National Park Service Has Started Federal EIS Process for PATH – Get Involved – NOW

We need to get the word out fast.  The federal environmental impact statement process has begun today with a notice posted in the Federal Register by the National Park Service (NPS) and the US Forest Service (USFS) announcing that the agencies will be holding public meetings on the EIS “scoping” process within the next month or so.  Here is a link to the federal notice.

EIS deadlines and meetings will come thick and fast from now on, and we have to stay on top of what is happening, or we will lose a lot of opportunities to be heard in this study.

AEP and Allegheny Energy have been engaged in semi-secret negotiations with the NPS and the USFS concerning the PATH EIS since at least last summer.  The power companies and the federal agencies chose a consulting company without any comments or contributions from the public or any other interested parties, of which there are many.  Now is citizens’ opportunity to get into this process which has been very cozy for the feds and the power companies so far.

The “scoping” process is the part of the development of the EIS in which NPS, USFS, and consultant CH2M Hill determine what the scope of the study will include.

Will the study include all impacts along the entire PATH line, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or will the study only be confined to specific federal lands, as the power companies would like?

Will the study fully investigate the “no build” option for PATH, or will the study assume that PATH will be built and try to patch together accommodations to the project?

These are vitally important questions to the citizens of WV, MD and East Virginia.

There will be more public meetings on specific project impacts later in the summer and fall, but these “scoping” meetings are the most important meetings of all, because they will determine what gets studied and how.

If you plan to attend any EIS meetings, these will be the ones to attend.  It appears there will be at least three meetings.  The NPS/USFS claim in their notice that meeting schedules will be put in “local newspapers”.  We know from the WV PSC process what that means.  What “local newspapers”?  Will notice be put in Roane County papers?  In Barbour County papers?  In Jackson County papers?  In Berkeley County papers?  We don’t know.  The feds haven’t told us.

The Federal Register notice states that meeting schedules will also be posted on the NPS planning Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/appa/.  I went to that page this morning, and there is nothing about the PATH project on the page, not even the initial notice.

It is clear, even at this early stage, that the federals aren’t making this easy for citizens to be involved in the real process here.  That hasn’t stopped us so far.  If you have any questions about any aspect of this process, including meeting notices, I suggest that you contact the NPS planning coordinator for the PATH project.  She has been very helpful when I have called her.

Morgan McCosh Elmer, Project Manager
NPS Denver Service Center – Planning
12795 W Alameda Pkwy
PO Box 25287
Denver CO 80225
(303) 969-2317
cell 303-648-1046
fax: 303-969-2920
Morgan_Elmer@nps.gov