[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 197 (Thursday, October 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61746-61748]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24972]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for the Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Military Relocation (2012 Roadmap Adjustments) and Notice of Public
Scoping Meetings
AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as implemented by the Council on
Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the
Department of the Navy (DoN) announces its intent to expand the scope
of the ongoing Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for a
live-fire training range complex on Guam to evaluate the potential
environmental consequences from construction and operation of a main
cantonment area, including family housing, and associated
infrastructure on Guam to support the relocation of a substantially
reduced number of Marines than previously analyzed. This SEIS will
supplement the Final EIS for the ``Guam and Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands Military Relocation; Relocating Marines from
Okinawa, Visiting Aircraft Carrier Berthing, and Army Air and Missile
Defense Task Force'' dated July 2010.
Pursuant to 40 CFR 1502.9(c), the SEIS is being prepared for the
limited purpose of supplementing the 2010 Final EIS regarding the
establishment of a live-fire training range complex, a main cantonment
area, including family housing, and associated infrastructure on Guam.
The purpose and need for the proposed action is to ensure that the
relocated Marines are organized, trained, and equipped as mandated in
Section 5063 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, to satisfy individual live-
fire training requirements as described in the Final EIS and associated
Record of Decision (ROD), and to establish an operational U.S. Marine
Corps (USMC) presence in Guam in accordance with April 2012 adjustments
to the May 2006 United States-Japan Roadmap for Realignment
Implementation (Roadmap).
The proposed action that will be analyzed in the SEIS is to
construct and operate a live-fire training range complex on Guam that
allows for simultaneous use of all firing ranges to support training
and operations of the relocated Marines, and a main cantonment area of
sufficient size and layout to provide military support functions,
including family housing. The proposed action also includes the
construction of utilities and infrastructure to support the range
complex, main cantonment, and housing.
The live-fire training range complex will consist of a Known
Distance (KD) rifle range, a KD pistol range, a Modified Record of Fire
Range, a nonstandard small arms range, a Multipurpose Machine Gun
(MPMG) range, and a hand grenade range. The main cantonment area will
provide military support functions (also known as base operations and
support) to the relocated Marines. Such functions include, but are not
limited to, headquarters and administrative support, bachelor housing,
family housing, supply, maintenance, open storage, community support
(e.g., retail, education, recreation, medical, and day care), some
site-specific training, and open space (e.g., parade grounds, open
training areas, and open green space in communities). The proposed
action also includes the utilities and infrastructure required to
support the range, cantonment, and housing areas.
The DoN has identified seven (7) preliminary alternative locations
for the live-fire training range complex: Two are adjacent to Route 15
in northeastern Guam, three are located at or immediately adjacent to
the Naval Magazine (NAVMAG), also known as the Naval Munitions Site,
one is located at Andersen Air Force Base (AAFB) Northwest Field in
northern Guam, and one is located at Naval Computer and
Telecommunications Station (NCTS) Finegayan on the northwest coast of
Guam. The DoN has identified five (5) preliminary alternatives for the
main cantonment/family housing: AAFB, NCTS Finegayan, NCTS Finegayan
(main cantonment)/South Finegayan Navy Housing (family housing), Navy
and Air Force Barrigada in the central area of Guam, and Naval Base
Guam in the Apra Harbor area.
The preliminary alternatives may continue to evolve as the DoN
considers public and regulatory agency input through the NEPA process.
For example, the DoN is currently working with the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) to determine whether airspace impacts would render
an otherwise preliminary alternative untenable. Should the FAA conclude
that an alternative's conflicts with existing airspace are
unmitigatable, that preliminary alternative would not be carried
forward for evaluation in the SEIS.
[[Page 61747]]
The DoN encourages government agencies, private-sector
organizations, and the general public to participate in the NEPA
process for the SEIS. The DoN has invited the U.S. Air Force, the FAA,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
the Federal Highway Administration, Environmental Protection Agency
Region 9, and the Office of Insular Affairs in the U.S. Department of
the Interior to participate as cooperating agencies in the preparation
of the SEIS.
The DoN invites comments on the expanded proposed scope and content
of the SEIS from all interested parties. Comments on the scope of the
SEIS may be provided by mail and through the SEIS Web site at: http://guambuildupeis.us. In addition, the DoN will conduct open-house style
public scoping meetings on Guam to obtain comments on the scope of the
SEIS and to identify specific environmental concerns or topics for
consideration in the SEIS. Meetings will be held at the following
locations and times: Thursday, November 8, 2012, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.,
Bldg. 4175 (Old McCool School) Gym/Cafeteria, Santa Rita, Guam; Friday,
November 9, 2012, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Okkodo High School, Dededo,
Guam; and Saturday, November 10, 2012, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.,
University of Guam Field House, Mangilao, Guam.
Interested agencies, individuals, and groups unable to attend the
open-house public scoping meetings are encouraged to submit comments by
December 10, 2012, Chamorro Standard Time (ChST). Mailed comments
should be postmarked no later than December 10, 2012, ChST to ensure
they are considered. Mail comments to: Joint Guam Program Office
Forward, P.O. Box 153246, Santa Rita, Guam 96915.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Todd Spitler, Communications
Director, Joint Guam Program Office, phone 703-602-4728. On Guam,
please contact Major Darren Alvarez, Joint Guam Program Office Forward,
phone 671-339-3337.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DoN's proposed action is to construct
and operate a live-fire training range complex, a main cantonment area,
including family housing, and associated infrastructure in support of
the Guam Military Relocation.
Background
A ROD for the Final EIS was signed on September 20, 2010 (75 FR
60438, September 30, 2010). The ROD deferred a decision on the specific
site for a live-fire training range complex. Regarding the
establishment of the main cantonment area, the ROD selected an area
utilizing Department of Defense (DoD)-owned lands at NCTS Finegayan and
South Finegayan Navy Housing and acquiring land known as the former FAA
parcel. The Final EIS identified this total area as the Preferred
Alternative for establishment of the main cantonment area.
In the months following the issuance of the ROD, the DoN made
adjustments with regards to the live-fire training range complex,
including application of probabilistic modeling that shrank the overall
footprint of the MPMG range. DoN also formally committed that if the
Route 15 area was selected for the live-fire training range complex,
DoN would provide for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week access to Pagat
Village and Pagat Cave historical sites, to include the trail leading
to both.
Faced with this new information, the DoN initially elected to
prepare a SEIS limited solely to the evaluation of impacts associated
with the location, construction, and operation of the live-fire
training range complex. The DoN issued its Notice of Intent (NOI) to
prepare the SEIS in February 2012 (77 FR 6787, February 9, 2012). In
the NOI, the DoN preliminarily identified five alternatives for the
range complex: Two were adjacent to Route 15 in northeastern Guam, and
three were located at or immediately adjacent to the NAVMAG. Public
scoping meetings were conducted for the SEIS in March 2012, and the
public scoping comment period closed on April 6, 2012.
Shortly after the close of the public comment period, on April 27,
2012, the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee (SCC) issued a
joint statement announcing its decision to adjust the plans outlined in
the May 2006 Realignment Roadmap. In accordance with the SCC's
adjustments, the DoD adopted a new force posture in the Pacific
providing for a materially smaller force on Guam. Specifically, the
adjustments include reducing the originally planned relocation of
approximately 8,600 Marines and 9,000 dependents to a force of
approximately 5,000 Marines and approximately 1,300 dependents on Guam.
That decision prompted the DoN's review of the major actions previously
planned for Guam and approved in the September 2010 ROD. This review
concluded that while some actions remain unchanged as a result of the
smaller force size, others, such as the main cantonment and family
housing areas, could significantly change as a result of the modified
force. The DoN has opted to issue a new NOI and amend the scope of the
ongoing SEIS to add those actions that may materially change as a
result of the new force posture.
Range of Preliminary Alternatives
The proposed reduction in the size of the new force structure does
not affect all of the decisions that were made in the September 2010
ROD. For example, the relocation of the Marine Corps Aviation Combat
Element facilities to AAFB, the development of the North Gate and
access road at AAFB, the establishment of training ranges on Tinian,
Apra Harbor wharf improvements, and the non-live-fire training ranges
on Andersen South remain unaffected by the changes in force structure
resulting from the April 2012 Roadmap adjustments. These actions will
occur no matter where on Guam the main cantonment and family housing
areas and live-fire training range complex are situated. The potential
environmental effects of these actions were fully and accurately
considered and analyzed in the 2010 Final EIS. For those decisions that
are not affected by the new force structure, the September 2010 ROD
stands as the final agency action for those elements. The expanded
scope of the SEIS does not include the transient aircraft carrier
berthing in Apra Harbor and the Army Air and Missile Defense Task
Force.
The reduction in the number of Marines and dependents to be
relocated to Guam led to a reduction in the footprint for the main
cantonment area, enabling development of new preliminary alternatives
to be considered. The possibility of not establishing the main
cantonment area at NCTS Finegayan opened that area up for consideration
as a new preliminary alternative for the live-fire training range
complex. Consideration of public input, refinement of range designs,
and a reassessment of operational requirements, conflicts, and
opportunities resulted in AAFB Northwest Field being added as a new
preliminary range alternative. The number and size of the ranges
comprising the live-fire training range complex are unaffected by the
April 2012 adjustments to the Roadmap and will remain as described in
the 2010 Final EIS. Similarly, the qualification standards have not
changed.
The DoN has identified five (5) preliminary alternatives for
establishment of the main cantonment/family housing area: AAFB, NCTS
Finegayan, NCTS Finegayan (main cantonment)/South Finegayan Navy
Housing (family housing), Navy and Air Force Barrigada, and Naval Base
Guam.
[[Page 61748]]
The SEIS will also consider the No Action Alternative. Under the No
Action Alternative, the DoN would continue to implement the September
2010 ROD. The decision to construct and operate the live-fire training
range complex would remain deferred, and DoN would establish a main
cantonment area for approximately 8,600 Marines and approximately 9,000
dependents on DoD-controlled lands at NCTS Finegayan and South
Finegayan and by acquiring land known as the former FAA parcel.
Although the No Action Alternative presumes the present course of
action identified in the September 2010 ROD, for purposes of assessing
the environmental impacts of the proposed alternatives in the SEIS, the
DoN will compare the impacts of the proposed action to the baseline
conditions identified in the July 2010 Final EIS. Baseline conditions
will be updated in the SEIS, as appropriate, if new information is made
available. The No Action Alternative is not a reasonable alternative.
Foremost, it is inconsistent with the new force posture adopted by the
DoD in accordance with the SCC's April 27, 2012 adjustments to the
Roadmap, which provide for a materially smaller relocated force on
Guam. Furthermore, the No Action Alternative neither satisfies the need
for training requirements for the relocated Marines as mandated in
Section 5063 of Title 10 the U.S. Code, nor the individual live-fire
training requirements as described in the Final EIS and ROD.
The SEIS will evaluate environmental effects associated with:
Geology and soils; water resources, which may include surface and
ground water, floodplains, wetlands, wild and scenic rivers;
terrestrial biology; threatened and endangered species and their
designated critical habitat (if applicable); air quality; noise;
airspace; cultural resources; socioeconomics; environmental justice
(minority and low income populations and children); land use and
coastal zone management federal consistency; utilities, transportation;
hazardous materials/hazardous waste/installation restoration; public
health and safety; and other environmental concerns as identified
through scoping. The analysis will include an evaluation of direct and
indirect impacts, and will account for cumulative impacts from other
relevant activities in the area of Guam. Additionally, the DoN will
undertake any consultations required by all applicable laws or
regulations.
No decision will be made to implement any alternative until the
SEIS process is completed and a ROD is signed by the Assistant
Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations and Environment) or her/
his designee.
By publishing this Notice, the DoN is initiating a scoping process
to identify community concerns and issues that should be addressed in
the SEIS. Federal, Territorial, and local agencies, and interested
parties and persons are encouraged to provide comments on the proposed
action that clearly describe specific issues or topics of environmental
concern that the commenter believes the DoN should consider. Additional
information will be posted on the project web site as it becomes
available.
Comments may be submitted in writing at one of the public scoping
meetings, through the project web site at: http://guambuildupeis.us, or
may be mailed to: Joint Guam Program Office Forward, P.O. Box 153246,
Santa Rita, Guam, 96915.
To ensure consideration, all written comments on the scope of the
SEIS must be submitted or postmarked by December 10, 2012, ChST.
Dated: October 4, 2012.
C.K. Chiappetta,
Lieutenant Commander, Office of the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Navy,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-24972 Filed 10-10-12; 8:45 am]
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