EPA plans final Bristol Bay assessment this year

McLerran said the EPA intends to complete the assessment this year. The agency hasn't decided how it will use the information and won't until the assessment is finalized, he said.

Critics of the mine project expressed frustration with what they said could be a lengthy second review. They said they want quick action from EPA.

"While we appreciate this administration's efforts to survey the risks and impacts of large-scale mining on the world-class natural resources and fisheries of Bristol Bay with sound science, the EPA has already gone above and beyond the letter of the law in drafting its assessment and conducting an independent and transparent review of it," said Tim Bristol, Alaska program director for Trout Unlimited, in a news release.

He said the "added delay is unacceptable to Bristol Bay's communities and stakeholders."

The EPA process has been criticized by Pebble LP, the state, pro-development groups and others, who see the agency's actions as premature and an overreach that could lead to it vetoing mining activity in the region.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said EPA's draft assessment was flawed.

"The agency chose to evaluate a hypothetical mine that was basically designed to violate modern environmental standards," she said in a news release. "Until the EPA fixes this fundamental flaw, the agency's draft assessment will remain a work of fiction rather than sound science."

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Follow Becky Bohrer at http://twitter.com/beckybohrerap .