The Trump administration is moving to accelerate oil and gas drilling across the Western Arctic with a new proposal that would slash environmental review and public input.
The proposal could bring industrial activity to wide areas of wilderness and subsistence hunting grounds for Alaska Natives before President Donald Trump leaves office.
The move is the latest in a sustained effort by the Trump administration to open access to the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, 23 million acres of public lands on the state’s North Slope overseen by the federal Bureau of Land Management.
The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register this week, would require the BLM to issue a decision within 60 days of receiving an application for any “qualifying project.” Environmental groups said there were few if any restrictions on what types of oil and gas projects would qualify, other than lying within 25 miles of existing activity.
Under the proposal, the agency would no longer assess the environmental impacts of individual projects or allow public input. The rule, which was written in response to a request from the oil and gas industry, says it would allow “a gradual westward progression of development.”
Environmental groups say the proposal effectively requires BLM to issue rushed approvals.
“What this rule does is move forward with this industry-requested proposal that would essentially clear the way for Willow-sized massive oil and gas drilling projects,” said Ben Tettlebaum, acting senior legal director at The Wilderness Society, referring to a large Arctic oil project approved by the Biden administration in 2023. “If this rule is finalized there would be no more review, no more public engagement, for essentially any future drilling in the Western Arctic.”
The Trump administration has acted broadly to cut down public comment on oil and gas development. In this case, the BLM published only a portion of the environmental impact statement for the proposed rule and did not include the section that analyzes its environmental impacts.
“They’re not even telling the public what the impact of this regulation would be,” said Erik Grafe, managing attorney for the Alaska office at Earthjustice, an environmental law nonprofit.
A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, which includes the BLM, said in an email that if the rule is finalized the bureau would assess each application and require environmental reviews if projects involve “new or different” impacts from what was considered for the rulemaking.
“The Department of the Interior has made major progress unlocking the energy potential of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve for the benefit of Alaskans and all Americans,” the spokesperson said. “As interest in the area continues to grow, the Department and the Bureau of Land Management are taking important steps to streamline permitting in the petroleum reserve. These efforts are about using decades of research, experience and analysis to create a more efficient, predictable, and effective process while upholding environmental standards.”
The Alaska reserve contains some of the largest intact wilderness areas in the country. It provides critical habitat for migratory birds, polar bears, wolves and many other species. It is also home to a caribou herd that is an important subsistence resource for Alaska Natives who live in the nearby community of Nuiqsut.
How to Weigh In
The Bureau of Land Management will hold in-person meetings and one virtual meeting in September and is accepting public comments through Nov. 9. More details are available on the BLM’s project page.
The Willow project sparked a national debate over drilling in the area and prompted fierce resistance from some residents and leaders of Nuiqsut. The drilling and related infrastructure will extend into high-density habitat for the caribou herd. As part of the Willow approval, the federal government set aside an area under a right-of-way agreement where Nuiqsut leaders could protect the habitat by prohibiting drilling.
But the Trump administration canceled that agreement, and in March it opened that area and others to leasing by oil companies, which secured 1.3 million acres of new access. Leaders in Nuiqsut have challenged the cancellation in court and secured a preliminary injunction that has prevented the BLM from issuing leases within the conservation area.
Other Alaska Native communities support more drilling in the reserve.
“Responsible onshore development is directly responsible for critical social services in the region including education, health resources, wildlife management, and water and sewage management,” said Nagruk Harcharek, president and chief executive of Voices of Arctic Iñupiat, in a statement. His group represents five of eight native communities in the North Slope borough. “We appreciate that our right to consultation has consistently been respected in this process, and look forward to continuing a productive relationship between the federal government and our local elected leaders.”
Other Iñupiat groups have joined with national environmental organizations to file lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to expand access to drilling in the petroleum reserve. Those cases are pending.
The proposed rule comes after reporting by the news organization Public Domain that said the Interior Department is working on a separate proposal that would similarly strip environmental review from the approval of seismic testing and other oil exploration work.
The Interior Department confirmed that it is working “to speed up permitting for winter exploration, including seismic and exploratory drilling operations. That effort builds on what the BLM has learned from dozens of environmental reviews for winter exploration in the area: when conducted under established operating procedures and mitigation measures, those activities result in no significant impacts.”
Grafe, the Earthjustice attorney, said the proposed rule runs afoul of the requirement that the government provide maximum environmental protections in certain so-called special areas within the petroleum reserve.
“It seems very likely that if BLM tries to apply these regulations to a future project that that will be unlawful,” Grafe said.
The agency is accepting public comment through Nov. 9.
This story was updated Sept. 11, 2026, with a late comment from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
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