Clark, Lincoln, and White Pine Counties Groundwater Development Project Draft EIS

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is expected to be completed and provided to the public for review and comment in Spring 2010. It will include an analysis of the proposed action and alternatives.  Information about the Draft EIS, comment period, how to comment, and public meetings will be provided to our mailing list recipients, local media, and on this website.  A Notice of Availability (NOA), an official legal notice that a federal agency has issued the Draft EIS, will be published in the Federal Register (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html). The NOA will establish the start and end dates for the public comment period. 

To be added to the mailing list and begin receiving project newsletters and information about the Draft EIS, please e-mail your address to nvgwprojects@blm.gov or call Kim Dow at 775-861-6681.  Please note that our mailing list does not accommodate e-mail; a physical mailing address is required to place you on the list.

Public Comments

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires a minimum 45-day public comment period.  The NOA will establish the start and end dates for the public comment period.  The comment dates, along with information about how to submit a comment, will be announced through local media, on the website, and on official BLM comment forms. Comments received during this time will be addressed in the Final EIS.  The BLM strives to disclose all of the information relating to the project, adequately evaluate the environmental impacts of the project and address concerns of the public brought up during scoping, and to create protective mitigation measures within the jurisdiction of the BLM that will be required if the right-of-way is granted.  Substantive comments assist the BLM in meeting these goals, making improvements to the Final EIS, and ultimately producing a quality document.

NEPA requires the BLM to publish written comments submitted during the public comment period as an appendix to the Final Environmental Impact Statement.  The official comment form will include a box at the top of the form that must be checked for BLM to withhold the name and address of the commenter; comments not submitted on an official comment form must include a statement indicating that the commenter wants his/her name and address withheld.  Commenters should be aware that the Environmental Impact Statement and all of the materials associated with it are public documents that are subject to the Freedom of Information Act.  While commenters can ask us to withhold personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.  However, if this is indicated on the comment form, only the text of the comment will be published in the Final EIS.

Public Meetings

The BLM will hold public meetings throughout Nevada and western Utah.  The purpose of the meetings will be to introduce the Draft EIS, explain the comment period, and offer information about future steps in the EIS process.  The bulk of the meetings will be dedicated to answering questions from meeting attendees.  The meeting dates and information will be announced through local media, on the website, and on official BLM comment forms.  The information will also be published in the Federal Register (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html).