Willow Frequently Asked Questions
 

Q: Why are you doing a Supplemental EIS?
A: In August 2021, the U.S. District Court for Alaska vacated the Record of Decision and Final EIS for the Willow Master Development Plan. The Supplemental EIS process allows the BLM to address deficiencies identified by the federal District Court in Alaska and new administration guidance relating to climate change such as effects of the project on foreign consumption, Green House Gas emissions and the social cost of green house gas emissions.

Q. What is the timeline for this process?
A. The timeline for the Final supplemental EIS and Record of Decision will rely largely on comments received during the public review of the Draft Supplemental EIS, as well as meaningful input from our cooperators and affected communities. The Draft Supplemental EIS comment period ended on August 29, 2022, and the BLM is currently reviewing and responding to comments.

Q: What kind of outreach are you conducting?
A: The BLM held a 30-day informal scoping comment period to seek public input on the scope of the analysis, and identification of relevant information, studies, and analyses to be considered in the SEIS. The BLM is also continuing outreach with key stakeholders to inform its development of alternatives that respond to the remand (NPR-A Working Group, village and regional ANCSA corporations, e-NGO’s, and cooperating agencies including tribes). Members of the public had the opportunity to comment on the Draft Supplemental EIS, which is standard practice for all EIS’s. 

Q: What is a substantive comment?
A: To be most helpful, comments should be as specific as possible. A substantive comment provides new information about the Proposed Action, an alternative in the analysis; identifies a different way to meet the need; points out a specific flaw in the analysis; suggests alternate methodologies and the reason(s) why they should be used; makes factual corrections, or identifies a different source of credible research which, if used in the analysis, could result in different effects. 

Q: How can I submit a comment?
A: The comment period for the Draft Supplemental EIS ended on August 29, 2022. Information about the Willow project is available on the documents page.