[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 139 (Monday, July 21, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38982-38984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19107]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact
Statement/Environmental Impact Report and To Re-Open Scoping for
Disposal and Reuse of the Long Beach Naval Station and Naval Shipyard,
Long Beach, CA
SUMMARY: Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40
CFR parts 1500-1508) implementing procedural provisions of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA), and the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act (DBCRA),
the Department of the Navy (Navy) and the City of Long Beach,
California, announce their intent to prepare a joint Environmental
Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) and to re-open
scoping for the proposed disposal and reuse of Long Beach Naval Station
and Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California (hereafter referred to as
the Naval Complex). Navy will be the lead agency for NEPA documentation
and the City of Long Beach will be the lead agency for CEQA
documentation.
In 1991, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC
Commission) recommended the closure of the Long Beach Naval Station.
The recommendation was approved by President Bush and accepted by the
One Hundred Second Congress later that same year. In 1995, the BRAC
Commission recommended closure of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. The
recommendation was approved by President Clinton and accepted by the
One Hundred Fourth Congress later that same year. The Naval Station was
operationally closed on September 30, 1994, and the Naval Shipyard is
scheduled for operational closure on September 30, 1997. The Naval
Station was declared surplus to the needs of the Federal Government in
September 1995. Navy intends to declare the Naval Shipyard surplus to
the needs of the Federal Government in the near future.
The Naval Complex is located on Terminal Island in the Long Beach
Harbor District and is generally located south of Ocean Boulevard and
east of the Long Beach/Los Angeles municipal boundary. The Naval
Complex includes over 500 acres of real property and 602 acres of
submerged lands. The fuel depot, located on Naval Station property,
will be retained by Navy. A small government-owned, contractor-operated
parcel within the Naval Shipyard was also excluded from the BRAC
Commission's closure recommendations and will be handled under separate
authority. The title of the United States to approximately 85 acres of
land and 602 acres of submerged lands is subject to reversion to the
City of Long Beach in accordance with the judgment in United States of
America v. 1039 Acres of Land, etc. et al.
Pursuant to DBCRA and associated Department of Defense policy, Navy
must treat the city's redevelopment plan for the installation as part
of the Federal action. The redevelopment plan is a plan developed by
the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) and
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provides for the reuse or redevelopment of the closed bases. The City
of Long Beach was approved as the LRA for both the Naval Station and
the Naval Shipyard by the Secretary of Defense. The City of Long Beach
has prepared separate reuse plans for the Naval Station and the Naval
Shipyard. The City Reuse Plans include development of all Naval Station
and Naval Shipyard property within the jurisdiction of the City of Long
Beach, including the reversionary parcels. Accordingly, the
environmental impacts of use of these parcels will also be evaluated in
the EIS/EIR.
Initially, Navy determined that disposal and reuse of the Naval
Station and Navy Shipyard should be evaluated in separate NEPA
documents because the Naval Station and Naval Shipyard were closed
under separate BRAC Commission actions and it was possible to make
functionally independent decisions. In addition, the Naval Shipyard had
not yet been declared surplus. Accordingly, Navy prepared and
distributed a Final Environmental Impact Statement, dated February
1997, for disposal and reuse of the Long Beach Naval Station. Navy also
published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for disposal and reuse
of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on September 30, 1996.
Although the Naval Station and Naval Shipyard were closed under
separate BRAC Commission actions, Navy has reevaluated its initial
decision and determined that it is appropriate to address the disposal
and reuse of the Naval Complex in a single environmental document. This
determination was based on several factors: the properties are
adjacent; the proposed reuse by the LRA for each property is generally
similar; the proposed disposal and reuse actions will now occur in the
same general timeframe; and there is the possibility that a combined
analysis could identify mitigation measures to reduce impacts to the
Roosevelt Base Historic District and other potential environmental
impacts.
Navy and the city of Long Beach have decided to prepare a joint
EIS/EIR for these properties. The city of Long Beach, through its
Harbor Department, prepared an EIR for the proposed development of the
Naval Station property. The EIR was certified by the Board of Harbor
Commissioners on September 3, 1996. The city, through its Harbor
Department, published a notice of preparation on November 1, 1996 for
proposed development of the Naval Shipyard but has not completed an EIR
for that development. Therefore, for CEQA purposes, the joint EIS/EIR
will serve as an EIR for the Shipyard and a subsequent EIR for the
Naval Station.
The proposed Navy action involves the disposal of land, buildings,
and infrastructure for subsequent reuse of the Naval Complex. This
property includes administrative buildings, housing, recreational
facilities, utility systems, ship repair and maintenance, warehouses,
and other support facilities. The proposed city of Long Beach action
involves the reuse of the Naval Complex in accordance with its Reuse
Plans. These Plans propose the demolition of 6 piers, two dry-docks
(the large dry-dock would remain), and most of the buildings. The Reuse
Plans also require over 6 million cubic yards of material to be dredged
from the West Basin. Under the city of Long Beach's proposed reuse, the
former Naval facilities would be replaced by a total of 315 acres
devoted to marine container terminal and intermodal railyard
operations; an 18-acre shipyard facility surrounding the remaining dry-
dock; an 18-acre Sea-Launch satellite launch vehicle preparation
facility; a 36-acre liquid bulk facility; a 15-acre police facility;
and over 100 acres of neobulk, breakbulk, and other port and port
ancillary facilities.
As the LRA's Reuse Plans would require demolition of the Roosevelt
Base Historic District, Navy will undertake an adaptive reuse study of
the historic district. Navy will also reinitiate consultation under
section 106 of the National Historic preservation act with the State
Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation to develop a Memorandum of Agreement addressing potential
effects on the historic district and identifying possible mitigation
measures.
This joint EIS/EIR will analyze the environmental effects of the
disposal and reuse of the Naval Complex. Environmental issues to be
addressed in the joint EIS/EIR include: Geology, topography, and soils;
hydrology; biology; noise; air quality; land use; historic and
archeological resources; socioeconomics; transportation/circulation;
public facilities/recreation; safety and environmental health,
including environmental justice; aesthetics; and utilities. The
analysis will include an evaluation of the direct, indirect, short-
term, and cumulative impacts associated with the proposed action. The
probable environmental impacts of the project include potential adverse
impacts upon biology, noise and vibration levels, air quality,
historical resources, transportation/circulation, ground shaking,
liquefaction, and risks from hazardous material.
Alternatives will be developed primarily from the reuse plans
adopted by the LRA. A ``no action'' alternative, wherein Navy would
retain the property in caretaker status, will be included in the joint
EIS/EIR. Other alternatives may be developed from suggestions received
during the public scoping process or from the adaptive reuse study of
the Roosevelt Base Historic District that will be undertaken by Navy.
Navy and the city of Long Beach encourage the involvement of all
interested parties in the development of potential alternatives.
No decisions regarding disposal will be made until this NEPA/CEQA
process is complete.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Department of the Navy and the city of Long
beach will initiate a scoping process for the purpose of determining
the scope of issues to be addressed and for the purpose of identifying
significant issues relative to this action, including the use of
baseline data for the period prior to the closure of the Naval Complex
pursuant to California Resources Code Section 21083.8.1. A public
meeting to allow oral comments from the public will be held at the Long
Beach City Council Chamber, 333 West Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach,
California on August 20, 1997 at 6:00 p.m. This meeting will be
advertised in area newspapers and notices will be mailed to the
interested parties, including responsible agencies, identified through
scoping and during preparation of previous documents. Navy and city of
Long Beach representatives will be available at the scoping meeting to
receive comments from the public regarding issues of concern. A brief
presentation describing the disposal and NEPA/CEQA processes will
precede requests for public comments. It is important that federal,
state, and local agencies, as well as interested organization and
individuals, take this opportunity to identify other reuse alternatives
and environmental concerns that should be addressed during preparation
of the joint EIS/EIR.
Agencies and the public are invited and encouraged to provide
written comments in addition to, or in lieu of, oral comments at the
public meeting. To be most helpful, scoping comments should clearly
describe specific issues or topics that the commenter believes the
joint EIS/EIR should address. Written comments or questions regarding
the scoping process and or the joint EIS/EIR should be postmarked no
later than September 3, 1997 and sent to
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the address below. To ensure that all comments are received and
addressed, Navy will be the point of contact for this joint EIS/EIR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Melanie Ault, BRAC Program Office,
Southwest Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, 1420 Kettner
Boulevard, Suite 501, San Diego, CA 92101-2404.
Dated: July 16, 1997.
D.E. Koenig,
LCDR, JAGC, USN, Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 97-19107 Filed 7-18-97; 8:45 am]
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