Drilling, seismic surveys in Alaska would require no environmental review under new Trump proposal

The Department of the Interior is set to publish a "categorical exception” of the National Environmental Policy Act for oil and gas companies. The exception will permit them to drill new exploration wells and conduct seismic surveys in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve without environmental reviews, writes Adam Federman for High Country News. 

Seismic surveys can scar tundra and disturb wildlife, including female polar bears. Drilling has been known to alter caribou behavior and Arctic migration patterns, and oil and gas development also risks thawing permafrost. High Country News reports:

The legal basis for a categorical exclusion is that the proposed activities will have “no significant impact” on the environment. Such exclusions are typically applied in places where the agency has determined there is little risk to natural resources. Jeremy Lieb, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, an advocacy group that has sued to block development in the NPR, said that exploratory drilling and seismic testing have had well-documented impacts and are precisely the kind of actions that should be scrutinized by the land-management agency. 

The NPR is 23 million acres and the largest piece of land managed by the Interior Department. After Trump took office, the Interior scrapped Biden-era regulations, canceled the caribou conservation initiative and prioritized oil and gas development.