The following email was sent to community members on July 16. It includes details about the upcoming information meeting.
"Dear Member of the Mace Community:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in cooperation with the General Services Administration (GSA), announces the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the 30-day wait period for the proposed acquisition of a site in Mace, West Virginia, and the development of this site into a replacement of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Underground Safety Research Program facility (Proposed Action). This notice also serves to advise you of a virtual information meeting that CDC and GSA will hold on August 05, 2021.
The proposed acquisition and development would replace the former Lake Lynn Experimental Mine in Fayette County, Pennsylvania and would support research programs focused on miner health and safety issues. The site being considered for acquisition and development includes 461.35 acres located off of U.S. Route 219 in Randolph and Pocahontas Counties near Mace, West Virginia.
The Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Final EIS and the 30-day wait period was also published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2021 (Docket No. CDC–2018-0057). A Notice of Intent for the EIS was published in the Federal Register on June 14, 2018 (83 FR 27781). An open-house public scoping meeting was held on June 26, 2018, from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the Linwood Community Library in Slatyfork, West Virginia. Similarly, an NOA for the Draft EIS and notice for the March 6, 2019 public meeting was published in the Federal Register on February 14, 2019 (Docket No. CDC–2018–0057).
Publication of the Draft EIS notice initiated a 51-day review period, which ended on April 5, 2019. During this period, CDC received comments from government agencies, a Native American tribe, and the public. These comments pertained to the proposed action in general, including the purpose and need; water quality/groundwater impacts; traffic impacts; tourism impacts; noise and vibration impacts; viewshed impacts; and wildlife impacts.
All comments were considered when preparing the Final EIS and responses to the comments are provided in the Final EIS. The Final EIS identifies the Proposed Action Alternative as CDC's Preferred Alternative.
The Final EIS and this notice are published pursuant to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508). In parallel with the NEPA process, CDC also completed consultation with the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act to evaluate the potential effects, if any, of the Proposed Action on historic properties.
CDC will make a decision on whether to proceed with the Proposed Action on or after August 16, 2021. At that time, CDC will issue a Record of Decision documenting and explaining its decision based on the Final EIS.
Public participation is an essential part of the NEPA process. Therefore, although CDC has fulfilled the public meeting requirements under NEPA, due to the changes that have resulted in the Final EIS from stakeholder input and to ensure that the stakeholders have the opportunity to learn of the changes and mitigation measures, CDC and GSA are holding an information meeting to discuss the keys changes in the Final EIS. The information meeting will be virtual due to COVID-19 restrictions. The virtual information meeting will be held on:
August 5, 2021 from 6:00 to 7:00 PM
At Zoom Webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83943045020
Or Telephone:
+1 312 626 6799, Webinar ID: 839 4304 5020
CDC and GSA have taken into consideration the limited internet availability in the project vicinity. The PowerPoint presentation is available for download in advance of the meeting here: [https://gsa.gov/about-us/regions/welcome-to-the-midatlantic-region-3/buildings-and-facilities/west-virginia/cdc-niosh-mine-site-selection-acquisition-environmental-impact-statement]. Those with limited internet connectivity can download the presentation in advance and then call into the meeting using the Zoom phone number. Electronic materials will be available for download by close of business on July 30, 2021.
Should you need a hardcopy of the PowerPoint presentation, please email your request, including name and address, to cdc-macewv-eis@cdc.gov no later than July 26, 2021.
Representatives of CDC and GSA will not be taking questions during the presentation but request questions be submitted in advance of the meeting so the agencies can incorporate those questions into the presentation so that all participants receive the same hardcopy information. If you have any questions or comments that you would like to see addressed during the virtual information meeting, please email those to cdc-macewv-eis@cdc.gov no later than July 26, 2021.
Copies of the Final EIS are available at:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov (reference Docket No. CDC-2018-0057) [electronic copy]
Linwood Community Library, 72 Snowshoe Drive, Slatyfork, West Virginia 26291 [hardcopy]
Elkin-Randolph County Public Library, 416 Davis Ave, Elkins, WV 26241 [hardcopy]
By written request to cdc-macewv-eis@cdc.gov [electronic copies only]
An electronic copy of the public information meeting materials can be obtained after 6:00pm, July 30, 2021 at: https://gsa.gov/about-us/regions/welcome-to-the-midatlantic-region-3/buildings-and-facilities/west-virginia/cdc-niosh-mine-site-selection-acquisition-environmental-impact-statement
If you have further questions, please contact Sam Tarr, Office of Safety Security, and Asset Management (OSSAM), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road N.E, H20-4, Atlanta, Georgia 30329-4027, phone: (770) 488 8170, or email: cdc-macewv-eis@cdc.gov."