An Environmental Impact Statement Document schedule was a part of the information provided to the public at TVA’s Open House in Towns County on Tuesday, May 13.
By Marcia Barnes
Staff Writer
TVA’s second public meeting inviting the community to be heard on the proposed safety modifications to the Chatuge Dam spillway was well-attended on Tuesday, May 13 in Young Harris, Ga. Three hundred and fifteen attendees filled the room at Towns County Recreation Center with 246 of the guests signing in and providing their names and email addresses to receive online updates from TVA on the project.
The public scoping period which began on Monday, April 21 will end Wednesday, May 28 and comments received during the scoping period will be reviewed and considered during the development of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
Erica McLamb, TVA’s National Environmental Policy Act Compliance Specialist said that by mid-morning on Tuesday, May 13 the TVA had received 1,100 comments on the Chatuge Dam modification study. McLamb said that the weight of the comments was on economics.
“Out of the 1,100 comments, the ones having the greater weight will be those that include a data source, facts with their comments,” McLamb said. She pointed out that there is a difference between the commenting period and the scoping period. The scoping period is an information gathering period which ends May 28. It will summarize public and agency comments and TVA’s planned scope. When completed, the report will be available at: www.tva/com/NEPA.
The next milestone is the publishing of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement expected in late 2025 or early 2026. The statement will go out for review to all relevant agencies. The review will be sent to the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal and State government offices, Corps of Engineers, county officials and others outside of the agency. McLamb said that a wide net will analyze the document and give TVA feedback.
Once the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is available there will be a 45 day commenting period on document content and findings and additional public open house meetings will be scheduled. Open house dates, times and locations will be announced through the media and posted on the project website.
Publishing of the Final Environmental Impact Statement is expected late 2026 to early 2027 and a published Record of Decision in early 2027.
Throughout the evening at TVA’s second public meeting on proposed modifications to the Chatuge Dam spillway, Chris Saucier, TVA Dam Safety Project Manager answered questions. Several representatives from TVA were present to meet guests and be accessible to hear comments from the public.