PHOENIX — A draft document that summarizes the scoping process for the Pinto Valley Mine Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and also outlines key issues for analysis is available online at http://www.pintovalleymineeis.us/public.html.

Entitled “Draft-Final Scoping and Issues Report”, the 216-page document includes seven sections ranging from a project overview to a summary of future steps in the process.

According to the Tonto National Forest’s Judd Sampson, the Forest Service uses the results of scoping to identify alternative components that might resolve the resource conflicts identified in the issues section of the report. Sampson is the Forest Service’s project manager for the Pinto Valley Mine EIS.

Due to the iterative nature of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, additional issues may come to light at any time during the EIS analysis. This could result in implementing changes to the Draft-Final version prior to the Forest Service issuing a “Final Scoping and Issues Report”.

Over the next 12-14 months, the Forest Service will be compiling baseline information, developing alternatives to the Proposed Action, conducting the impacts analysis, and preparing a variety of products for the Draft EIS, projected for release to the public by December 2018.

Forest Service officials say they anticipate the release of the Final Record of Decision in late 2019.   back...