Padgett outlines active year for BLM
The Bureau of Land Management has a busy 2020 planned in Alaska, according to BLM Alaska director Chad Padgett. Talking to AMA members at the Anchorage chapter meeting Jan. 31, Padgett said new activity on the North Slope is getting lots of attention, including the Environmental Impact Statement to open up oil exploration in ANWR. Of particular interest to miners, work is continuing on the Ambler Road EIS, which demands a review of public comments. He has personally read more than 2,500 on the project, he said, looking for potential roadblocks down the road. Responses to those comments might be complete by March, with issu- ance of a Record of Decision soon thereafter, he said. That’s the nature of managing complex projects through the process, he added. “We expect 1.4 million comments on ANWR, and it takes time to do it right,” he said. Looking for po-
tential future legal challenges, based on flaws in the process, is essential, he said. Navigability and access to Alaska waterways is also a priority, he said, but there Bureau is still awaiting guidance on how to apply the Sturgeon Supreme Court decision to Alaska waterways. The Bureau is adding more adjudicators to work specifically on that, he added.
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www.alaskaminers.org I The Alaska Miner I February 2020
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