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E.O. 12898 - An Example of the Incorporation of Environmental Justice in the NEPA
Process
The final EIS for OCS Sale 170 in the Beaufort Sea was issued in 1998, and the sale was
held in 1998. The EIS addressed significant environmental justice (EJ)-related
items.
Scoping and Public Participation:
 | Scoping meetings were held in the local native communities ( Nuiqsut, Kaktovik, and
Barrow). Issues, alternatives, and mitigation identified at these meetings focused
on subsistence whale hunting concerns.
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| A Beaufort Focus pamphlet, published in both English and Inupiat, was mailed to the
North Slope communities. This pamphlet outlined the planning process for the
proposed sale, indicated concerns, possible alternatives, and mitigating measures
identified to date, and requested comments on additional information to be analysed in the
EIS.
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| An Alaska OCS Region Offshore Advisory Committee was established to provide a forum
through which Alaska stakeholders could collectively make recommendations on the analysis.
This Committee included native community representation.
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| An Arctic Seismic Synthesis and Mitigating Measures Workshop was held in Barrow, Alaska
in 1997 to elicit observations from subsistence whaling captains on the effects of seismic
activities on bowhead whales. This “traditional knowledge” was combined
and synthesized with research and monitoring data on bowhead whale migration.
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| Public hearings for the draft EIS were held in the local native communities.
Translators were used to present the information in the Inupiat language, as well as
English.
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| “Dialogue” meetings with the North Slope Borough were also held to obtain and
use “traditional knowledge” (indigenous knowledge) information for the EIS
analysis, especially in regard to effects on bowhead whale subsistence hunting.
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Research and Data Collection:
Since 1973, the MMS Environmental Studies Program has defined information needs and
conducted studies to predict the effects of oil and gas exploration and development on the
human, marine, and coastal environments. Some studies provide information applicable
to analyses of EJ concerns, such as information on native subsistence, sociocultural, and
economic patterns. For example,
| Comprehensive studies were completed to characterize the subsistence use and
sociocultural structure of rural native villages, including those on the North Slope.
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| Since 1987, the Bowhead Whale Aerial Survey Project has provided valuable bowhead whale
migration data in the Beaufort Sea.
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| Studies that will provide applicable EJ information include
 | Collection of Traditional Knowledge of the Alaskan North Slope |
| Bowhead Whale Feeding in the Eastern Alaskan Beaufort Sea |
| Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Cleanup, and Litigation: A Community-Based Collection of
Social-Impacts Information and Analysis, 1989-1996. |
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Impact Analysis and Mitigation:
EJ concerns were specifically addressed in the Sale 170 EIS and the Record of Decision
(ROD) as follows:
| The concept of EJ is introduced (Chapter I) and analysed (Chapter IV) under the
“Sociocultural Systems” heading. In the analysis, the existing
demographics (race, income) and subsistence consumption of fish and game are discussed,
disproportionate adverse effects on Alaskan Natives are identified, and mitigating
measures and their effects are presented.
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| A ROD was prepared which included a summary analysis of the potential for
disproportionate adverse effects on Alaskan Natives and the effectiveness of proposed
mitigating measures. |
For more information, contact Rodney Cluck.
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