Decision of No Substantial New Information State of Alaska Oil and Gas Lease Sales 2026 Cook Inlet and Alaska Peninsula Areawide

On August 22, 2025, the DO&G issued a CFNI regarding the 2026 Alaska Peninsula and Cook Inlet areawide oil and gas lease sales. The CFNI requested interested parties to submit to the DO&G substantial new information that has become available over the past year to supplement the most recent final findings for the areas. The submission period ended on September 26, 2025.In response to the CFNI, the DO&G received one timely comment. The director has reviewed and considered the comments. ADF&G commented that DO&G should consider and reassess new ADF&G publications that are publicly available in a number of documents that referenced the Cook Inlet and Alaska Peninsula Lease Sale Areas.DO&G reviewed and considered the information provided by ADF&G and evaluated the data regarding the various marine mammal species and their habitats of concern. These various species, their habitat, and the uses of these habitats are discussed in Chapters four and five, and the potential cumulative effects of oil and gas development is discussed in Chapter 8, as well as several mitigation measures included in Chapter 9 which protect these species and their respective habitats are included in the current Written Finding of the Director for the Alaska Peninsula and Cook Inlet Lease Sale Areas. This information provided could strengthen future decisions but does not provide substantial information that justifies a supplement to the most recent best interest findings. This information will be retained and reviewed when DO&G begins drafting new best interest finding for the Cook Inlet and Alaska Peninsula Areawide Lease Sales.The director finds that no substantial new information was received in response to the CFNI to justify a supplement to the Alaska Peninsula Areawide Final Best Interest Finding or the Cook Inlet Areawide Final Best Interest Finding.The full decision is available on the Division's website and linked to this notice