OFC Files Comments on the Proposed Rule for Critical Habitat for the Beluga Whale

Release Date:

03/01/2010

This submission serves as the comments of the Office of Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects (OFC) in response to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposed rule and request for comment regarding Endangered and Threatened Species; Designation of Critical Habitat for Cook Inlet Beluga Whale [Docket No. 090224232-91321-03] published in the Federal Register on December 2,2009.

The Office of Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects (OFC) is an independent agency in the Executive Branch, pursuant to the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act (ANGPA) of2004 (P.L. 108-324) with authorities derived from that law and the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Act (ANGTA) of 1976 (P.L. 94-586). OFC has a specific congressional mandate to ensure federal agencies act in a manner that leads to expedited permitting, construction and operation of an Alaska natural gas transportation system.

The Alaska natural gas transportation project is a proposed high pressure 48" gasline that over its lifetime will carry trillions of cubic feet of natural gas from the North Slope of Alaska to the lower 48 states. The project will be the largest private sector funded infrastructure project ever undertaken in North America with construction value estimated as high as $42 billion dollars. The pipeline will extend approximately 1,700 miles with over 700 miles in Alaska and over 950 miles in Canada. Building it will require 2.5 million of tons of steel, hundreds of pieces of heavy equipment and thousands of workers. Indeed, over its lifetime it will generate tens of thousands of direct, indirect and induced jobs in Alaska, the lower 48 states and Canada. Much of the steel, equipment and other supplies for this project will to move through ports in the Cook Inlet for transportation and staging. Moreover, one or more ports in the inlet might need to expand to accommodate project materials and related work. The project will also generate increased ship movements of various types through the Inlet...

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