Anybody know about this 6th public meeting?

[Hefty1]

TITLE 14. CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING
The California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) proposes to adopt amended
regulations described below after considering all comments, objections, and
recommendations regarding the proposed action.

PUBLIC HEARINGS
CDFG will hold six public hearings as follows:

Santa Clarita:
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 5 p.m.
Residence Inn by Marriott
25320 The Old Road
Santa Clarita, CA 91381

Fresno:
Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 5 p.m.
CA Retired Teachers Association
3930 East Saginaw Way
Fresno, CA 93726

Sacramento:
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 5 p.m.
Byron Sher Auditorium
1001 – I Street
Sacramento, CA 95812

Yreka:
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 5 p.m.
Yreka Community Center
810 N. Oregon
Yreka, CA 96097

Redding:
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 5 p.m.
Shasta Senior Nutrition Program
100 Mercy Oaks Drive
Redding, CA 96003

Sacramento:
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 9:00 a.m.
Natural Resources Agency Building Auditorium
1416 Ninth Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

At the hearing, any person may present statements, arguments, or contentions orally or in
writing relevant to the proposed action described in the Informative Digest. CDFG
requests but does not require that persons who make oral comments at a hearing also
submit a written copy of their testimony at the hearing.
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Any interested person, or his or her representative, may submit written comments
relevant to the proposed regulatory action to CDFG. Comments may also be submitted by
facsimile (FAX) at 530.225.2391 or by email to dfgsuctiondredge@dfg.ca.gov. The
written comment period closes at 5:00 P.M. on May 10, 2011. CDFG will consider only
comments received by that time. Submit comments to:
Mark Stopher
California Department of Fish and Game
601 Locust Street
Redding, CA 96001

[Gravel Hog]

Yup, it was a CEQA technicality and it is too too bad it was caught then we could have got it all thrown out but might have made the process even more drawn out Who knows

Here is the letter from CDFG:

As you know, public review of the draft regulations and Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report began on February 28, 2011. Public meetings will begin next week in Santa Clarita, then on to Fresno, Sacramento, Yreka and Redding. We had intended for public review to conclude on April 29, 2011. However, a closer inspection of the Administrative Procedures Act makes it clear that we will need to hold at least one public hearing after 45 days of the public comment period have passed. All five of the scheduled meetings occur before that time. Consequently we will hold a sixth public hearing, probably on May 10, 2011 in Sacramento and extend the public comment period through that date. By now you have probably seen the documents on our website at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/suctiondredge/. I intend to add a few more this week related to the APA process.

The first five public meetings will bear some similarity to the scoping meetings, beginning with one hour of informal discussion and informational stations around the room. However, the scoping meetings included a substantial segment where DFG responded to questions generated by the participants. This meeting is intended to receive public input, not for DFG to respond in the moment to questions and statements. We will be videotaping each meeting and preparing a transcript from the videotape for our record, and for use in considering what modifications may be needed to our SEIR and the regulations.

We have been receiving numerous written comments through regular mail and email; and I have had dozens of telephone conversations. They cover the expected range of viewpoints, from advocating no restrictions on suction dredging to an outright ban. There have also been numerous specific questions and recommendations. We will fully consider everything we receive.

Looking back, forming the PAC was a great idea, at least from my perspective, and it arose from public requests during the scoping process. I doubt that any one person's hopes or expectations were entirely met through your participation. However, for DFG and our consultant team we learned a lot from the content and dialogue and the relationships we made have been very useful.

Thank you for your past participation and I look forward to interacting with each of you in the future.




Mark Stopher
Environmental Program Manager
California Department of Fish and Game
601 Locust Street
Redding, CA 96001

voice 530.225.2275
fax 530.225.2391
cell 530.945.1344