National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) Integrated Activity Plan
Current understanding
The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) is a ~23-million-acre federal reserve on Alaska’s North Slope managed by BLM under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act, with an Integrated Activity Plan (IAP) governing which tracts are open to oil and gas leasing and which are closed as Special Areas for wildlife, subsistence, and cultural values. The 2022 IAP Record of Decision closed roughly 48% of the reserve to leasing and added protections; Congress subsequently used the Congressional Review Act to disapprove that ROD, reverting management to the more leasing-friendly 2020 IAP. Practical effects include reopening large areas to lease sales, reducing near-term protective withdrawals for the Teshekpuk Lake and other Special Areas, and shifting the litigation and permitting landscape for North Slope development.
Evidence log
- 2026-09-08 — National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Production Site Development: cross-connection with npr-a-production-site-development: Both govern oil and gas development within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; the Integrated Activity Plan sets which lands are available for leasing, while this permitting proposal streamlines approvals for production sites on those lands. (novelty: 3)
- 2025-09-18 — Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision”.: CRA joint resolution (introduced) would nullify BLM’s 2022 NPR-A Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision — which closed ~48% of the reserve to oil and gas leasing — and revert management to the 2020 plan, reopening substantial acreage to leasing. (novelty: 2)
- 2025-12-11 — Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program Record of Decision.: cross-connection with anwr-coastal-plain-leasing-program: Both Alaska federal lands leasing programs saw their 2022/2024 restrictive Records of Decision nullified via CRA joint resolutions, reflecting a coordinated congressional reversal of Biden-era Interior leasing restrictions on the North Slope. (novelty: 3)
- 2025-12-05 — A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to “National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision”.: cross-connection with blm-oil-gas-leasing-regulations: NPR-A leasing operates under the same BLM onshore leasing regulatory framework being revised to roll back 2024 bonding and align with recent executive orders; CRA disapproval of the 2022 ROD accelerates the same pro-leasing posture. (novelty: 3)