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DOI issues $5M authorization to proceed with CUC projects
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs has issued an authorization to proceed in the amount of $5 million for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s Engineering and Environmental Management Company construction management, the CUC pipeline smart pigging, waste management, and facility drainage projects.
OIA grants manager Krystina B. Alfano notified CNMI Capital Improvement Projects administrator Elizabeth S. Balajadia on Monday of OIA’s approval of the authorization to proceed with the projects.
In the ATP, Alfano stated that OIA has reviewed the CIP projects and found them in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, Council on Environmental Quality Regulations, and DOI NEPA regulations, among other regulations.
Deputy attorney general Lillian Tenorio, counsel for the CNMI government, informed the U.S. District Court for the NMI yesterday about DOI’s issuance of the $5 million in ATP.
Tenorio said these funds will be available for the CUC projects and the supporting scope of work.
Tenorio said the CNMI will not reprogram these funds without the mutual agreement of the parties—CNMI, CUC, and the U.S. government.
With this ATP, she said, the CNMI has its funding obligation to CUC for 2018.
