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Before granting rights-of way to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for its proposed groundwater development project in Clark, Lincoln, and White Pine Counties, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy (NEPA) and other laws. To meet these requirements, BLM has determined an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must be prepared. BLM will focus on three main areas during the preparation of the EIS:

1. SCOPING: During the "scoping" phase, BLM will conduct several meetings to identify the significant issues and alternatives to SNWA's proposed action to develop groundwater resources, which should be analyzed in the EIS. Affected federal, state, and local agencies and tribes as well as members of the public are invited to participate in these meetings and to submit comments. The deadline for written comments is Monday, August 1, 2005. The schedule of scoping meetings is as follows:
   
   

   Date	City	Location	Time

   
   
2. DRAFT EIS: During the "draft EIS" phase, BLM will use an interdisciplinary team to gather all relevant data and conduct a comprehensive analysis of SNWA's proposed action and alternatives. The analysis will be included in the draft EIS as will a discussion of impacts the proposed action and alternatives may have on the environment and any proposed measures to mitigate these impacts. The draft EIS is currently planned to be made available for public comment during the summer of 2006.
3. FINAL EIS/RECORD OF DECISION (ROD): The final EIS will respond to all comments received in the draft EIS. The ROD is the public document that BLM will sign at the time the decision is made. In addition to enunciating BLM's decision on the right-of-way application, the ROD will state the alternatives considered, the environmentally preferable alternative or alternatives, factors considered in BLM's decision, mitigation measures, if applicable, that BLM determines will be implemented, and a description of any applicable enforcement and monitoring programs. Both the final EIS and ROD are planned to be completed in mid-2007.