Public Participation

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) provides the public the opportunity to participate at various stages during the Bureau of Reclamation's preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the South Valley Facilities Expansion Project (SVFE).

SNWA is working in advance to secure the rights-of-way for the SVFE project, which would not begin construction for several years.

Public Scoping

Reclamation held public scoping meetings on May 5, 6 and 7, 2008, to provide stakeholders the opportunity to learn more about this project and to submit comments. The public scoping comment period ended on May 23, 2008. The Scoping Report prepared by Reclamation is available to the public on Reclamation's Web site.

Public Comment

The public will be invited to comment on the Draft EIS and Final EIS when Reclamation makes them available.

Tips for Providing Public Comment

In order to be included in the EIS, comments must be received during the official comment periods identified in the availability announcement by Reclamation.

The three most useful types of comments generally address:

• The accuracy or thoroughness of the analyses being conducted
• New mitigation actions, alternatives or potential impacts that should be considered by Reclamation
• Specific questions or concerns about the interpretation of impacts