Source: Trilogy Metals
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Ambler Access Project – the proposed 211-mile, industrial-use-only road from the Ambler Mining District to the Dalton Highway – selecting the No Action Alternative from the April 2024 Ambler Road Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The decision means that the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) will not have a right-of-way across BLM-managed lands. The ROD completes the Supplemental EIS process and requirements for consideration of AIDEA’s application.
The announcement was condemned in a joint press release by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (both R-Alaska), and Representative Mary Sattler Peltola (D-Alaska).
Sen. Murkowski stated: “Access to critical and strategic minerals that are essential for everything from clean energy to national security. A rare opportunity for development in rural Alaska under the highest standards, so we don’t have to import from unstable nations that have no protections for people or the environment. Somehow, none of that mattered to the Biden administration on the Ambler project. They have ignored federal law, our national vulnerabilities, and Alaska’s strong record of responsible development, all in the name of election year politics.”
In June 2024, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis on an amendment authored by Sen. Sullivan to require Interior to select Alternative A or Alternative B from its SEIS as the preferred alternative for Ambler. Both alternatives would ensure that an economically viable project can proceed. The legislation containing that provision, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025, is expected to be taken up on the Senate floor later this year.
