Comments being taken on missile defense EIS

Officials of the federal Missile Defense Agency hosted a public scoping meeting on O’ahu Tuesday night in advance of preparation of a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) on the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS).

The scoping meeting was to allow representatives of government and private organizations and the public to identify issues of concern they believe should be addressed in the PEIS.

The Theater High Altitude Area Defense project (THAAD), parts of which are now under construction at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands on the Westside of Kaua’i, is part of BMDS.

Though no public scoping meeting regarding the PEIS is planned for Kaua’i, anyone interested in commenting on the forthcoming PEIS has until Thursday, June 12 to do.

Comments may be mailed to MDA BMDS PEIS, c/o ICM Consulting, 9300 Lee Hwy., Fairfax, VA 22301; called in toll-free to 1-877-851-5451 (please leave name, address and comments); or sent via e-mail to bmds.peis@mda.osd.mil.

Additional information is available on the Web site, www.acq.osd.mil/bmdo/peis/html/home.html.

An MDA spokesman said Tuesday’s scoping meeting included discussion about holding a public hearing on Kaua’i after the draft PEIS is published.

Scoping meetings were held last week in Sacramento and Anchorage.

The PEIS will assess environmental issues associated with BMDS proposed actions, foreseeable future actions, and reasonable alternatives, including a no-action alternative, and, as appropriate, cumulative effects.

The PEIS is being conducted in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Council on Environmental Quality implementing regulations.

The document will support decisions to meet the fundamental objectives of MDA’s mission to test, develop, transfer to deployment, and to plan for decommissioning activities for BMDS.

The mission of BMDS is to defend forces and territories of the United States, its allies and friends, against all classes of ballistic missile threats in all phases of flight.

Earlier this year, a draft environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact were issued for the THAAD facility and related activities at PMRF.