Preserving the San Rafael Watershed in Southern Arizona
Preserving the San Rafael Watershed in Southern Arizona
The Santa Cruz River © Bob Sharp
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law in 1970 to assure that Federal agencies consider the environmental impacts of their actions when evaluating projects. Each Federal agency has developed its own process to comply with the law.
The chart below outlines the process Forest Service (USFS) follows when assessing the environmental impacts of a Project. The current San Antonio Exploratory Drilling Plan (San Antonio Project) is used as an example.
USFS determined the San Antonio Project met the requirements for a Categorical Exclusion for a mineral project of less than a year as defined under Federal Code of Regulations 36 CFR 220.6(e)(8).
In September 2020, USFS announced it would conduct a preliminary analysis to determine if the environmental impacts of the project will meet the requirements for a Categorical Exclusion (CE) or will they be significant enough to warrant an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). As part of the analysis, USFS invited public comments on the project.
On March 30, 2022, USFS announced it found there are no extraordinary circumstances that would warrant further analysis and documentation in an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). USFS approved the Plan of Operations for the San Antonio Exploratory Drilling Project. The project approval was granted to IC Exploration, the US subsidiary of Barksdale, a Canadian exploratory mining company. The public cannot appeal categorical exclusions.
The yellow box on the chart below shows the steps in USFS’s review process for the San Antonio Exploratory Drilling Project. The green box points to the current status of the San Antonio Project.
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