The public is invited to comment on the scope of an environmental impact statement (EIS) that three agencies plan to jointly prepare for a proposed export terminal for shipping coal near Longview.
Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview LLC proposes to build and operate a terminal to export coal from the site of the former Reynolds Aluminum smelter in Cowlitz County.
Cowlitz County, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) are together conducting the EIS process for the proposed terminal project and will produce one joint EIS. Cowlitz County and Ecology must follow the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and the Corps must follow the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
A 95-day comment period for the EIS scoping process will begin Aug. 16. It will end Nov. 18.
Through scoping, the agencies will decide what impacts to analyze in the EIS. The three lead agencies will ask other agencies, tribes and the public to recommend what should be studied in the EIS and identify specific issues and concerns. After considering comments, the lead agencies will decide what will be included in the EIS.
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Press Release, August 12, 2013