[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 163 (Friday, August 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49769-49770]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20079]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Notice of Public Meetings for the Draft Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement
for Gulf of Alaska Navy Training Activities
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 of 1969, regulations implemented by the Council on
Environmental Quality (40 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 1500-1508),
and Presidential Executive Order 12114, the Department of the Navy
(DoN) has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS/OEIS). The DoN prepared this
analysis to update the Gulf of Alaska Navy Training Activities Final
EIS/OEIS, which was completed with community input in May 2011
(hereafter referred to as the 2011 GOA Final EIS/OEIS), and to renew
federal regulatory permits and authorizations. In the Draft
Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the DoN uses a new acoustic modeling method and
evaluates new, relevant information, such as new marine mammal density
data and new scientific information, and updates environmental
analyses, as appropriate. The DoN analyzes data using the Navy Acoustic
Effects Model, not previously available for the 2011 GOA Final EIS/
OEIS, to evaluate potential effects on marine species from training
activities. The National Marine Fisheries Service is a cooperating
agency for this Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
With the filing of the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the DoN is
initiating a 60-day public comment period and has scheduled five public
meetings to inform the public and receive comments on the Draft
Supplemental EIS/OEIS. This notice announces the dates and locations of
the public meetings and provides supplementary information about the
environmental planning effort.
Dates And Addresses: The 60-day Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS public
review period will begin August 22, 2014, and end October 20, 2014. The
DoN will hold five public meetings to inform the public about the
Proposed Action and to provide an opportunity to comment on the
adequacy and accuracy of the supplemental environmental analysis. Each
of the public meetings will include an open house information session,
followed by a short presentation by the DoN. DoN representatives will
be available during the open house information sessions to provide
information related to the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS. Federal, state,
and local agencies and officials, as well as interested organizations
and individuals are encouraged to provide comments in writing during
the public review period or in person at one of the scheduled public
meetings.
The public meetings will be held from 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., with a
DoN presentation at 6:30 p.m., on the following dates and at the
following locations:
1. Monday, September 8, 2014, at the Elks Lodge, 102 W. Marine Way,
Kodiak, AK 99615
2. Tuesday, September 9, 2014, at the Z.J. Loussac Library Public
Conference Room, 3600 Denali St., Anchorage, AK 99503
3. Wednesday, September 10, 2014, at the Best Western Bidarka Inn Sea
Breeze Room, 575 Sterling Highway, Homer, AK 99603
4. Thursday, September 11, 2014, at the Juneau Arts & Humanities
Council Main Hall, 350 Whittier St., Juneau, AK 99801
5. Friday, September 12, 2014, at the Mt. Eccles Elementary School
Simpler Gymnasium, 201 Adams St., Cordova, AK 99574
Attendees will be able to submit oral and written comments during
the public meetings. A court reporter will record oral comments from
the public. In the interest of available time, and to ensure all who
wish to provide an oral statement to the court reporter have the
opportunity to do so, each speaker's comments will be limited to three
(3) minutes, which may be extended if meeting attendance permits. Equal
weight will be given to oral and written statements. Written comments
may also be submitted via mail to Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Northwest, Attention: Ms. Amy Burt--GOA Supplemental EIS/OEIS Project
Manager, 1101 Tautog Circle, Suite 203, Silverdale, WA 98315-1101, or
electronically via the project Web site (www.GOAEIS.com). All comments,
oral or written, submitted during the public review period will become
part of the public record. All comments will be reviewed or responded
to in the Final Supplemental EIS/OEIS. Comments must be postmarked or
received online by October 20, 2014, for consideration in the Final
Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Northwest, Attention: Ms. Amy Burt--GOA Supplemental EIS/OEIS Project
Manager, 1101 Tautog Circle, Suite 203, Silverdale, WA 98315-1101.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Notice of Intent to prepare this
Supplemental EIS/OEIS was published in the Federal Register on January
16, 2013 (78 FR 3408).
This Supplemental EIS/OEIS is an update to the 2011 GOA Final EIS/
OEIS and Record of Decision (ROD). It will support U.S. Pacific
Command, Northern Command, and Joint Task Force Commander training
requirements to achieve and maintain Fleet readiness as required by
Title 10 of the U.S. Code. The DoN's Proposed Action is the same as the
Proposed Action presented in the 2011 GOA Final EIS/OEIS and ROD, which
is to continue conducting periodic military training activities in a
specific area of the Gulf of Alaska called the Temporary Maritime
Activities Area. The Temporary Maritime Activities Area and Proposed
Action, including the location, number, and frequency of major training
exercises, remain unchanged from the 2011 analysis. The DoN evaluated
each resource area discussed in the 2011 GOA Final EIS/OEIS to
determine if additional analysis is necessary in the Draft Supplemental
EIS/OEIS due to new information or new analysis methods.
In this Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the DoN re-evaluates potential
impacts from ongoing military training activities conducted in the
Temporary Maritime Activities Area. All resource areas were examined to
determine the need for re-analysis in this Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
The marine mammal resource analysis for each alternative in the 2011
GOA Final EIS/OEIS was updated. For other resource areas, the 2011
analysis remains valid.
The Supplemental EIS/OEIS supports authorization of incidental
takes of
[[Page 49770]]
marine mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and incidental
takes of threatened and endangered marine mammal species under the
Endangered Species Act, which is required every five years. Current
federal regulatory permits and authorizations expire in May 2016.
The cumulative impacts of past, present, and other reasonably
foreseeable future actions are expected to result in impacts on marine
mammals in the Temporary Maritime Activities Area, but the contribution
would be small compared to other actions. The Draft Supplemental EIS/
OEIS indicates that the incremental contribution of the No Action
Alternative, Alternative 1, or Alternative 2 to all other resource
areas analyzed would be negligible.
The Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS was distributed to federal, state,
and local agencies, elected officials, and other interested
organizations and individuals.
Copies of the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS are available for public
review at the following public libraries:
1. Alaska State Library, 333 Willoughby Ave., 8th Floor, Juneau, AK
99811
2. Copper Valley Community Library, Mile 186 Glenn Highway, Glennallen,
AK 99588
3. Cordova Public Library, 622 First St., Cordova, AK 99574
4. Homer Public Library, 500 Hazel Ave., Homer, AK 99603
5. Kodiak Public Library, 612 Egan Way, Kodiak, AK 99615
6. Seward Community Library, 239 Sixth Ave., Seward, AK 99664
7. University of Alaska Fairbanks/Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, 310 Tanana
Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775
8. Z.J. Loussac Library, 3600 Denali St., Anchorage, AK 99503
The Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS is also available for electronic
viewing at www.GOAEIS.com. A compact disc of the Draft Supplemental
EIS/OEIS will be made available upon written request by contacting:
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest, Attention: Ms. Amy
Burt--GOA Supplemental EIS/OEIS Project Manager, 1101 Tautog Circle,
Suite 203, Silverdale, WA 98315-1101.
Dated: August 14, 2014.
N.A. Hagerty-Ford,
Commander, Office of the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Navy, Federal
Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-20079 Filed 8-21-14; 8:45 am]
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