by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Military Buildup chair Senator Judi Guthertz says talk of a new Environmental Impact Statement doesn't surprise her as the issue had been raised before during discussions with the Navy and the Joint Guam Program Office on island. She did however hope otherwise.

"So my personal view is that we will begin to see the impact of construction projects move forward in 2014 in an aggressive way because the environmental impact statement takes that long. Of course my hope is that we don't have to go through a full blown provision or a new EIS, but I think perhaps the Department of Navy is trying to be prudent and be able to respond in a professional manner to the issues raised by the members of the U.S. senator," she said.

She says a supplemental EIS would be the most desirable, but it would still take 18 to 24 months to complete the process. In regards to the possibility of losing funding from the Japan government as a result of not meeting requirements of the 2012 NDAA, Guthertz believes Japan does want to see the movement go forward for the Pacific Security Plan, inclusive of the Guam buildup and estimates knowing some definitive answer by summer of what the final plan will be.