Ignoring written objections from the governments of Santa Cruz County and the Town of Patagonia, the US Forest Service—the federal agency charged with leading the NEPA permitting process for South32’s controversial Hermosa project—is opening a 30-day scoping period on May 10.
Both the County and the Town of Patagonia have sent letters to the Forest Service asking for the time period to be extended.
“This is a complex project in an environmentally sensitive area,” the Supervisors wrote in an April 18 letter to Kerwin S. Dewberry, Forest Supervisor for the Coronado National Forest. “Our stakeholders require sufficient time to fully understand the implications this mine will have on the ecosystem, and the impacts mining operations may have on public health.”
The County Supervisors called for a 60-day scoping period, with two workshops to explore mine impacts and alternatives related to the NEPA process” and “a minimum of two public meetings where community members can make verbal or written comments either in Spanish or English.”
The letter concluded, “South32’s Phase 1 investment in the Hermosa Project is the single largest investment in Southern Arizona’s history. The mine will impact Santa Cruz County to 80 years. As direct stakeholders, Santa Cruz County residents, business owners and environmental stakeholders must be made adequately informed of the NEPA related impacts of the Hermosa Critical Minerals.”
“We’re a disadvantaged community, and very few people really understand what’s going on,” District 3 Supervisor Bruce Bracker told the PRT in an April 29 interview. “The Forest Service needs to put the people up there to explain what each phase is. We’re looking at five things for permitting: The power line, the haul road, the tailings pit, new drilling pads and water infiltration basins.”
The Town of Patagonia sent a similar letter to the Forest Service on April 25, asking for 90 days.
Ron Robinson, Patagonia Town Manager, pointed out the importance of citizens getting involved in the early stages of the permitting process.
“If you don’t comment in the first 30-day period, you have no rights to make any other comments in subsequent periods,” he said. “We have to get the traffic situation solved. And air and water. If those things can’t be solved during the NEPA process, we have the potential of harm coming to our community.”
Bracker said that the County has not received a response to the Supervisors’ letter.
“For me, it’s discouraging after what we’ve learned about processes in these communities and how it helps get information out,” Bracker said. “It seems as though the FS is not interested in deviating from their process to educate our community. We’re looking at our options on what we can do next.”
The Town of Patagonia has not gotten a response to their letter either. The Forest Service has also not responded to the PRT’s request for information.
If the time period is not extended by the Forest Service, Robinson sees no alternative but to “conform to their process for the 30 day comment period.”
A decision about issuing a permit to South32 to use Forest Service land is made after the agency conducts a study, referred to as ‘scoping,’ and drafts an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Scoping and drafting the EIS are all part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process which requires the FS to consider environmental effects such as impacts on social, cultural, and economic resources, as well as natural resources.
Scoping is the first step in preparing the EIS and will identify people and organizations that are interested in participating, identify significant issues, identify data gaps and information needs, set time limits for the process for the EIS, integrate any related environmental reviews, make a tentative decision-making schedule, and get the public involved. Citizens often have valuable information about places and resources that they value and the potential environmental, social, and economic effects that proposed actions may have on those places and resources.
The EIS is developed to outline the status of the environment in the affected area, provide a baseline for understanding the potential consequences of the proposed project, and offer alternative actions, including inaction, for the proposed project.
The NEPA process usually takes several years before a decision is made, but because the Hermosa Project was designated last year as a FAST-41 covered project—the first-ever critical minerals mining project in the nation to be included in the program—this process should be concluded in a much shorter time frame.
On May 10, the FS will issue its Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register describing the proposed mining action and possible alternatives. The NOI will describe the scoping process and how the public can get involved.
Two public scoping meetings have been scheduled:
Monday May 20 – 4:30 to 6:30 at Patagonia Union High School, 200 Naugle Avenue, Patagonia
Tuesday May 21 – 4:30 to 6:30 at Nogales Quality Hotel Americana, 639 N Grand Avenue, Nogales
For more information: “A Citizen’s Guide to the NEPA” at ceq.doe.gov/docs/get-involved/Citizens_Guide_Dec07.pdf