Govt set to select consultant for draft EIS review

The administration of Gov. Eloy S. Inos it set to select a consultant who will review the draft environmental impact statement on proposed military “live-fire” exercises on Tinian and Pagan.

Six consultants have submitted their bids for the project to the CNMI Office of Procurement and Supply, which is supposed to submit the sealed bids to the Office of the Governor on Monday, press secretary Ivan Blanco said.

According to Blanco, three of the six bidders are from off-island while three are local.

The six bidders beat the May 6 deadline.

Once the bids are opened, the government will start a review of the proposals this week.

Blanco said the government hopes to select the winning bid by next week, as Inos wants to expedite the process of selecting the consultant.

“Personally for me, the contract should be out by next week. At least we have a company that the government can award the proposal to,” Blanco said.

Once the winning bid is selected, government representatives will sit down and work out a schedule of payments and the expected deliverables. A contract will then be drawn for the two entities to sign.

In April, the government announced it will issue request for proposals for a third-party contractor or consultant for the draft EIS review.

The government has also released the scope of work for the potential consultant who will have advisory functions.

The government said it is seeking “consultant services to ensure that the Office of Governor thoroughly understands the DEIS, its potential positive and negative impacts, and all substantive options, including legal remedies if agreements and other mitigation measures with the military are unable to be reached.”

One of the primary goals of the advisory consultant is to “ensure that the Office of the Governor is well versed on the relevance of the DEIS and has a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of how the Department of Defense proposed action impacts the CNMI, including the direct and indirect impacts, especially those that are less obvious and potentially harmful over the long-term operation of live-firing (high explosives) training ranges.”

The advisory consultant is also expected to ensure and enable the Office of the Governor “to make informed decisions on behalf of the CNMI.”

The consultant is expected to provide a “reasonable analysis” of the draft EIS and provide counsel and recommendations.

TA for EIS
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) earlier said the Department of the Interior has awarded a technical assistance grant of $250,000 to the Office of the Governor to hire environmental experts to review the draft EIS.

Sablan said the funds are appropriated by Congress and allows the department to respond to “critical needs in the insular areas for which local funds are not available.”

In this case there is a critical need for expertise to evaluate plans to develop live-fire ranges and training areas on Tinian and Pagan as part of the U.S. military’s shift of forces in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.