Agencies set to begin scoping process for Pebble Limited Partnership EIS

ANCHORAGE — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Alaska District will announce its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for review of the Pebble Limited Partnership's (PLP) application to discharge fill material into waters of the United States for the purpose of developing a copper-molybdenum-gold mine project in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska next week.

On March 28, the Corps will publish a Notice of Intent to prepare a draft environmental impact statement in the Federal Register. The public scoping period is set to begin April 1and conclude on April 30. Scoping is the process used to determine the appropriate contents of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The objective of scoping is to identify specific elements of the environment that might be affected by the applicant's proposal. To learn more about the scoping process, please review the Council on Environmental Quality's "A Citizen's Guide to the NEPA" available at https://ceq.doe.gov/docs/get-involved/Citizens_Guide_Dec07.pdf.

"We are committed to an open, transparent, and timely process for the review of this permit application," said Col. Michael Brooks, Alaska District commander. "Through scoping, we ask the public to help us identify the significant issues to be analyzed in the EIS and offer information to shape the alternatives to be reviewed."

The Corps is committed to providing information to the public regarding the applicant's permit application and the environmental review process. The permit application was made publicly available on Jan. 5, 2018, and continues to be available on the Corps website at http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Public-Notices-Section-Homepage/. Also, the scoping document and all submitted information will be housed throughout the permit review process at http://www.pebbleprojecteis.com. The permit application and associated documents can be found on this site.

In addition to making information publically available and receiving written comments through the scoping period, the Corps has chosen to conduct public meetings in locations across the Bristol Bay Region as well as Anchorage and Homer. Scoping locations and dates are:

King Salmon, April 9, 2018

Kokhanok, April 10, 2018

Homer, April 11, 2018

Iliamna, April 12, 2018

Nondalton, April 16, 2018

Dillingham, April 17, 2018

Anchorage, April 19, 2018