[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 2 (Monday, January 5, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 209-210]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30343]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the East
Campus Integration Program Within the Fort Meade Complex, Maryland
AGENCY: Department of Defense.
ACTION: Notice of intent; notice of public meeting; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Defense (DoD) announces its intent to
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the
environmental planning process for the East Campus Integration Program
at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland (hereafter referred to as Fort
Meade). The DoD proposes to develop operational complex and
headquarters space at the National Security Agency's (NSA) East Campus
on Fort Meade for use by NSA and the Intelligence Community. The
purpose of the Proposed Action is to provide facilities that are fully
supportive of the Intelligence Community's function and to continue to
integrate the East Campus site with the NSA Main Campus. The need for
the action is to meet mission requirements, both internally at the NSA
and within the Intelligence Community.
Publication of this notice begins a scoping process that identifies
and determines the scope of environmental issues to be addressed in the
EIS. This notice requests public participation in the scoping process
and provides information on how to participate.
DATES: There will be an open house at 4:00 p.m. followed by a scoping
meeting from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on January 27, 2015. Comments or
questions regarding this EIS should be submitted by February 27, 2015
to ensure sufficient time to consider public input in the preparation
of the Draft EIS.
ADDRESSES: The open house and scoping meeting will be held at the
Severn Community Library, 2624 Annapolis Road, Severn, Maryland 21144.
Verbal and written comments will be accepted at the scoping meeting.
You can also submit written comments to ``East Campus Integration
Program EIS'' c/o HDR, 2600 Park Tower Drive, Suite 100, Vienna, VA
22180 or submit by email to [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeffrey Williams at 301-688-2970,
or email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The NSA is a tenant DoD agency on Fort Meade. NSA is a
high-technology communications and data processing organization. In
order to meet mission requirements, both at the NSA and within the
Intelligence Community, continued integration of the East Campus with
the NSA Main Campus on Fort Meade through development of office,
operational, and headquarters space is needed. In 2010, NSA completed
an EIS that addressed development of the East Campus, which is the
northern part of the former Fort Meade golf course. The Record of
Decision implemented the first phase of development identified in that
EIS, which is currently occurring in the southern portion of the East
Campus. This upcoming East Campus Integration Program EIS will address
buildout of the northern portion of the East Campus.
Proposed Action and Alternatives: The East Campus Integration
Program was initiated to provide a modern office, operational, and
headquarters complex to meet the growth requirements of the NSA and
Intelligence Community. Development is proposed along the East Campus
central core extending through the NSA Main Campus at Fort Meade. The
Proposed Action would consist of the construction of approximately
2,880,000 square feet of office, operational, and headquarters space
supporting an increase of 7,200 people with the majority from local
leases and government-owned buildings to the NSA Main Campus. The
program also includes the demolition of approximately 1,900,000 square
feet of aged buildings and infrastructure. Development would include
associated infrastructure (e.g., electrical substation, generator
capacity providing 121 megawatts of electricity, life/safety
generators, building heating systems, roads, sidewalks, storm water
management facilities, and parking structures).
Alternatives identified include four options for redundant
emergency backup power generation and various pollution control
systems, two options for building heating systems, four
[[Page 210]]
options for locations of parking structures, and acquisition of
additional space at two existing, offsite leased locations. These
alternatives will be further developed during preparation of the Draft
EIS as a result of public and agency input and environmental analyses
of the activities. The No Action Alternative (not undertaking the East
Campus Integration Program) will also be analyzed in detail.
This notice of intent is required by 40 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR) 1508.22 and briefly describes the Proposed Action and possible
alternatives and our proposed scoping process. The EIS will comply with
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality regulations in 40 CFR parts
1500 through 1508, and DoD Instruction 4715.9 (Environmental Planning
and Analysis).
Significant Issues: Environmental issues to be analyzed in the EIS
will include potential impacts on air quality, noise, natural
resources, water use, solid waste, hazardous materials and wastes,
transportation, and cumulative impacts from increased burdens on the
installation and neighboring community based on projected development.
Scoping Process: Public scoping is an early and open process for
identifying and determining the scope of issues to be addressed in the
EIS. Scoping begins with this notice, continues through the public
comment period (see DATES), and ends when the DoD has completed the
following actions:
--Invites the participation of Federal, State, and local agencies, any
affected Indian tribes, and other interested persons;
--Determines the actions, alternatives, and impacts described in 40 CFR
1508.25;
--Identifies and eliminates from detailed study those issues that are
not significant or that have been covered elsewhere;
--Indicates any related EISs or environmental assessments (EAs) that
are not part of the EIS;
--Identifies other relevant environmental review and consultation
requirements;
--Indicates the relationship between timing of the environmental review
and other aspects of the proposed program;
--At its discretion, exercises the options provided in 40 CFR
1501.7(b).
Once the scoping process is complete, DoD will prepare a Draft EIS,
and will publish a Federal Register notice announcing its public
availability. If you want that notice to be sent to you, please contact
the DoD Project Office point of contact identified in FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. You will have an opportunity to review and comment
on the Draft EIS. Additionally, the DoD anticipates holding a public
meeting after publication of the Draft EIS in the vicinity of Fort
Meade, Maryland, to present the Draft EIS and receive public comments
regarding the document. The DoD will consider all comments received and
then prepare the Final EIS. As with the Draft EIS, the DoD will
announce the availability of the Final EIS and once again give you an
opportunity for review and comment.
Dated: December 19, 2014.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2014-30343 Filed 1-2-15; 8:45 am]
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