Interior Department Seeks Categorical Exclusion for Winter Oil Exploration in Alaska’s North Slope

The U.S. Interior Department is preparing a categorical exclusion that would streamline permitting for winter seismic testing and exploratory drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). The draft would allow the agency to forgo the usual public-comment period and abbreviated environmental review of activities such as ice-road construction, airstrip building, and well drilling.

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The NPR-A spans more than 22 million acres on the North Slope. Since the Trump administration reopened over 80 percent of the reserve to leasing, a March lease sale generated a record $163 million, with winning bids from Exxon, Shell, Beacon Land Management and others. More than half a dozen companies hold leases, the largest producer being ConocoPhillips, which operates the Willow project approved under the prior administration. In December, the Bureau of Land Management approved ConocoPhillips’ winter seismic survey covering over 300 square miles, four exploratory wells, and associated infrastructure. In January, an oil rig being moved for winter work toppled, spilling thousands of gallons of diesel onto tundra.

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The Interior spokesperson emphasized that the categorical exclusion would rely on existing mitigation protocols to avoid significant environmental harm. The Council on Environmental Quality has been rescinding NEPA regulations across federal agencies, a broader policy shift cited by the department as justification for the expedited approach.

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• “As the cleanup continues for an oil rig accident this past winter, this proposal to ignore impacts for exploration drilling and seismic in the NPR-A is simply mind boggling,” — Andy Moderow, senior director of policy for the Alaska Wilderness League — Andy Moderow, senior director of policy for the Alaska Wilderness League

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