I will email CAR again to see if there is an update on the environmental permit, but I will expect their normal response which is simply to list all the actions, with no comment. I believe they are overworked and understaffed and very political. At one time they were contracting out reviews to deal with the workload. I don't know if NEWC's permit was contracted for review.
This is a busy week for me, so it may be a while before I can draft a request for them.