Availability of Record of Decision Selecting a Route for the Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Road Through the Kobuk National Preserve, Alaska; Terms and Conditions Accompanying That Decision, and Final Environmental and Economic Analysis of the Impacts of Proposed Routes Within the Preserve

George Wallace
Department of the Interior
4 August 2020

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 150 (Tuesday, August 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 47240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16906]



[[Page 47240]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-AKRO-GAAR]


Availability of Record of Decision Selecting a Route for the 
Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Road Through the Kobuk 
National Preserve, Alaska; Terms and Conditions Accompanying That 
Decision, and Final Environmental and Economic Analysis of the Impacts 
of Proposed Routes Within the Preserve

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by law, the Department of the Interior (DOI) and 
the Department of Transportation (DOT) have jointly agreed upon a route 
for the issuance of the right-of-way across the Western (Kobuk River) 
unit of the Gates of the Arctic National Preserve for the proposed 
Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Road, based on the Final 
Environmental and Economic Analysis.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Alaska National Interest Lands 
Conservation Act (ANILCA) established the Gates of the Arctic National 
Preserve (Preserve). Section 201(4) of that Act also required that the 
Secretary of the Interior permit access for surface transportation from 
the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District through the Preserve, 
and for the Secretaries of the Interior and Transportation to jointly 
agree upon the route. The Act further required the two Secretaries to 
prepare an Environmental and Economic Analysis (EEA) for the purpose of 
determining the most desirable route for the right-of-way through the 
Preserve, in lieu of an Environmental Impact Statement, and exempted 
the EEA from judicial review. The EEA and related activities were to be 
triggered by the filing of an application for such a right-of-way.
    The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), a 
public corporation of the State of Alaska, has applied for a right-of-
way for an industrial access road through the Preserve. The proposed 
route is 26 miles within the Preserve and 211 miles in total (the 
Northern Alignment). The EEA also analyzed an alternative route that is 
18 miles within the Preserve and 228 miles in total (the Southern 
Alignment).
    The National Park Service (NPS), in cooperation with the U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), 
prepared the EEA. A draft of the document was issued for public comment 
on August 23, 2019, for a comment period that originally extended 
through October 7, 2019. Based on feedback from the public, this was 
extended until October 29, 2019. NPS also attended 12 public meetings 
sponsored by BLM, one in Fairbanks, one in Washington, DC, and 10 in 
rural Alaska communities possibly impacted by the road.
    NPS received slightly under 3,000 comments. The NPS analyzed all 
pieces of correspondence received during the comment period when 
preparing the final EEA. The comments assisted in identifying sections 
of the draft EEA, including proposed terms and conditions, that 
required refinement and revision. It also aided in organizing, 
clarifying, and addressing technical information within the final EEA.
    The Record of Decision (ROD), informed by the EEA, determined the 
Northern Alignment to be the most economically feasible and prudent 
alternative with less severe impacts allowing for construction, 
operation, maintenance, and reclamation of the private industrial 
access road. The selected route would impact fewer wetlands, would have 
less adverse impacts on fish, subsistence, wild and scenic rivers and 
would have greater economic feasibility.
    Due to the need for the overall road to traverse land managed by 
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the need for other federal 
permits, including a Clean Water Act section 404 permit from the Army 
Corps of Engineers (USACE), the full project is subject to NEPA, with 
BLM and USACE jointly undertaking that analysis. The subsistence impact 
analysis required by ANILCA Section 810 is found in the BLM/USACE joint 
ROD (JROD), as are the results of consultations required under other 
applicable laws. The JROD determined that the Northern Alignment was 
the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative and would 
not be contrary to the public interest. Full details are in the final 
DOI/DOT ROD and EEA, including required permit terms and conditions, 
which are available at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/Ambler.
    This is a final decision.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 410hh(4); 43 CFR 36.13(a).

George Wallace,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 2020-16906 Filed 8-3-20; 8:45 am]
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