The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration continue to welcome comments on the draft Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement through April 13, 2020.
The federal agencies are already reviewing over 3,000 comments received through mail, an online comment platform and six virtual public meetings that involved 1,000 participants, and look forward to any additional comments received through the end of the comment period. All comments will be considered, and substantive comments will contribute to the overall quality of the final EIS. Additionally, comments will help the agencies deliver a final EIS that supports and balances the needs of stakeholders and communities across the basin and is based on sound and current science.
The draft EIS is the result of more than three years of regional collaboration between the lead federal agencies and more than 30 entities from across the region, consisting of tribes, federal agencies, and state and local governments, who contributed their technical expertise and input as cooperating agencies in this National Environmental Policy Act process. As cooperating agencies, their participation included providing input throughout the 120-day scoping process as well as reviewing the Administrative draft document. This participation enabled the production of a draft EIS that reflects expressed tribal and other perspectives on the Columbia River System.
The federal agencies received a number of requests to extend the comment period. However, given the broad range of comments received to date and the extensive non-Federal participation in the overall process as well as the level of public engagement in the six virtual meetings in the region, the comment period for the draft EIS will not be extended.
The agencies will continue to collaborate with all involved to issue the final EIS in Summer 2020 followed by a Record of Decision in Fall 2020 consistent with the direction provided in the October 2018 Presidential Memorandum on Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West.
Options to submit written comments:
Online:
Visit crso.info to access the online comment form
Postal mail, postmarked by April 13, 2020, to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CRSO EIS P.O. Box 2870, Portland, OR 97208-2870
Delivery service by 5:00 p.m. on April 13, 2020, to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CRSO EIS
1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Portland, OR 97232
The Federal agencies will provide progress updates on the EIS, send a notice of publication of the final EIS to the project mailing list, and post information on the project website: www.crso.info. To receive updates via email, the public may send an email address to info@crso.info. For updates via postal mail, the public can call 800-290-5033.