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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 148 / Thursday, August 5, 2021 / Rules and Regulations public and commercial vessels. Routine annual maintenance dredging of the seafloor around the WDC occurs to maintain navigational access to DH2
and DH3 and to insure continued intake of seawater to the existing STP.
Approximately 15,291 cubic m 20,000
cubic yd of material is anticipated to be dredged over 56.6 ha 140 ac; however, up to 172,024 cubic m 225,000 cubic yd of material is authorized to be removed in a single year. All dredged material is placed as fill on the WDC for beach replenishment and erosion protection. Some sediments are moved but remain on the seafloor as part of the screeding process. Much of the dredging work takes place during the open-water season between May and October and will be completed in less than 30
working days. Annual installation and floats, moorings, and buoys are installed at the beginning of the open-water season and are removed at the end of the open-water season. Up to three buoys may be installed to each side of the breach up to six buoys total.
During the 20212022 winter tundra travel period, an additional 8-km 5-mi ice road, 0.8-ha 2-ac ice pad, up to 8km 5-mi pipeline, and pad space are expected to be constructed to support IPad expansion totaling 12.1 ha 30 ac for the ice road and ice pad and 8.5 ha 21 ac for the pad space, pipeline, and VSM footprints. Other pad expansions include approximately 0.8 ha 2 ac per year 20212026 at DS3DS0 and P-Pad.
Additionally, the construction of up to a 56.7-ha 140-ac mine site is expected. Construction will occur on a need-based, phased approach over 40
years with no more than 24.3 ha 60 ac of gravel developed by 2026. A 4.3-km 2.7-mi long and 24.4-m 80-ft wide gravel access road will also be built for a total impacted area of 10.5 ha 26 ac over 1 year.

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Trans-Alaska Pipeline System TAPS
TAPS is a 122-cm 48-in diameter crude oil transportation pipeline system that extends 1,287 km 800 mi from Pump Station 1 in Prudhoe Bay Oilfield to the Valdez Marine Terminal. The lands occupied by TAPS are Stateowned, and the ROWs are leased through April 2034. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company operates the pipeline ROW. Approximately 37 km 23 mi of pipeline are located within 40 km 25
mi of the Beaufort Sea coastline. A 238km 148-mi natural gas line that extends from Pump Station 1 provides support for pipeline operations and facilities. The TAPS mainline pipe ROW
includes a gravel work pad and drive lane that crosses the Dalton Highway
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approximately 29 km 18 mi south of Pump Station 1.
Travel primarily occurs along established rounds, four pipeline access roads, or along the pipeline ROW work pad. Ground-based surveillance on the TAPS ROW occurs once per week throughout the year. Equipment and supplies are transported via commercial carriers on the Dalton Highway. In the summer, travel is primarily restricted to the gravel work pad and access roads.
There are occasional crossings of unvegetated gravel bars to repair remote flood control structures on the Sagavanirktok River. Transport of smallvolume gravel material from the active river floodplain to the TAPS work pad may occur. Vehicles used during the summer include typical highway vehicles, maintenance equipment, and off-road trucks for gravel material transport. In the winter, travel occurs in similar areas compared to summer in addition to maintenance activities, such as subsurface pipeline excavations.
Short <0.4 km, <0.25 mi temporary ice roads and ice pads are built to move heavy equipment when necessary.
Vehicles used during the winter include off-road tracked vehicles so that snow plowing on the ROW is not required.
The amount of traffic is generally not influenced by the time of year.
The Deadhorse Airport is the primary hub used for personnel transport and airfreight to TAPS facilities in the northern pipeline area. Commercial and charter flights are used for personnel transport, and crew change-outs generally occur every 2 weeks. Other aviation activities include pipeline surveillance, oil spill exercise/training/
response, and seasonal hydrology observations. Aerial surveillance of the pipeline occurs once each week during daylight hours throughout the year.
Approximately 50 hours per year are flown within 40 km 25 mi of the Beaufort Sea coastline.
No TAPS-related in-water activities occur in the Beaufort Sea. Instead, these activities will be limited to the Sagavanirktok River and its tributaries.
In-water construction and dredging may take place occasionally, and they are generally associated with flood control structures and repairs to culverts, low water crossings, and eroded work pads.
Gravel mining may also occur on dry unvegetated bars of the active floodplain or in established gravel pits. On river bars, up to a 0.9-m 3-ft deep layer of alluvial gravel is removed when the river is low, and this layer is allowed to naturally replenish. Additional construction of flood structures may be needed to address changes in the hydrology of the Sagavanirktok River
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and its tributaries during the 20212026
period.
Western North SlopeColville River and Greater Mooses Tooth Units The Western North Slope WNS
consists of the CPAIs Alpine and Alpine satellite operations in the Colville River Unit CRU and the Greater Mooses Tooth Unit GMTU.
The Alpine reservoir covers 50,264 ha 124,204 ac, but the total developed area is approximately 153 ha 378 ac, which contains 45 km 28 mi of gravel roads, 51.5 km 32 mi of pipelines, and 14 gravel pads. The CRU has a combined production pad/drill site and four additional drill sites. The GMTU
contains one producing drill site and a second drill site undergoing construction. Roads and pads are generally constructed during winter.
There are no permanent roads connecting WNS to industrial hubs or other oilfields. Gravel roads connect four of the five CRU drill sites. An ice road is constructed each winter to connect to the fifth CRU drill site.
Gravel roads also connect the GMTU
drill sites to the CRU, and gravel roads connect the two GMTU drill sites to each other. Each drill site with gravel road access is visited at least twice during a 24-hour period, depending on the weather. Drill site traffic levels increase during active drilling, maintenance, or other projects. Vehicles that use the gravel roads include light passenger trucks, heavy tractor-trailer trucks, heavy equipment, and very large drill rigs. The amount of traffic is generally not influenced by the time of year, but there may be increased amounts of traffic during the exploration season.
In the winter, off-road vehicles are used to access equipment for maintenance and inspections.
Temporary ice roads and ice pads are built to move heavy equipment for maintenance and construction activities.
An ice road is constructed to connect WNS to the Kuparuk oilfield KRU to move supplies for the rest of the year.
More than 1,500 truckloads of modules, pipeline, and equipment are moved to WNS over this ice road, which is approximately 105 km 65 mi in length.
As mentioned previously, an ice road is constructed each winter to connect one of the CRU drill sites to the other CRU
facilities in order to facilitate maintenance, drilling, and operations at this drill site. WNS ice roads typically operate from mid-January until lateApril.
The Alpine Airstrip is a private runway that is used to transport personnel and cargo. An average of 60

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