The Trump administration is exempting wintertime oil and gas exploration from environmental review in the National Petroleum Reserve, a massive area on Alaska’s North Slope.
In a Friday notice, the Interior Department said the Bureau of Land Management can approve certain projects, including seismic surveys to assess where oil is located or drilling of exploration wells, without preparing a new environmental assessment.
The exclusion also removes the need for an impact statement, but projects are still screened for “extraordinary circumstances.”
People were interested in these podcasts
This initiative enables “important winter exploration projects” to move forward “efficiently, advancing American Energy Dominance and national security,” the Federal Register notice reads.
Under the National Environmental Policy Act, federal agencies must consider the environmental effects of their proposed actions.
The Bureau of Land Management said it decided on this exclusion after analyzing dozens of environmental assessments the agency has conducted for wintertime exploration in the reserve.
“Those analyses show that those exploration activities result in no significant impacts on human health or the environment when conducted under established operating procedures and mitigation measures,” its Thursday announcement reads.
About 3.5 million acres in the reserve, which covers 23 million acres, are leased, according to the bureau, following a March lease sale that drew $163.7 million in receipts.
The bureau’s Alaska director, Kevin Pendergast, said this exclusion lets developers better locate energy resources in the reserve, thus increasing domestic energy supply and “leading to stable energy costs and more revenue for Alaskan communities and the American public.”
Activities covered under this notice include vibroseis, or land-based, seismic methods; construction of temporary ice road and snow routes; construction of ice pads, use of camps and associated support equipment; water withdrawals and associated access; appraisal or delineation activities, including for wells; and helicopter-assisted summer cleanup activities.
Rep. Nick Begich, Alaska Republican, said the state’s energy resources are “finally being unlocked.”
“For years, Alaska’s resource potential was held back by regulatory uncertainty and shifting federal policies that made it difficult for companies to plan and invest,” he said in a statement. “Every new exploration opportunity carries the possibility of discovering additional resources that have the potential to strengthen Alaska’s economy, generate public revenues, and contribute to America’s long-term energy security.”
The department’s newest exemption follows two 2025 executive orders aimed at eliminating permitting delays and maximizing the development and production of Alaska’s natural resources.
The Friday notice builds on the administration’s rescission of a Biden-era 2024 rule and the updated plan that reopened about 82% of the reserve to leasing, according to the bureau.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.