I spoke with Paul at the BLM the other day and he

I spoke with Paul at the BLM the other day and he said the MOP was almost complete.  He said that there were some very minor revisions (changing dates and such) and was expected to send it out for comment very shortly (I got the impression this week).  The comment period could go very quickly or could take quite some time depending on how many agencies desire to comment on it.

We also chatted about the EIS which he expected to have a draft by tomorrow (Friday).  He said the EIS is a complete wild card and really couldn't speculate on the approval process required without seeing a draft first.  He was very helpful in explaining the process which basically consists of identifying any potential environmental impacts, and how you would mitigate those impacts if there are any.  I would imagine that if there are no environmental issues that the process would go quite quickly.  Hopefully they will issue a PR when the MOP is approved, but I wouldn't hold my breath.