Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in Support of New Facilities for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, MD, 6456-6457 [06-1165]
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 8, 2006 / Notices
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17 CFR Part 171 ..............................
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Dated: February 3, 2006.
Jean A. Webb,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 06–1154 Filed 2–7–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351–01–M
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
in Support of New Facilities for the
U.S. Army Medical Research Institute
of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID),
Fort Detrick, MD
U.S. Army Medical Research
and Materiel Command, Department of
the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Army announces its
intent to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the
construction and operation of new
USAMRIID facilities and the
decommissioning and demolition or
reuse of existing USAMRIID facilities at
Fort Detrick. This EIS is being prepared
and considered in accordance with
requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, regulations of the President’s
Council on Environmental Quality (40
CFR parts 1500–1508), and the Army’s
implementation of NEPA (32 CFR part
651), 29 March 2002.
rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:26 Feb 07, 2006
Jkt 208001
Frequency of response
On occasion .....................................
The proposed new USAMRIID
facilities will provide biocontainment
laboratory space, animal facilities, and
administrative offices, as well as
operational and administrative support
facilities. These new facilities will be
located adjacent to the existing
USAMRIID facilities within the National
Interagency Biodefense Campus on Area
A of Fort Detrick and near the
biomedical research facilities of mission
partners, including the Agricultural
Research Service Foreign Disease—
Weed Research Unit of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, the planned
National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases’ Integrated Research
Facility, and the Department of
Homeland Security’s National
Biodefense Analysis and
Countermeasures Center. The existing
USAMRIID facilities on Area A will be
decommissioned and either demolished
or reused following occupancy of the
new USAMRIID facilities.
The construction will occur in two
stages. Stage 1 will provide
approximately 700,000 gross square feet
(gsf) of new building space for the
replacement of outdated and
compressed existing USAMRIID
facilities in order to sustain the current
mission and to expand medical testing
and evaluation (T&E) capacity in
support of immediate Department of
Defense (DoD) and national demand.
Stage 2 will encompass approximately
400,000 gsf of new building space for
the balance of USAMRIID’s expanded
mission and for additional capacity to
meet intensified national requirements
for medical test and evaluation in
support of biodefense research as well
PO 00000
Total annual
responses
Frm 00012
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
51.3
Hours per
response
Total hours
.5
25.6
as to accommodate increased
collaborative efforts among USAMRIID’s
mission partners. In addition,
approximately 200,000 gsf of the
existing USAMRIID facilities may be
renovated and reused for laboratory or
non-laboratory use, to be determined by
evolving biodefense requirements.
DATES: A public scoping meeting to
describe the EIS to the public will be
held on Wednesday, February 22, 2006,
7 p.m. at Governor Thomas Johnson
High School, 1501 N. Market St.,
Frederick, MD 21701. Comments on the
scope of the EIS for the proposed project
should be received no later than March
10, 2006. Additional information on
submitting comments is included in the
public participation section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Caree Vander Linden, USAMRIID Public
Affairs, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick,
MD 21702–5011; telephone: (301) 619–
2285, fax: (301) 619–4625.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
USAMRIID, an organization of the U.S.
Army Medical Research and Materiel
Command, was established in 1969 to
conduct basic research, applied
research, and advanced technology
development against biological threats,
resulting in medical solutions to protect
military personnel. USAMRIID’s
medical countermeasures against
diseases such as anthrax, smallpox,
botulinum intoxication, and Ebola have
included development of vaccines and
drugs, diagnostic capabilities, and
medical management procedures.
USAMRIID has established itself as
the lead biodefense laboratory of the
DoD, with unique high-level
E:\FR\FM\08FEN1.SGM
08FEN1
rmajette on PROD1PC67 with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 26 / Wednesday, February 8, 2006 / Notices
biocontainment facilities (as regulated
by the Centers for Disease Control and
prevention (CDC)) and expertise to
safely conduct critical biomedical
research. In addition to its original
mission to protect military personnel,
USAMRIID has been assigned a second
mission to leverage these capabilities to
support government-wide biological
defense efforts by acting as the DoD’s
lead laboratory for T&E of medical
biological defense products.
USAMRIID must expand its facilities
to meet both the requirements for
increased understanding of current
biological threats and the threat of
emerging diseases to U.S. military
service members and citizens. Replacing
the existing USAMRIID facilities on
Area A of Fort Detrick is essential to
accelerate the research, development,
testing, and evaluation of vaccines,
drugs and diagnostics for military and
civilian applications. This laboratory
complex, built primarily in the 1950s
and 1960s for 325 personnel, now
houses approximately 750 staff
personnel in approximately 500,000 gsf
of floor space. Major utilities and other
support systems within the laboratory
complex have exceeded their life
expectancies and cannot readily accept
new technologies. Despite high levels of
maintenance that consume up to 25% of
the USAMRIID operating budget, the
existing facilities no longer provide an
adequate platform for USAMRIID to
execute its critical missions. It is
estimated that approximately 900
people will staff the Stage 1 facility and
a total of approximately 1,300 people
will be employed upon completion of
Stage 2.
The proposed new USAMRIID
facilities will include biocontainment
laboratories designed, constructed, and
operated to Biosafety Levels (BSLs) –2,
–3, and –4 and enhanced BSL–3
standards. The animal facilities will be
designed, constructed and operated to
Animal Biosafety Level (ABSL) –2 and
enhanced ABSL–3 standards. (Note:
BSLs and ABSLs are designations
within a well-defined system
established by the CDC and the National
Institutes of Health consisting of
facilities, equipment, and procedural
guidelines designed to minimize risk of
exposure to potentially hazardous
biological pathogens for laboratory
workers and the outside environment.)
These BSL and ABSL facilities will
enable USAMRIID researchers to safely
conduct the research and development
and medical T&E work required to
support USAMRIID’s evolving missions.
The research conducted at USAMRIID
has been and will continue to be solely
defensive in nature. The army does not
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:26 Feb 07, 2006
Jkt 208001
conduct offensive chemical or biological
weapon research in any way, and is
firmly committed to compliance with
both international and domestic law
including, but not limited to, the
Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production and
Stockpiling of Bacteriological
(Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on
Their Destruction and the Biological
Weapons Anti-terrorism Act.
Environmental analyses of the
Proposed Action and alternatives will
evaluate land use, climate, geology,
soils, water resources, wetlands, plant
and animal ecology, air quality,
historical and cultural resources,
socioeconomic environment, noise,
odors, transportation, energy resources,
hazardous material management, human
health and safety, environmental justice,
and cumulative effects with respect to
unknown or potentially significant
impacts. The issues to be addressed will
include safety of laboratory operations
and demolition of the existing
biocontainment laboratories; public
health and safety; handling, collection,
treatment, and disposal of research
wastes; analysis of other risks; and
pollution prevention.
The EIS will address several
alternatives, including demolition of the
existing USAMRIID facilities; partial
renovation of existing USAMRIID
facilities for laboratory or nonlaboratory use; and a No-Action
alternative, under which the proposed
new USAMRIID facilities would not be
built and operated and the existing
USAMRIID facilities would not be
decommissioned and demolished or
reused. Additional alternatives may be
identified in the public scoping process.
Public participation: The Army
invites full public participation to
promote open communication and
informed decision-making. All
interested persons and organizations,
including minority, low-income,
disadvantaged, and Native American
groups, are urged to participate in this
NEPA environmental analysis process.
Assistance will be provided upon
request to anyone with special needs to
facilitate their participation in the NEPA
process.
To ensure that the full range of issues
related to this Proposed Action and the
scope of this EIS are addressed, oral and
written comments are invited from all
interested parties, including appropriate
Federal, state, and local agencies, and
private organizations and citizens. The
scoping process supporting this effort
will include: establishment of the public
USAMRIID EIS Web site at https://
www.usamriid.army.mil/eis;
dissemination of public information
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
6457
packages; publication in local
newspapers; and coordination with
public interest groups. These efforts will
allow the public to provide input
regarding the scope of the study and
reasonable alternatives.
Public comments are welcome
throughout the NEPA process and
should be directed to Caree Vander
Linden at the address above. Additional
formal opportunities for public
participation after the public scoping
phase are tentatively scheduled as
follows: review and comment on the
Draft EIS, August–September 2006;
public information meeting on the Draft
EIS, August 2006. Notices of
Availability for the Draft EIS, Final EIS,
and Record of Decision will be provided
through direct mail, the Federal
Register, and other media. Notifications
also will be sent to Federal, state, and
local agencies and persons and
organizations that submit comments or
questions throughout the NEPA process.
Precise schedules and locations for
public meetings will be announced in
the local news media. Interested
individuals and organizations may
request to be included on the mailing
list for public distribution of meeting
announcements and associated
documents.
Dated: February 3, 2006.
Addison D. Davis,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army
(Environment, Safety and Occupational
Health).
[FR Doc. 06–1165 Filed 2–7–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710–08–M
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[Docket No. EA–307]
Application To Export Electric Energy;
Silverhill Ltd.
Office Electricity Delivery &
Energy Reliability, DOE.
ACTION: Notice of Application.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Silverhill Ltd. (Silverhill) has
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pursuant to section 202(e) of the Federal
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DATES: Comments, protests or requests
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1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
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287–5736).
E:\FR\FM\08FEN1.SGM
08FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6456-6457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1165]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) in Support of New Facilities for the U.S. Army Medical Research
Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, MD
AGENCY: U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Department of
the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Army announces its intent to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the construction and operation of
new USAMRIID facilities and the decommissioning and demolition or reuse
of existing USAMRIID facilities at Fort Detrick. This EIS is being
prepared and considered in accordance with requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, regulations of the President's
Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and the
Army's implementation of NEPA (32 CFR part 651), 29 March 2002.
The proposed new USAMRIID facilities will provide biocontainment
laboratory space, animal facilities, and administrative offices, as
well as operational and administrative support facilities. These new
facilities will be located adjacent to the existing USAMRIID facilities
within the National Interagency Biodefense Campus on Area A of Fort
Detrick and near the biomedical research facilities of mission
partners, including the Agricultural Research Service Foreign Disease--
Weed Research Unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the planned
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Integrated
Research Facility, and the Department of Homeland Security's National
Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center. The existing USAMRIID
facilities on Area A will be decommissioned and either demolished or
reused following occupancy of the new USAMRIID facilities.
The construction will occur in two stages. Stage 1 will provide
approximately 700,000 gross square feet (gsf) of new building space for
the replacement of outdated and compressed existing USAMRIID facilities
in order to sustain the current mission and to expand medical testing
and evaluation (T&E) capacity in support of immediate Department of
Defense (DoD) and national demand. Stage 2 will encompass approximately
400,000 gsf of new building space for the balance of USAMRIID's
expanded mission and for additional capacity to meet intensified
national requirements for medical test and evaluation in support of
biodefense research as well as to accommodate increased collaborative
efforts among USAMRIID's mission partners. In addition, approximately
200,000 gsf of the existing USAMRIID facilities may be renovated and
reused for laboratory or non-laboratory use, to be determined by
evolving biodefense requirements.
DATES: A public scoping meeting to describe the EIS to the public will
be held on Wednesday, February 22, 2006, 7 p.m. at Governor Thomas
Johnson High School, 1501 N. Market St., Frederick, MD 21701. Comments
on the scope of the EIS for the proposed project should be received no
later than March 10, 2006. Additional information on submitting
comments is included in the public participation section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caree Vander Linden, USAMRIID Public
Affairs, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5011; telephone:
(301) 619-2285, fax: (301) 619-4625.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USAMRIID, an organization of the U.S. Army
Medical Research and Materiel Command, was established in 1969 to
conduct basic research, applied research, and advanced technology
development against biological threats, resulting in medical solutions
to protect military personnel. USAMRIID's medical countermeasures
against diseases such as anthrax, smallpox, botulinum intoxication, and
Ebola have included development of vaccines and drugs, diagnostic
capabilities, and medical management procedures.
USAMRIID has established itself as the lead biodefense laboratory
of the DoD, with unique high-level
[[Page 6457]]
biocontainment facilities (as regulated by the Centers for Disease
Control and prevention (CDC)) and expertise to safely conduct critical
biomedical research. In addition to its original mission to protect
military personnel, USAMRIID has been assigned a second mission to
leverage these capabilities to support government-wide biological
defense efforts by acting as the DoD's lead laboratory for T&E of
medical biological defense products.
USAMRIID must expand its facilities to meet both the requirements
for increased understanding of current biological threats and the
threat of emerging diseases to U.S. military service members and
citizens. Replacing the existing USAMRIID facilities on Area A of Fort
Detrick is essential to accelerate the research, development, testing,
and evaluation of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for military and
civilian applications. This laboratory complex, built primarily in the
1950s and 1960s for 325 personnel, now houses approximately 750 staff
personnel in approximately 500,000 gsf of floor space. Major utilities
and other support systems within the laboratory complex have exceeded
their life expectancies and cannot readily accept new technologies.
Despite high levels of maintenance that consume up to 25% of the
USAMRIID operating budget, the existing facilities no longer provide an
adequate platform for USAMRIID to execute its critical missions. It is
estimated that approximately 900 people will staff the Stage 1 facility
and a total of approximately 1,300 people will be employed upon
completion of Stage 2.
The proposed new USAMRIID facilities will include biocontainment
laboratories designed, constructed, and operated to Biosafety Levels
(BSLs) -2, -3, and -4 and enhanced BSL-3 standards. The animal
facilities will be designed, constructed and operated to Animal
Biosafety Level (ABSL) -2 and enhanced ABSL-3 standards. (Note: BSLs
and ABSLs are designations within a well-defined system established by
the CDC and the National Institutes of Health consisting of facilities,
equipment, and procedural guidelines designed to minimize risk of
exposure to potentially hazardous biological pathogens for laboratory
workers and the outside environment.) These BSL and ABSL facilities
will enable USAMRIID researchers to safely conduct the research and
development and medical T&E work required to support USAMRIID's
evolving missions. The research conducted at USAMRIID has been and will
continue to be solely defensive in nature. The army does not conduct
offensive chemical or biological weapon research in any way, and is
firmly committed to compliance with both international and domestic law
including, but not limited to, the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological)
and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction and the Biological Weapons
Anti-terrorism Act.
Environmental analyses of the Proposed Action and alternatives will
evaluate land use, climate, geology, soils, water resources, wetlands,
plant and animal ecology, air quality, historical and cultural
resources, socioeconomic environment, noise, odors, transportation,
energy resources, hazardous material management, human health and
safety, environmental justice, and cumulative effects with respect to
unknown or potentially significant impacts. The issues to be addressed
will include safety of laboratory operations and demolition of the
existing biocontainment laboratories; public health and safety;
handling, collection, treatment, and disposal of research wastes;
analysis of other risks; and pollution prevention.
The EIS will address several alternatives, including demolition of
the existing USAMRIID facilities; partial renovation of existing
USAMRIID facilities for laboratory or non-laboratory use; and a No-
Action alternative, under which the proposed new USAMRIID facilities
would not be built and operated and the existing USAMRIID facilities
would not be decommissioned and demolished or reused. Additional
alternatives may be identified in the public scoping process.
Public participation: The Army invites full public participation to
promote open communication and informed decision-making. All interested
persons and organizations, including minority, low-income,
disadvantaged, and Native American groups, are urged to participate in
this NEPA environmental analysis process. Assistance will be provided
upon request to anyone with special needs to facilitate their
participation in the NEPA process.
To ensure that the full range of issues related to this Proposed
Action and the scope of this EIS are addressed, oral and written
comments are invited from all interested parties, including appropriate
Federal, state, and local agencies, and private organizations and
citizens. The scoping process supporting this effort will include:
establishment of the public USAMRIID EIS Web site at https://
www.usamriid.army.mil/eis; dissemination of public information
packages; publication in local newspapers; and coordination with public
interest groups. These efforts will allow the public to provide input
regarding the scope of the study and reasonable alternatives.
Public comments are welcome throughout the NEPA process and should
be directed to Caree Vander Linden at the address above. Additional
formal opportunities for public participation after the public scoping
phase are tentatively scheduled as follows: review and comment on the
Draft EIS, August-September 2006; public information meeting on the
Draft EIS, August 2006. Notices of Availability for the Draft EIS,
Final EIS, and Record of Decision will be provided through direct mail,
the Federal Register, and other media. Notifications also will be sent
to Federal, state, and local agencies and persons and organizations
that submit comments or questions throughout the NEPA process. Precise
schedules and locations for public meetings will be announced in the
local news media. Interested individuals and organizations may request
to be included on the mailing list for public distribution of meeting
announcements and associated documents.
Dated: February 3, 2006.
Addison D. Davis,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Environment, Safety and
Occupational Health).
[FR Doc. 06-1165 Filed 2-7-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M
