economic benefits, while Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, a former mayor of Nuiqsut, said residents would have fewer chances to comment. 2 Mixed · 2The exclusion does not cover all oil and gas activity on the North Slope. Last month BLM proposed a separate rule, stemming from a petition by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, to cut environmental review and public input for projects beyond the exploration phase; the association did not respond immediately to a request for comment. 1 2

Mixed · 2The move follows a March lease sale in the NPR-A that drew 430 bids on nearly 200 tracts spanning more than 1 million acres, with total high bids of $163 million, and President Trump's 2025 executive order directing agencies to rescind Biden-era restrictions, after which his administration has reopened up to 82 percent of the region to leasing. 1 2