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All Rosemont Copper and Augusta Resource employees understand and support the need to use our nation's resources wisely. We are all dedicated to creating a world-class model of efficiency, sustainability and environmental safety. More than 100 Tucsonans — your neighbors — are working to help make this happen.

We support the rigorous evaluation of any project that may affect the environment, such as our proposed Rosemont Copper mine. With any major project it's natural for everyone to want assurances of what the impact might be and how it will be handled. There should be no surprises down the road.

Since 1969, federal law has imposed on public agencies the obligation of the careful drafting of such an analysis. Not only must the review agency's statement spell out, with specifics, the likely effects of such a proposed project, alternatives for doing the project even better, and whether the impacts are too great for the project to proceed. The rules for compiling it are precise and so is the method of reporting and measuring the results.

The federal procedures can be found at the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site, www.epa.gov. Enter "EIS," for Environmental Impact Statement, in the search box.

The 1969 law, the National Environmental Policy Act, had an impact around the world. But the process followed in the United States is notable for the importance it puts on public comment from all sides.

The crux of an Environmental Impact Statement is its credibility. It becomes the centerpiece of the important debates and decisions that follow, and the basis of the crucial Record of Decision document issued. The statement is a precisely and very publicly drawn package of information on which developers, public planning officials and the public can proceed.

So who does the writing of an Environmental Impact Statement? That's the work of the lead federal agency — in the case of the Rosemont mine, the U.S. Forest Service. Its scope is the result of a process lasting months that began with a series of information-collecting events known as the scoping process. The final public comment meeting will be at 6 p.m. June 30 in Tucson at Rincon High School, 422 N. Acadia Ave. Sign-in begins at 5:30 p.m. The Forest Service will formally accept comments through July 14 and continue to seek public input after that date. Information about the meeting and how to comment are on the Forest Service Web site: www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/

The issues that turn up in scoping must be addressed in the statement, first a draft, then a final statement, and even in supplements that can address any issue that a party feels has been glossed over.

The proposed Rosemont Copper assessment is strictly following this process. The company's objective is to build and operate a world-class mine that provides strong economic benefits to this county and this country. Our plan calls for Rosemont to be a model of environmental and community leadership.

Finally, the reporting of information from a publicly traded company, such as Augusta Resource, is strictly bound to provide an accurate accounting of its status, according to a host of legal guidelines, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The full report of Augusta's first quarter of 2008 is available at www.augustaresource.com and provides full disclosure.