SIMON Corbell says the public has been invited engage in consultation on the draft environmental impact statement for light rail.

“The draft EIS has been submitted to the Environment and Planning Directorate as part of the project’s planning process and in accordance with the Planning and Development Act 2007,” Simon said.

“EPD will be accepting comments and feedback on the draft EIS until 17 July 2015. Those comments and feedback will be addressed by Capital Metro in completing a final environmental impact statement.

“Through preparation of the EIS, the ACT Government has assessed the potential impacts and benefits that may arise during construction and operation of the project. It also identifies a range of mitigation measures that will ensure impacts are minimised.

“The EIS is a comprehensive document that covers a broad range of topics from biodiversity, landscaping and greenhouse gas emissions to the design of substations, traffic management and control measures for noise and vibration levels.

“Ensuring the impact of construction activity is kept to a minimum is a high priority for the light rail project. The draft EIS comprehensively identifies mitigation measures that could be implemented to help minimise impacts on the community.

“In addition the draft EIS identifies a suite of measures to reduce construction noise impact on sensitive receivers in the community by running regular compliance checks and minimising consecutive works in the same location.”

The EIS is available online at planning.act.gov.au