Preserving the San Rafael Watershed in Southern Arizona
Preserving the San Rafael Watershed in Southern Arizona
In order to do invasive exploratory work on Forest Service (USFS) land, a mining company must submit a Plan of Operations (PoO) to USFS for review and approval. Forest Service is currently reviewing PoOs for two drilling projects within the Patagonia Mountains. One of the proposed projects, the San Antonio Exploratory Drilling Project, is located within the San Rafael Watershed. The second project, the Sunnyside Exploratory Drilling Project is located in the northern section of the Patagonia Mountains. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has established procedures Federal agencies, in this case USFS, must follow to identify and analyze the environmental impacts of the proposed plan. The public comment periods for both the San Antonio and the Sunnyside Plan of Operations have closed. Although the public may still submit comments to the USFS, the comments posted after the close of a designated comment period may not be given full consideration and will not provide the commenter standing for administrative review.
NEXT STEP: The Forest Service will review all public comments, seek input from other organizations/subject matter experts, and make an initial decision on whether the project will receive a permit to proceed or is additional environmental assessment required. Depending upon the scope and size of the proposed project, this review may take a few months or more than a year. The USFS decision will be issued in the form of a DECISION MEMO.
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To download the San Antonio Exploratory Drilling Project Plan of Operations, click here.
To download the Sunnyside Exploratory Drilling Project Plan of Operations, click here.
For an overview of the NEPA process, click here.
To make your comments to the U.S. Forest Service the most effective:
Remember:
All comments should include:
A reminder of what will be affected by drilling:
Reminder: Electronic comments may be submitted through this link.
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