The Biden administration’s final environmental review of a plan to sell oil rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is expected by the end of June, according to a recent federal court filing.
The analysis, which had been expected by the end of March, is critical to the Interior Department meeting its legal obligation to sell oil and gas leases in the coastal plain of the 19.6 million-acre protected refuge by 2025.
The Department of Justice told the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in late March that the review will be finished before July, with a final record of decision released by the end of September. The court is reviewing a lawsuit over the Trump-era oil program.
The review began after Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in 2021 that the Arctic oil program inked during the Trump administration likely contained “legal deficiencies.” Interior promised a deeper exploration in a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) of how oil and gas will affect wildlife like polar bears and the vulnerable ecosystem of the refuge’s coastal plain before it holds a lease sale.
