Minnesota DNR - Monthly Update:
Twin Metals Minnesota EIS
About this Update
To provide information about the State’s environmental review of Twin Metals Minnesota’s project proposal, the Minnesota DNR is issuing monthly updates to those who have signed up to receive them on the State web portal for Twin Metals Minnesota project. This message is the monthly update for activity during October 2020.
Each monthly update provides information on the status of Minnesota’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process and identifies new documents that have been posted on the Minnesota DNR’s webpages for the project since the prior monthly update.
The Minnesota DNR is the responsible governmental unit (RGU) for the State’s EIS. Please note that the federal government is preparing a separate EIS for the Twin Metals project. Information about the Federal EIS is available here. [Please note that the Federal EIS link is not set up to open with Internet Explorer; an alternate browser is needed.]
State EIS Process Status
Preparation of an EIS for any large and complex project is a multi-year process. The Minnesota DNR is currently in the scoping phase of the EIS process for the proposed Twin Metals project. The scoping process helps us ensure the future EIS assesses the proposed project’s potentially significant environmental impacts, but also helps define project alternatives, potential mitigations, timelines, and additional data needs.
Revised proposal: Twin Metals Minnesota submitted its Project Proposal to the Minnesota DNR on December 18, 2019. Since then, we have completed our initial review of the project proposal, determined that it was incomplete and, on June 15, we requested additional information from Twin Metals. On July 24, 2020, Twin Metals submitted its revised Project Proposal to the Minnesota DNR along with its responses to our comments. At this time, we are continuing to review the information submitted by Twin Metals.
The scoping process is iterative. As is typical for a project of this complexity, we anticipate multiple rounds of Minnesota DNR comments followed by revisions from Twin Metals.
Contractor RFP: The proposal period for the Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by the Minnesota DNR closed on November 3. The Minnesota DNR is seeking a consultant to assist in our review of the proposed project. Based on the complexity of the proposed project and the level of public interest, it is important for the DNR to retain additional capacity and technical expertise early in the review process. Twin Metals is required to reimburse all costs associated with the EIS, including contractor assistance.
New Documents Available
The following new documents were posted in October 2020 to our project website. Please click on underlined text to link directly to the material(s).
DNR Documents
No new DNR documents were posted in October 2020.
Proposer Documents
October 12, 2020 TMM Baseline Data Catalog Memo. This memo catalogs the baseline data that Twin Metals has collected, is currently collecting, and plans on collecting in the future. It was prepared to support the federal EIS but has also been provided to the state.
More Information
All project updates as well as key documents (new and previously posted) can be accessed through the State web portal for Twin Metals Minnesota project. The website provides access to basic information about the project, EIS status updates and documents, fact sheets to help explain the process and summarize complex issues, and proposer-developed data and studies that have been submitted for DNR review. Project updates are available through the News tab.
If you would like to receive email updates on the environmental review process, please sign up with your email address.
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