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1 [1] (May 17, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govelrg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service informing the Ieg~sIaflve debate since 1914 0 Updated May 17, 2023 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Status of Oil and Gas Program The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or the Refuge) comprises 19 million acres in northeast Alaska, administered primarily by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the Department of the Interior. ANWR's Coastal Plain-a 1.57-million-acre area in the northern part of the Refuge (Figure 1)-is viewed as an onshore oil prospect, with a mean estimate by the U.S. Geological Survey of 7.7 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil on federal lands (or 10.4 billion barrels if Alaska Native lands and adjacent waters are included). The Refuge also is a center of activity for caribou and other wildlife, with subsistence use by Alaska Natives and critical habitat for polar bears under the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. §§1531-1544). P.L. 115-97 established a program for oil and gas leasing in ANWR's Coastal Plain. The law's 2017 enactment marked a turning point in decades of congressional debate over energy development in the Refuge. Prior to enactment of the law, Section 1003 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA; P.L. 96-487) had prohibited oil and gas development in ANWR unless such activities were explicitly authorized by an act of Congress. Section 20001 of P.L. 115-97 directed the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to establish and administer a competitive oil and gas leasing program for ANWR's Coastal Plain and added this program as a stated purpose of the Refuge. The law requires at least two lease sales in the Coastal Plain, one within four years of the law's enactment (i.e., by December 2021) and a second within seven years of enactment (December 2024). Each lease sale must offer at least 400,000 acres and must include those areas with the highest potential for discovery of hydrocarbons. The law also has provisions concerning management of the oil and gas program, minimum royalty rates for ANWR leases, disposition of revenues from the program, rights-of-way, and surface development. (For more information, see CRS In Focus IF10782, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Provisions in P.L. 115-97, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.) During BLM's implementation of the ANWR oil and gas program, Congress has continued to debate leasing in the Refuge. Some Members support the program established in P.L. 115-97, and others seek to repeal it. January 202 Lease Sale On January 6, 2021, under the Trump Administration, BLM held the first oil and gas lease sale for the ANWR Coastal Plain, offering 22 tracts on 1.1 million acres. The sale yielded a total of $14.4 million in high bids on 11 tracts. BLM subsequently issued leases for nine of the tracts, covering 437,804 total acres. Most leases went to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), a state-established public corporation. Two private companies that won leases later relinquished them. National Wildlife Refuge f rctc National ildlfe Refuge Source: FWS, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan, April 2015, https://www.fws.gov/home/arctic-ccp/. Edited by CRS.

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