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Dentons EIS public meetings set for Saipan and Tinian
Govt considers EIS extension request amidst Internet difficulties
Amid a telecommunications crisis, the administration says public informational meetings on the U.S. military’s plans for live-fire training on Tinian and Pagan will continue.
“Despite the ongoing difficulties of communications, I am hopeful that the public will be able to attend these important meetings to learn more about the [CNMI Joint Military Training] draft environmental impact statement, and to learn how to best communicate these concerns to the Department of Defense,” said acting governor Ralph Torres in a statement.
The meetings are set for July 15 at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe, July 16 on Tinian at the Tinian Sr. Jr. High School, and July 17 on Saipan again at the Multi-Purpose Center. The meetings will be at 5:30pm.
Dentons, the firm hired by the government to review military impact documents detailing these live-fire plans, will lead these meetings.
The administration describes the meetings as “informational.” The public meetings aim to show the public how to fill out comment forms for the military’s impact statement. The public will also hear from government departments and agencies on “areas of concern” in the military’s impact statement, and will hear what the government has been doing on the draft statement at this stage of the National Environmental Policy Act process.
The administration also says they are looking at the possibility of asking for another extension of the comment period for the EIS as the telecommunications crisis continues. They are looking at a request for an extension for the comment period so people can have access to the Internet and submit comments online, the administration said.
The comment period for the EIS has been extended two months from a deadline in June and ends early August. Under NEPA, there is no maximum amount of time set by the law to review the EIS.
In May, hundreds of CNMI residents gathered at the U.S. military’s public hearings on Saipan and Tinian for these live-fire plans.
