These regulations establish the procedures under which the Secretary of the Interior will exercise the authority granted to administer a competitive leasing program for oil and gas within the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska.

The oil and gas leasing program within the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska shall be conducted in accordance with the purposes and policy directions provided by the Department of the Interior Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 1981 (Pub. L. 96-514), and other executive, legislative, judicial and Department of the Interior guidance.

(a) The Department of the Interior Appropriations Act, Fiscal year 1981 (Pub. L. 96-514);

(b) The Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6504, et seq.); and

(c) The Federal Lands Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), except that sections 202 and 603 are not applicable.

(d) The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 6506a(o)).

As used in this part, the term:

(a) Act means the Department of the Interior Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 1981 (Pub. L. 96-514).

(b) Bureau means the Bureau of Land Management.

(c) Constructive operations means the exploring, testing, surveying or otherwise investigating the potential of a lease for oil and gas or the actual drilling or preparation for drilling of wells therefor.

(d) NPR-A means the area formerly within Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 4 Alaska which was redesignated as the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska by the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6501).

(e) Reworking operations means all operations designed to secure, restore or improve production through some use of a hole previously drilled, including, but not limited to, mechanical or chemical treatment of any horizon, deepening to test deeper strata and plugging back to test higher strata.

(f) Special Areas means the Utokok River, the Teshekpuk Lake areas and other areas within NPR—A identified by the Secretary as having significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife or historical or scenic value.

(g) Production allocation methodology means a way of attributing the production of oil and gas produced from a unit well or wells to individual tracts committed to the unit and forming a participating area.

(h) Reservoir heterogeneity means spatial differences in the oil and gas reservoir properties. This can include, but is not limited to, the thickness of the reservoir, the amount of pore space in the reservoir rock that contains oil, gas, or water, and the amount of water contained in the reservoir rock. This information may be used to allocate production.

(i) Variation in reservoir producibility means differences in the rates oil and gas wells produce from the reservoir. These differences can result from variations in the thickness of the reservoir, porosity, and the amount of connected pore space.

(a) Prior to the issuance of any lease, contract or operating agreement under this subpart, the Secretary shall notify the Attorney General of the proposed issuance, the name of the successful bidder, the terms of the proposed lease, contract or operating agreement and any other information the Attorney General may require to conduct an antitrust review of the proposed action. Such other information shall include, but is not limited to, information to be provided the Secretary by the successful bidder or its owners.

(b) In advance of the publication of any notice of sale, the Attorney General shall notify the Secretary of his/her preliminary determination of the information each successful bidder shall be required to submit for antitrust review purposes. The Secretary shall require this information to be promptly submitted by successful bidders, and may provide prospective bidders the opportunity to submit such information in advance of or accompanying their bids. For subsequent notices of sale, the Attorney General's preliminary information requirements shall be as specified for the prior notice unless a change in the requirements is communicated to the Secretary in advance of publication of the new notice of sale. Where a bidder in a prior sale has previously submitted any of the currently required information, a reference to the date of submission and to the serial number of the record in which it is filed, together with a statement of any and all changes in the information since the date of the previous submission, shall be sufficient.

(c) The Secretary shall not issue any lease, contract or operating agreement until:

(1) Thirty days after the Attorney General receives notice from the Secretary of the proposed lease contract or operating agreement, together with any other information required under this section; or

(2) The Attorney General notifies the Secretary that issuance of the proposed lease, contract or operating agreement does not create or maintain a situation inconsistent with the antitrust laws, whichever comes first. The Attorney General shall inform the successful bidder, and simultaneously the Secretary, if the information supplied is insufficient, and shall specify what information is required for the Attorney General to complete his/her review. The 30-day period shall stop running on the date of such notification and not resume running until the Attorney General receives the required information.

(d) The Secretary shall not issue the lease, contract for operating agreement to the successful bidder, if, during the 30-day period, the Attorney General notifies the Secretary that such issuance would create or maintain a situation inconsistent with the antitrust laws.

(e) If the Attorney General does not reply in writing to the notification provided under paragraph (a) of this section within the 30-day review period, the Secretary may issue the lease, contract or operating agreement without waiting for the advice of the Attorney General.

(f) Information submitted to the Secretary to comply with this section shall be treated by the Secretary and by the Attorney General as confidential and proprietary data if marked confidential by the submitting bidder or other person. Such information shall be submitted to the Secretary in sealed envelopes and shall be transmitted in that form to the Attorney General.

(g) The procedures outlined in paragraphs (a) through (f) of this section apply to the proposed assignment or transfer of any lease, contract or operating agreement.

Any action seeking judicial review of the adequacy of any programmatic or site-specific environmental impact statement under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332) concerning oil and gas leasing in NPR-A shall be barred unless brought in the appropriate District Court within 60 days after notice of availability of such statement is published in the Federal Register.

Upon a determination by the authorized officer, that lands owned by the United States within NPR-A are being drained, the regulations under § 3162.2 of this title, including the provisions relating to compensatory agreements or royalties, shall apply.

A tract selected for leasing shall consist of a compact area of not more than 60,000 acres.

The primary term of an NPR-A lease is 10 years.

The provisions of § 3108.4 of this title shall apply to bona fide purchasers of leases within NPR-A.

The Bureau shall prepare leasing maps showing the tracts to be offered for lease sale.

(a) All tracts shall be composed of entire sections either surveyed or protracted, whichever is applicable, except that if the tracts are adjacent to upland navigable water areas, they may be adjusted on the basis of subdivisional parts of the sections.

(b) Leased lands shall be described according to section, township and range in accordance with the official survey or protraction diagrams.