The projects had commenced without environmental assessments or ministry approval.
A major research effort to examine additional ways to remove CO2 without environmental side effects must be a global priority.
Gov. Frank H. Murkowski, a Republican, said tests last winter showed the exploration season could be lengthened without environmental damage.
Congress members gather in Queens to oppose changes in flight paths into the airports without environmental reviews.
Namono says that, without environmental protection in place, an oil spill or equipment collapse could destroy the livelihoods of those who depend on fishing.
But Frank D. Duval, president of Sterling Mining in Spokane, Wash., said experts had determined that the mine could operate without environmental harm.
Interior officials say the violations were minor, involving only seismic tests on the plateau, and that they would not have authorized drilling without environmental reviews.
While they can be toxic to ecosystems, in the controlled setting of a sewage plant they can be safely used without environmental risk.
The E.P.A. has said that the action would close a loophole that in the last two years permitted the destruction of 20,000 acres of wetlands and the channeling of 150 miles of streams without environmental review.
The chief minister of the Northern Territory has sought to hose down the controversy surrounding a $130m deep-sea port project that went ahead without environmental assessment or approval, despite being in an area of ecological national significance.
The company bought the ZAC in 2011, inheriting a troubled history that included the digging of three mine shafts without environmental authorisation, for which Rio Tinto last year paid a cursory fine.
