DoD Begins Supplemental EIS Process

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoxBc7BJPIs&feature=player_embedded#!

On October 12, 2012, DoD published a “Notice of Intent” to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement or “SEIS” for the proposed military buildup.  The SEIS will be limited to three things: (1) the construction of a firing range complex, (2) the construction of housing and offices for Marines; and (3) the anticipated impacts of the Marine Corps relocation on Guam’s infrastructure.

The “Scoping Process” is the earliest stage of the NEPA process for a community to give input.  Possible comments during this period would help:

• Identify issues that should be analyzed in the Draft SEIS,
• Identify concerns about alternatives that have been identified; and
• Identify alternatives that DoD is not currently considering.

Comments can be submitted at scoping meetings, which will be held:

• November 8, 2012, 5pm-8pm: Old McCool School, Santa Rita, Guam
• November 9, 2012, 5pm-8pm: Okkodu High School, Dededo, Guam
• November 10, 2012, 12pm-3pm: UOG Field House, Mangilao, Guam

Comments can also be submitted online via DoD’s SEIS website (link available here).  The deadline for submitting comments is December 10, 2012.

DoD will take comments submitted during the scoping process into account when drafting its Draft SEIS.  DoD will reveal what its “preferred alternatives” are in the Draft SEIS.  The public will then have an opportunity to submit comments and attend public hearings on DoD’s Draft SEIS.

DoD estimates that it will release the Draft SEIS in early 2014 and an amended Record of Decision in 2015.