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Draft Status Report on the Northstar Commuter Rail Project. June 7, 2001 <br /> <br />V <br /> <br />ENVIRONMENTAL <br />IMPACT <br />STATEMENT <br /> <br />Environmental Impact Statement <br /> <br />A. Introduction <br />The National Environmental Policy Act CNEPA") and the Minnesota <br />Environmental Policy Act ("MEPA") prescribe procedures that are <br />separate and distinct from the Advanced Corridor Planning <br />Process. To satisfy these environmental review procedures, the <br />NCDA decided to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement <br />CEIS") as part of the commuter rail development process. An ElS <br />is a comprehensive study of the various potential environmental <br />consequences of a proposed land use development. (Northstar <br />ElS Documents are on file in the Anoka County Government <br />Center. <br /> <br />B. Environmental Impact Statement (ELS) Scoping <br />The initiation of the ElS for the Northstar Corridor project began <br />with a formal scoping process. The scoping process is used to <br />publicly announce the alternatives being considered for inclusion in <br />the Draft ElS and to seek out additional options which could be <br />examined. The purpose of scoping is to determine the scope and <br />significance of social, economic, and environmental issues <br />associated with the potential alternatives and the proposed action. <br />The process provides opportunities to inform the public, <br />government agencies, elected officials, organizations and <br />businesses that the ElS process is commencing and to hear about <br />issues of concern to notified participants. In addition to initiating <br />dialogue on the alternatives, scoping is instrumental in identifying <br />issues to be considered and/or resolved during the ElS. <br /> <br />The Notice of Intent to prepare an ElS on the project was published <br />in the Federal Register on June 7, 1999. In addition, the Notice of <br />Availability of the Scoping Booklet and announcements of the <br />Scoping Meetings were published in the Minnesota EQB Monitor <br />on June 28, 1999 which began the scoping period. The formal <br />scoping comment period extended from June 28 to August 20, <br />1999. The NCDA distributed over 1,000 Scoping Booklets to <br />federal, state and local agencies having jurisdiction in the project, <br />all interested parties on the NCDA mailing list, elected officials, <br />neighborhood organizations and civic groups. The Scoping Booklet <br />included descriptions of the project, alternatives, and issues <br />identified for consideration in the ElS. <br /> <br />Northstar Corridor Development Authority 10 <br /> <br /> <br />