NPDES General Permit for Oil and Gas Exploration Facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Chukchi Sea

Below is EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit and supporting documents for discharges from oil and gas exploration facilities on the outer continental shelf in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska.

The general permit authorizes 13 types of discharges from exploration drilling. The permit sets effluent limitations and requirements to ensure the discharges will not cause unreasonable degradation of the marine environment, as required for ocean discharges by the Clean Water Act.

All operators must submit a Notice of Intent (see form below) to discharge within 120 days prior to initiation of discharges. Operators that received administratively extended coverage under the previous general permit must submit a new Notice of Intent to comply with the requirements of the general permit.

Permit expires: November 27, 2017

• Notices of Intent (NOI) for Coverage under the General Permit for Oil and Gas Exploration Facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Chukchi Sea
• NPDES General Permit for Oil and Gas Exploration Facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf and Contiguous State Waters in the Beaufort Sea

• NPDES General Permit, Oil and Gas Exploration in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska, #AKG288100 (pdf) (558.62 KB, October 2012)
  Final permit.
• NPDES Permit Fact Sheet, Oil and Gas Exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, Alaska, #AKG292100, #AKG288100 (pdf) (1.01 MB, January 2012)
  Provides technical basis for NPDES general permits for oil and gas exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.
• Response to Comments, NPDES Permits for Oil and Gas Exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, Alaska, #AKG292100, #AKG288100 (pdf) (1.25 MB, October 2012)
  EPA's responses to public comments on the January 2012 draft general permits for oil and gas exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.
• Environmental Justice Analysis, NPDES Permits for Oil and Gas Exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, Alaska, #AKG292100, #AKG288100 (pdf) (983.25 KB, October 2012)
• Ocean Discharge Criteria Evaluation, NPDES Permit for Oil and Gas Exploration in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska, #AKG288100 (pdf) (1.95 MB, October 2012)
  EPA's review of the discharges authorized under the general permit to evaluate their potential cause unreasonable degradation of the marine environment.
• Dilution Modeling Technical Memo, NPDES Permits for Oil and Gas Exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, Alaska, #AKG292100, #AKG288100 (pdf) (9.92 MB, October 2012)
  Results from dilution modeling scenarios for the general permits for oil and gas exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.
• Attachment 1: Notice of Intent (NOI) Information Sheet, NPDES General Permit #AKG288100 (pdf) (52.66 KB)
• Attachment 2: Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP) Requirements Summary, NPDES General Permits #AKG292100 and #AKG288100 (pdf) (27.94 KB)
• Attachment 3: Cooling Water Intake Structure Requirements, NPDES General Permits #AKG292100 and #AKG288100 (pdf) (28.05 KB)