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Southern Empire Updates Status of Environmental Permitting for the Oro Cruz Project
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 16, 2022 / Southern Empire Resources Corp. (Southern E...
About this update from Southern Empire Resources Corp
[{"type":"text","content":"Southern Empire Updates Status of Environmental Permitting for the Oro Cruz ProjectVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 16, 2022 / Southern Empire Resources Corp. (Southern Empire; TSXV:SMP; Frankfurt:5RE; OTCQB:SMPEF) is pleased to provide an update on the status of the proposed Oro Cruz Project exploration Plan of Operations (the \"Plan\"), which was submitted to the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (\"BLM\") on September 28, 2020, and determined by the BLM to be administratively and technically complete and consistent with U.S. federal regulations one year ago on November 16, 2021. Since then, the Plan has been subject to significant and rigorous environmental and cultural reviews pursuant to the United States National Environmental Policy Act (\"NEPA\") and the California Environmental Quality Act (\"CEQA\").These extensive national and state reviews were respectively led by the BLM's El Centro Field Office and the Imperial County Planning Department (\"ICPD\"). These agencies are now in the process of preparing a joint, draft Environmental Assessment/Mitigated Negative Declaration (the \"draft EA/MND\"), which will provide a complete analysis of the effects on natural, environmental, cultural, and recreational resources that the agencies have determined to be present and potentially affected by the Southern Empire's proposed Oro Cruz Project exploration activities.Southern Empire anticipates the imminent publication by the BLM of its draft EA/MND, together with an unsigned Finding of No Significant Impact (\"FONSI\"), which will be followed by an additional 30-day review period during which substantive comments regarding the Plan will be solicited from the public. Also, an informational virtual public meeting is tentatively planned by the BLM for the end of November. Only after subsequent review of the public comments received will the BLM make a final decision regarding authorization of the proposed exploration activities outlined in the Plan.Additionally, a 582-page Reclamation Plan for compliance with the State of California's Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (\"SMARA\") was submitted on June 24, 2022, to the California Department of Conservation's Division of Mine Reclamation (\"DMR\") for their review. The Reclamation Plan is now considered to be complete subsequent to DMR's revie...