ALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE, ALASKANS FOR WILDLIFE, ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE EMPLOYEES, AUDUBON ALASKA, CANADIAN PARKS AND WILDERNESS SOCIETY-NATIONAL, CANADIAN PARKS AND WILDERNESS SOCIETY-YUKON CHAPTER, CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE, EARTHJUSTICE, ENVIRONMENT AMERICA, EYAK PRESERVATION COUNCIL, FAIRBANKS CLIMATE ACTION COALITION, FRIENDS OF ALASKA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES, GWICH’IN STEERING COMMITTEE, LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS, NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION, NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION, NATIVE MOVEMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, NATURE CANADA, NORTHERN ALASKA ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER, STAND.EARTH, SIERRA CLUB, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, TRUSTEES FOR ALASKA, AND WILDERNESS WATCH March 13, 2019 Submitted via email and online eplanning comment portal Nicole Hayes Attn: Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program EIS 222 West 7th Ave., Stop #13 Anchorage, Alaska 99513 [email protected] [email protected] Comments re: Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program and Announcement of Public Subsistence- Related Hearings, 83 Fed. Reg. 67,337 (Dec. 28, 2018). Dear Ms. Hayes, On behalf of the above-listed organizations and our many millions of members and supporters nationwide and internationally, we submit the following comments in response to the public notice from December 28, 2018 Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program and Announcement of Public Subsistence-Related Hearings, 83 Fed. Reg. 67,337 (Dec. 28, 2018). We oppose all oil and gas activities on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We stand with the Gwich’in Nation and support their efforts to protect their human rights and food security by protecting the Coastal Plain. Our organizations have dedicated decades to defending the Coastal Plain from oil and gas exploration and development, and we will continue to do so. These unparalleled public lands, and the wildlife that depend on them, are an international treasure that must be conserved for future generations. While we oppose any attempts to allow oil and gas activities on the Coastal Plain, we provide detailed comments outlining many legal, policy, and resource issues that the Bureau of i Land Management (BLM) failed to adequately address in its draft environmental impact statement (draft EIS or DEIS). Our review of the draft EIS has identified numerous relevant issues that were either not addressed at all or were inadequately addressed. As the agency responsible for managing the oil and gas program, the BLM must ensure the planning process complies with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the Wilderness Act, Title II of the Tax and Jobs Act, the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, in addition to other substantive laws, treaties, and regulations, as well as the management and permitting requirements of its federal and state cooperating agencies. BLM must also ensure that its analysis of the impacts of an oil and gas program on the Coastal Plain is scientifically accurate and fully considers all of the adverse impacts of an oil and gas program on the Coastal Plain, including seismic exploration. BLM’s efforts to date fall far short of what is required. BLM’s analysis is so lacking that BLM must revise the draft EIS and reissue it for public review and comment before it can proceed. We believe that any valid scientific review will show that oil and gas activities on the Coastal Plain will have unavoidable and un- mitigatable destructive impacts on Arctic Refuge wildlife and habitat and on the climate. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and BLM have continued to move this process forward at a very fast pace, reiterating their goal to hold a lease sale this year. A rushed process is not consistent with DOI’s legal obligations when considering an issue as important and controversial as destructive oil and gas exploration and development on the Coastal Plain. Instead of rushing to lease the Coastal Plain, DOI should listen to the millions of Americans and the Gwich’in Nation who support protection for the Coastal Plain and refrain from holding a hasty, ill-considered lease sale. The Coastal Plain is no place for any oil and gas activities, and reckless decision making is not what the Arctic Refuge — the crown jewel of our National Wildlife Refuge System — deserves. Sincerely, Kristen Miller, Conservation Director Jim Kowalsky, Chair Alaska Wilderness League Alaskans for Wildlife Robin L. West, Chair Natalie Dawson, Executive Director Association of Retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Audubon Alaska Service Employees Alison Ronson, Interim Executive Director Chris Rider, Executive Director Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society- Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society- National Yukon Chapter Kristen Monsell, Oceans Legal Director & Bob Dreher, Senior Vice President of Senior Attorney Conservation Programs Center for Biological Diversity Defenders of Wildlife ii Erik Grafe, Attorney Erik DuMont, Stop Drilling Campaign Earthjustice Director Environment America Carol Hoover, Executive Director Jessica Girard, Director Eyak Preservation Council Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition David C. Raskin, President Bernadette Demientieff, Executive Director Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges Gwich’in Steering Committee Alex Taurel, Conservation Program Director Sarah Greenberger, Senior Vice President League of Conservation Voters National Audubon Society Mary Greene, Public Lands Attorney Geoffrey Haskett, President National Wildlife Federation National Wildlife Refuge Association Adrienne Blatchford Garett Rose, Staff Attorney Native Movement Natural Resources Defense Council Graham Saul, Executive Director Ryan A. Marsh, Arctic Program Coordinator Nature Canada Northern Alaska Environmental Center Karimah Schoenhut, Staff Attorney Matt Krogh, Extreme Oil Campaign Director Sierra Club Stand.earth Jamie Williams, President Victoria Clark, Executive Director The Wilderness Society Trustees for Alaska George Nickas, Executive Director Wilderness Watch iii OVERVIEW OF COMMENTS Our organizations have dedicated decades to defending the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Arctic Refuge or Refuge) from oil and gas development, and we will continue to do so. These unparalleled public lands, and the wildlife that depend on them, are an international treasure that must be conserved for future generations. While we oppose any attempts to allow oil and gas activities on the Coastal Plain, we provide detailed comments addressing many legal, policy, and resources issues that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to address or inadequately addressed in the draft environmental impact statement (draft EIS or DEIS) for the leasing program. These comments set out in detail the history of conservation of the Coastal Plain; its current management; the tax legislation that allows for an oil and gas program on the Coastal Plain; legal deficiencies with the draft EIS regarding directives in the Tax Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), National Wildlife Refuge mandates, and other relevant laws such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA); and provide a critique of BLM’s analysis of the impacts of an oil and gas program on the exceptional resources of the Coastal Plain. At the outset, we note that BLM’s draft EIS is so lacking and its analysis so flawed that bringing it into compliance with legal mandates will require significant revisions. Additionally, BLM did not address numerous issues that Groups flagged for BLM in their Scoping Comment Letter.1 As such, BLM must revise and reissue the draft EIS for public review and comment before it can move to a final EIS. BLM FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE LONG HISTORY OF ARCTIC REFUGE PROTECTION. BLM’s draft EIS fails to acknowledge the conservation history of the Arctic Refuge and strong public support for its protection, biasing its presentation of the issues and skewing its analysis of an oil and gas program on Refuge resources. A. THE ARCTIC REFUGE AND ITS COASTAL PLAIN HAVE BEEN PROTECTED FOR DECADES BECAUSE OF THEIR EXCEPTIONAL ECOLOGICAL VALUES. Groups provided significant background on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge, including the long history of its conservation, in our scoping comments.2 As we explained, the Arctic Refuge is the crown jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Because of the remoteness of its intact ecosystems, the Arctic Refuge is unique in the entire National Wildlife Refuge System. It functions as a model for wild nature and for what it contributes to the entire National Wildlife Refuge System, especially in protecting and fostering the health and productivity of migratory species. 1 Letter from Adam Kolton, Executive Director, Alaska Wilderness League et al., to Nicole Hayes, Bureau of Land Management (June 19, 2018) [hereinafter Scoping Comment Letter]. 2 Scoping Comment Letter at 1–3. 1 Long before it was ever designated as a protected public land unit by the Federal government, Alaska Native peoples used and relied on the Coastal Plain and the resources it supports. They continue to do so today. Alaska Natives