About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (April 3, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/goveldp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional_______ ~ Research Service The Willow Project: History and Litigation April 3, 2023 On March 13, 2023, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency within the Department of the Interior tasked with management of federal public lands and resources, issued a new Record of Decision approving a Master Development Plan (MDP) for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), a 23- million-acre area on the North Slope of Alaska under federal control. The land is leased by ConocoPhillips, which proposed the MDP for an oil and gas drilling and production project commonly referred to as the Willow Project. The Record of Decision authorized drilling at three sites within the leasehold interests held by ConocoPhillips. BLM had previously approved an MDP for the Willow Project in 2020 during the Trump Administration; that approval was vacated by a federal court in Alaska. Likewise, the Biden Administration's approval of the Willow Project is being challenged in court. This Legal Sidebar provides background about the history of the Willow Project and some of the legal issues the litigation could present. Legal Background and 2020 Master Development Plan The approval of the MDP is the latest step in ConocoPhillips' longstanding attempts to produce oil from the NPR-A. Congress initially transferred authority over the NPR-A to BLM and largely prohibited oil and gas production in the area in 1976. Following further study, Congress first authorized leasing in the area in BLM appropriations for FY1981, and the agency held its first lease auction for acreage in the NPR-A the following year. Between 1999 and 2019, BLM offered almost 60 million acres in the NPR-A for oil and gas leasing. ConocoPhillips obtained leases for the NPR-A, and under those leases, it has had broad authorization to conduct oil and gas exploration and development activities in the area of the Willow Project since at least 2009. BLM has regulations that apply generally to oil and gas operations on federal lands, as well as more specific regulations that apply in the NPR-A. Among the many requirements, those regulations provide that oil and gas lessees must file, and BLM must approve, plans of operations prior to various activities pursuant to the lease, including drilling and site development activities. ConocoPhillips elected to file an MDP to comply with these filing requirements. BLM's approval of an MDP is a major federal action that is subject to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). To satisfy these requirements, BLM and ConocoPhillips first commenced preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 2018, shortly after ConocoPhillips filed its MDP. The contemplated project also required authorizations from the Army Corps of Engineers for dredging and Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10943 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most