td sez Event
This morning, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced that an 'inkind'
compensatory mitigation plan (CMP) is required for Pebble to compensate for
all direct and indirect impacts caused by discharges into aquatic resources at the
mine site and along the transportation corridor and port site.
Impact: POTENTIALLY NEGATIVE
Compensatory mitigation plan to be submitted within 90-days - According
to federal regulations, there are three approved mechanisms for providing
compensatory mitigation, including mitigation banks (in-kind), in-lieu fee
programs, and permittee-responsible mitigation. The Environmental Impact
Statement published on July 24, focused largely on mitigation efforts.
The USACE identified direct and indirect impacts at the mine totaling 2,825 acres
of wetlands including 129.5 miles of streams. With respect to the transportation
corridor and port site, the USACE identified another 460 acres of wetlands and
55.5 miles of streams. Pebble has 90-days to submit the CMP. The USACE will
review the plan and determine whether it meets the requirements.
Pebble Partnership responded to the USACE's letter this morning, noting that
it was a 'normal' part of the permitting process. In potential anticipation of today's
request, the company began work on a preliminary plan six weeks ago and now
has 25-people on site mapping the wetland areas to identify enough land that
can be preserved to offset those impacted by the proposed project. Management
expects to the submit a CMP within weeks, that they believe, will satisfy the
USACE requirements.
Mitigation request could potentially delay the Record-of-Decision (ROD) - In
our view, today's announcement rejects several media reports over the last 48-
hours whereby the Trump administration was set to outright block the project this
week. That said, today's request from the USACE could delay the issuance of the
ROD and 404 Wetlands Permit. It was anticipated that the ROD could be issued
as early as 30-to-60 days following the Final EIS. Today's announcement adds
further risk, in our view, that the ROD may be pushed until after the U.S. federal
elections. In our view, a Democratic administration would increase the project's
risk of development based on recent commentary by Joe Biden.