Federal notice issued for CdA Basin plan

The Environmental Protection Agency, at the request of the Coeur d’Alene Basin Natural Resource Trustees, known as the Restoration Partnership (Partnership), published the Notice of Availability (NOA) of the final Restoration Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in the Federal Register. The NOA was published on February 23, 2018 and is available online. Public comment was solicited during a scoping period in 2013 and on the draft EIS in 2016–2017. The Notice of Availability makes the final document available to the public and begins the 30-day waiting period required before the Record of Decision may be signed. The Partnership is a collaborative effort comprising the Coeur d’Alene Basin Natural Resource Trustees which are the U.S. Department of the Interior, represented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management; the Coeur d’Alene Tribe; the U.S. Department of Agriculture, represented by the U.S. Forest Service; and the State of Idaho, represented by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. The Partnership’s primary mission is to recover the natural resources that were injured by releases of mine waste contamination, and compensate for lost human use services of those resources by developing and implementing projects under the framework found in the restoration plan for the Coeur d’Alene Basin. Visit the Restoration Partnership website at www.restorationpartnership.org to access the EIS and to learn more about this effort or the Restoration Partnership.