Interior drops Trump proposal for Arctic offshore drilling

JUNEAU, Alaska – The U.S. Interior Department said Friday it would not pursue a Trump administration proposal that critics said would have weakened rules for exploratory oil and gas drilling in Arctic waters.

A statement from the department said existing regulations released in 2016 remain in effect and “are critical to ensuring adequate safety and environmental protections for this sensitive ecosystem and Alaska Native subsistence activities.”

Leah Donahey, Alaska Wilderness League legislative director, said the rules that have been in place incorporated lessons learned from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

She said there has not been a public push by companies showing interest in the region.

Changes to rules proposed under the Trump administration were not finalized.

According to conservation group Oceana, 37 exploratory wells have been drilled in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas since the 1970s, with many of those drilled on leases that have since been relinquished.