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The US Bureau of Land Management has opened a 15-day scoping period for a proposed 30-year renewal of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System’s federal right-of-way.
The 800-mile pipeline, authorised in 1974 and built between 1974 and 1977, carries oil from Alaska’s North Slope to the Valdez Marine Terminal.
The current federal right-of-way is not due to expire until 2034, but pipeline operator Alyeska Pipeline Service Company has sought an early renewal.
Environmental critics say the shortened review period may limit scrutiny of climate impacts, ageing infrastructure and risks from thawing permafrost.
The United States government under President Donald Trump has begun the process of renewing a right-of-way agreement that would allow the Trans Alaska Pipeline System near Galbraith lake to operate for another 30 years. The current federal right-of-way was not due for renewal until 2034. If approved, this would be the third renewal since the pipeline was first authorised in 1974.
The 800-mile pipeline carries oil from Alaska’s North Slope to in-state refineries and the Valdez Marine Terminal. About half of the land crossed by the pipeline is federally owned, meaning federal authorisation is required for continued operations. The rest is state or Native-owned land, with Alaska also expected to issue its own right-of-way renewal.
The pipeline operator, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, has sought the renewal more than seven years before it expires, a move that could ensure that the decision is made by the current administration rather than a future president. Alyeska operates the pipeline on behalf of its owner companies: Harvest Alaska, ConocoPhillips Transportation Alaska and ExxonMobil Pipeline Company.
The US Bureau of Land Management has opened a 15-day scoping period for the proposed renewal, running from August 26 to September 10, 2026. The agency said this begins the environmental review process for “decades more” of oil transport through the pipeline.
The BLM is preparing an environmental assessment, a less extensive review than a full environmental impact statement. Public comment periods for federal environmental reviews can often run for 30 to 60 days or longer, depending on the complexity of the proposal. In this case, the scoping period has been limited to 15 days. The agreement would unlock “decades more of safe transport of oil through the 800-mile pipeline, providing American energy and economic security,” the bureau claimed.
The Trans Alaska Pipeline System was authorised in 1974 and built between 1974 and 1977. Since construction, it has transported more than 19 billion barrels of oil from Alaska’s North Slope. In 2025, it carried an average of 463,000 barrels per day, according to the BLM.
BLM Alaska State Director Kevin Pendergast said the pipeline remained important to Alaska’s economy and global energy markets.
“Nearly 50 years after its construction, the Trans Alaska Pipeline is still an engineering marvel and only growing in its importance to Alaska’s economy and global energy markets,” he said.
He said the agency was acting to secure the pipeline’s future while seeking to unlock energy resources in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The move comes as the US Interior Department is also proposing changes to ease some requirements for oil and gas exploration in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, as part of the Trump administration’s wider push to accelerate Arctic energy development.
“President Trump has made clear that America must fully avail itself of Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential for the benefit and security of the Nation and the citizens who call Alaska home,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in an August 3 statement.
He said the proposed rule reflected a “disciplined, mission-focused approach” intended to improve regulatory efficiency, reduce barriers and ensure Arctic exploration proceeded safely and under federal oversight.
Environmental critics have questioned both the early renewal and the short public comment period. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said the 15-day scoping period suggested the climate and environmental effects of continued pipeline operations would not be fully considered.
The group said the pipeline was originally expected to operate for about 30 years and argued that the most recent environmental analysis, now more than two decades old, did not examine the climate impacts of extracting and burning the oil transported through it.
It also said earlier analysis did not adequately consider the risks posed by thawing permafrost, on which much of the system is located. PEER said this could increase the risk of major oil spills in remote and difficult-to-access Alaskan terrain.
