U.S military leaders have recently proposed a \u201chybrid approach\u201d inclusive of Tinian and Saipan for the Air Force\u2019s Divert and Exercises Project in the CNMI. But this, it was learned, must still be within the range of options or alternatives already discussed and evaluated in relevant environmental documents within the ongoing National Environmental Protection Act process.<\/p>\n
So far, Tinian and Saipan have only been studied as separate and exclusive Divert and Exercises alternatives locations.<\/p>\n
The proposed hybrid approach appears to be a \u201cthird alternative\u201d not formally included in the draft environmental impact statement for the Divert and Exercises Project to be located in the CNMI and published in 2012.<\/p>\n
In this DEIS, Saipan was listed as preferred alternative number one. Tinian was second, and an option of \u201cno alternative\u201d was also discussed.<\/p>\n
But Saipan Tribune learned that even if a hybrid alternative was proven viable under NEPA\u2014as impact studies have been or will be done for both islands\u2014the military would still need to lease property at the civilian airports on both islands, currently owned by the Commonwealth Ports Authority, in order to move forward with the proposed hybrid approach.<\/p>\n
Ad-hoc discussions between the CNMI and the military in recent years have clarified the military\u2019s position; however, no formal discussions or talks regarding the leasing of property on Tinian or Saipan has been initiated.<\/p>\n
Still, it was reported in 2013 that the military eyed a 50-year lease for some 33-acres of land around the Saipan air and seaport.<\/p>\n
For their part, CPA has been set in their position that the Divert Project be sited on Tinian and not on Saipan. The Inos administration has voiced the same position.<\/p>\n
Earlier, after briefing CNMI lawmakers on their September resolution that essentially said \u201cno\u201d to siting the Divert and Exercises Project on Saipan, CPA executive director Maryann Lizama re-emphasized her position, when asked if a \u201ccollaborative\u201d resolution between lawmakers and CPA was in the works.<\/p>\n
\u201cCPA has already issued its resolution regarding divert and the position remains unchanged: Divert shall be sited and permitted on Tinian and CPA will support an Airport Layout Plan to that end. Whether the House and Senate will issue resolutions on the issue articulating the Legislature\u2019s position on divert is a policy decision left to the representatives including Precinct 1,\u201d she had said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
U.S military leaders have recently proposed a \u201chybrid approach\u201d inclusive of Tinian and Saipan for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26,124,200,2307],"class_list":["post-192479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cnmi","tag-cpa","tag-military","tag-nepa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192479\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}