Alaska state officials formally submitted a plan Tuesday to the Department of the Interior (DOI) to move forward oil and gas seismic exploration activity in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s (ANWR) Area 1002.

State officials are formally submitting an exploration plan and special use permit application for Area 1002 after U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell late last month rejected a detailed 1002 area exploration proposal and offer to fund seismic studies in the area.

Officials submitted the proposal and offer of financial support for seismic activity May 18. Officials intended for the proposal to be included as one of the alternatives to the Obama administration's comprehensive conversation plan for ANWR. The management plan currently under development by DOI does not have an alternative for oil and gas exploration and production.

"We believe the people of America deserve to know the value the resources in ANWR," said Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan at a press conference in Anchorage. "All of it belongs to our people, and all resources needed to be considered in any management plan."

The plan and accompanying special permit application builds on the proposal submitted in May. State officials said the 240-page plan, filed pursuant to Section 1002(e) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), meets all regulatory and statutory requirements for a 1002 Area exploration plan contained within the Code of Federal Regulations and in ANILCA.

"If an exploration plan meets all of these requirements, the Secretary is required by law to approve it," said Sullivan.

According to the State of Alaska's Department of Natural Resources, Section 1002(a) of ANILCA director the Secretary of the Interior on managing Area1002, including assessment of its fish and wildlife resources, analyzing options for oil and gas development, and authorizing exploratory activities that avoid significant impacts to ANWR's resources.

Under Section 1002(e) of ANILCA, anyone can submit an exploration plan that meets the statute's criteria. When a plan is submitted, the secretary of the Interior must take specific actions, including approving a plan consistent with ANILCA's regulations within 120 days of submission.

The filing of a formal plan is the latest effort by Alaska over the past 20 years to open ANWR's Area 1002 for oil and gas exploration and production. In 1987, the Department of Interior recommended oil and gas development on Area 1002's coastal plain based on the findings of seismic activity conducted by 22 oil and gas companies in the mid-1980s. While 11 Alaska legislatures have passed bills and resolutions to support opening Area 1002 for oil and gas development, U.S. Congress has not opened the area for oil and activity.

However, the Draft ANWR Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Environmental Impact Statement published in 2010 did not include alternatives for oil and gas exploration and development but included the possibility of placing additional areas of ANWR as protected wilderness areas that would off-limits to exploration.

Jewell told Parnell in a June 28 letter that she and the federal government remain opposed to opening ANWR to oil and gas exploration. Jewell also told Parnell that seismic work is prohibited by ANILCA and that ANILCA's authorization to conduct exploration activity in the 1002 Area expired when DOI submitted its oil and gas report to Congress in 1987.

But Sullivan noted that DOI approved 1002 area exploration plans in the 1980s and that the law doesn’t contain a sunset provision, meaning the plans are still on the books.

Section 1002, which encompasses 1.5 million acres along Alaska's coastal plain, was specifically set aside by U.S. Congress to study its oil and gas potential.

Under the plan, 3D seismic data would be gathered in Area 1002 to evaluate the area's oil and gas resource potential. Seismic activity would be funded through a combination of government and industry funds. Parnell had said he would request a minimum of $50 million from the state legislature, $50 million from the federal government and $50 million from the oil and gas industry.

Officials said the plan to gather 3D seismic would allow the state and the federal government a greater understanding of ANWR's resource potential without significantly impacting the environment. Seismic data would be gathered during Alaska's winter season from mid-December to May over a three-year period. Special tracked vehicles would be used to travel across the frozen tundra to gather data.

Some vehicles would lay receiver nodes and cables on the ground, and other vehicles would provide vibration sources. Each section of coastal plains in Section 1002 would be assigned its own 3D acquisition timeline, based on geology and existing infrastructure.

Currently, the only data available for the1002 Area was acquired through 2-D seismic activity shot in the mid-1980s. The 3D seismic technology available know would allow for more precise imaging of subsurface geology to be taken and is needed to better understand ANWR's oil and gas resources.

"The key question for DOI is, why wouldn't you want to know?" said Sullivan. "The feds owe it to Alaska to have scientific-based information on which to make public land decisions. The current plan completely eliminates an oil and gas alternative. If the federal government won't act, then we will."

The most recent hydrocarbon assessment of the 1002 area, adjacent state lands and Alaska native in-holdings – published by the U.S. Geological Survey in1998 – estimates mean resources of 10.4 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. Most of these resources are thought to exist on federal lands within the 1002 Area, which were assessed at 7.7 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil.

The oil and gas resources "locked up" in ANWR for decades not only are essential to Alaska for economic growth and job opportunities, but to economic growth for the United States and U.S. energy security, said Parnell.

Parnell wouldn't speculate on whether Alaska would challenge DOI in federal court if the plan isn't approved.

"At this point, we're focused on meeting legal requirements." Parnell noted that he would consider "every avenue" to move forward with exploration and development of ANWR consistent with public interests, which includes a consideration of all surface and subsurface resources.