[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 81 (Friday, April 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 19794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08562]
[[Page 19794]]
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement
for a Replacement Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center,
Louisville, Kentucky
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announces the
availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the
siting, construction, and operation of a new campus to replace the
existing Robley Rex VA Medical Center (VAMC), Veterans Benefits
Administration (VBA) regional office, and three community-based
outpatient clinics (CBOC) in Louisville, Kentucky. Pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the
Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ's) regulations for implementing
the procedural provisions of NEPA, and VA's NEPA regulations titled
``Environmental Effects of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Actions,'' VA has considered comments received on the Draft EIS, which
was issued in October 2016 and identifies VA's preferred alternative in
the Final EIS.
DATES: VA will publish a Record of Decision no sooner than 30 days
after publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Notice
of Availability in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: The 2017 Final EIS is available for viewing on the Web site
www.louisville.va.gov/newmedicalcenter/. Copies are also available at
the St. Matthews and Westport Branches of the Louisville Free Public
Library located at 3940 Grandview Avenue, Louisville, KY 40207 and 8100
Westport Road, Louisville, KY 40222.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Replacement VAMC Activation Team
Office, 800 Zorn Avenue, Louisville, KY 40206 or by email to
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA plans to site, construct, and operate a
VAMC and VBA regional office to replace the existing Robley Rex VAMC
located on Zorn Avenue in Louisville, KY. The existing 63-year-old VAMC
facilities have reached the end of their serviceable lives and need to
be replaced. The existing building conditions and site configuration
are inadequate to effectively and efficiently meet the expanding needs
of VA's health care mission in the region. The replacement campus will
include diagnostic and treatment facilities and required site amenities
and improvements needed to provide sufficient capacity to meet the
current and projected future health care needs of Veterans in the
Louisville service area.
In the Final EIS, VA has analyzed the environmental impacts of
three alternatives for the replacement VAMC. Alternative A proposes
construction and operation of a replacement VAMC campus at the
Brownsboro Site at 4906 Brownsboro Road, Louisville, KY. Alternative B
would construct and operate a replacement VAMC campus at the St. Joseph
site on a parcel located east of I-265 and south of Factory Lane in
Louisville, KY. Alternative C is the No Action alternative, which would
consist of not constructing and operating a new replacement VAMC and
VBA but continuing to operate the existing Louisville VAMC at 800 Zorn
Avenue, all eight CBOCs and the VBA regional office at 321 West Main
Street. The No Action alternative is required by NEPA and its
regulations and also provided a baseline for comparing potential
impacts from the action alternatives.
VA's preferred alternative is Alternative A, the construction and
operation of a replacement VAMC campus at the Brownsboro Site at 4906
Brownsboro Road, in Louisville, KY. VA will relocate medical facility
operations to the Brownsboro Site from Zorn Avenue and a later process
will evaluate the future use or disposition of the Zorn Avenue
property.
Environmental topics addressed in the Final EIS include aesthetics,
air quality, cultural resources, geology and soils, hydrology and water
quality, wildlife and habitat, noise, land use, floodplains and
wetlands, socioeconomics, community services, solid waste and hazardous
materials, transportation and parking, utilities, and environmental
justice.
Best management practices and mitigation measures that could
alleviate environmental effects have been considered and are included
where relevant within the Final EIS. Unavoidable adverse impacts
include effects to air quality, aesthetics, noise, land use, solid
waste and hazardous materials, utilities, and transportation and
traffic. With the exception of aesthetics and land use, implementation
of specified mitigation measures, including the Kentucky Transportation
Cabinet's planned construction (2019) of the single point urban
interchange (SPUI) at the KY 22 Brownsboro site location, would
substantially decrease the magnitude of these impacts.
The Final EIS considers comments on the Draft EIS, including those
submitted during the public comment period that officially began on
October 27, 2016, and ended on January 11, 2017, following a 30-day
comment period extension that VA determined was sufficient in response
to requests from the public for a 60-day extension.
The 2017 Replacement Robley Rex VAMC Final EIS is available for
viewing on the VA Web site at www.louisville.va.gov/newmedicalcenter/
and at the St. Matthews and Westport Branches of the Louisville Free
Public Library located at 3940 Grandview Avenue, Louisville, KY 40207
and 8100 Westport Road, Louisville, KY 40222, respectively. Information
related to the EIS process is also available for viewing on the VA Web
site at www.louisville.va.gov/newmedicalcenter/.
Signing Authority
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Gina S.
Farrisee, Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs,
approved this document on April 21, 2017, for publication.
Dated: April 21, 2017.
Jeffrey Martin,
Office Program Manager, Office of Regulation Policy & Management,
Office of the Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2017-08562 Filed 4-27-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P