Public Involvement
and Virtual Meetings

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a detailed public document with the primary purpose to ensure the requirements and goals of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are incorporated into Federal programs and actions and provides sufficient information for the decision-maker (in this case, the Maritime Administration) to make an informed decision. The Draft EIS is the first public version of the EIS document and was published on January 31, 2020.

We are committed to providing meaningful public involvement in the NEPA process, while also ensuring protection of human health during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency. MARAD and USCG held a public comment meeting in Lake Jackson, Texas, on February 26, 2020, to provide citizens an opportunity to make oral and written comments concerning the Draft EIS. A Federal Register notice was published on May 1, 2020 (85 Fed. Reg. 85 [May 1, 2020], 25507–25508) to notify the public of a 30-day extension of the public comment period, ending May 31, 2020. Subsequently, MARAD determined that additional public engagement of Environmental Justice (EJ) communities and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) persons in the environmental review process was warranted for the SPOT Project. The Draft EIS identified minority or low-income populations that meet one or more criteria for environmental justice analysis and the EJ communities along the pipeline route within Harris County would be disproportionately affected, at least temporarily, by construction impacts. Additionally, the Project's potential impacts include areas containing LEP populations sufficient to warrant translated/interpreted engagement. Therefore, MARAD published a Supplemental Draft EIS that took into account comments received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the public regarding EJ communities and LEP persons to provide adequate opportunity for EJ communities and LEP persons to participate in the process. These comments, as well as those received during the public comment meeting in Lake Jackson, Texas, on February 26, 2020, the public comment extension period ending May 31, 2020, and on the docket (MARAD-2019-0011), were considered in the development of the Supplemental Draft EIS.

The Supplemental Draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 207, 60093-60095) and ads ran twice during the comment period in the following newspapers: The Facts, Alvin Sun, The Houston Chronicle, Pearland Journal, The Daily News Galveston County, The Vietnam Post, La Prensa de Houston, La Voz de Houston, Vietnam Daily News, and La Informacion. MARAD and the USCG held a virtual public meeting on November 16, 2021 to provide the public an opportunity to make oral and written comments concerning the Supplemental Draft EIS. Transcripts of the meeting are available on the docket, located at www.regulations.gov, docket number MARAD-2019-0011.

The Final EIS addresses comments received on the SDEIS. The Final EIS was published in the Federal Register on July 29, 2022. MARAD and the USCG are hosting a virtual final hearing on August 23, 2022, to provide the public an opportunity to make oral and written comments concerning the Final EIS. The meeting transcript will be made available on the docket.

The FEIS public comment period closes on September 12, 2022.