Notice of Public Hearings for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Introduction of the P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) Into the United States Fleet, 12397-12398 [E8-4468]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• Department of the Navy
• Navy Department

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 46 (Friday, March 7, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12397-12398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4468]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Public Hearings for the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) for Introduction of the P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime 
Aircraft (MMA) Into the United States Fleet

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 (NEPA) of 1969, as implemented by the Council on 
Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), the 
Department of the Navy (Navy) has prepared and filed with the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) to evaluate the potential environmental consequences 
associated with providing facilities and functions to support the 
homebasing of P-8A MMA at established maritime patrol installations. 
Public hearings will be held to provide information and receive oral 
and written comments on the DEIS. Federal, state, and local agencies, 
and interested individuals are invited to be present or represented at 
the hearings.

DATES AND ADDRESSES: Four public hearings will be held. Each scheduled 
public hearing will be preceded by an open information session to allow 
interested individuals to review information presented in the DEIS. 
Navy representatives will be available during the information session 
to provide clarification as necessary related to the DEIS. Each 
information session will occur from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., followed by 
the formal public hearing from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Public hearings are 
scheduled at the following dates and locations:
    1. Whidbey Island, Washington: Wednesday, March 26, 2008, Oak 
Harbor School District Office, ASC Boardroom, 350 S. Oak Harbor Street, 
Oak Harbor, WA 98277.
    2. Honolulu, Hawaii: Tuesday, April 1, 2008, J.B. Castle High 
School, 45-386 Kaneohe Bay Drive, Kaneohe, HI 96744.
    3. Coronado, California: Thursday, April 3, 2008, Early Childhood

[[Page 12398]]

Development Center, Crown Hall, 199 Sixth Street, Coronado, CA 92118.
    4. Jacksonville, Florida: Wednesday, April 9, 2008, Howard Johnson 
Inn, Clay Duval Room, 150 Park Avenue, Orange Park, FL 32073.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Commander, Naval Facilities 
Engineering Command Atlantic Division, 6506 Hampton Blvd, Norfolk, VA 
23508-1278, Attn: MMA PM, fax 757-322-4805.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Navy has prepared and filed with the EPA the 
DEIS for the introduction of P-8A MMA into the U.S. Fleet in accordance 
with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. Sections 4321-4345) and its implementing regulations 
(40 CFR Parts 1500-1508). A Notice of Intent for this DEIS was 
published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2006 (FR27DE06-48). 
Navy is lead agency for the proposed action. The purpose of the 
proposed action is to provide facilities and functions to support the 
homebasing of P-8A MMA at established maritime patrol homebases. This 
would allow the Navy to efficiently and economically retire P-3C 
aircraft and transition P-8A MMA into the Fleet while maintaining a 
maritime patrol capability that sustains national defense objectives 
and policies.
    The Navy proposes to replace maritime patrol P-3C aircraft with P-
8A MMA at established P-3C maritime patrol installations beginning no 
later than 2012. Established maritime patrol installations are Naval 
Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida; NAS Whidbey Island, 
Washington; NAS Brunswick, Maine; NAS North Island, California; and 
Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) Kaneohe Bay. However, for the purposes 
of the proposed action, NAS Brunswick has been eliminated from 
consideration as a potential homebase because its aircraft and 
supporting functions are being transferred in their entirety to NAS 
Jacksonville by 2011 in accordance with the recommendations of the 2005 
Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC).
    Introduction of the P-8A MMA would begin no later than 2012 and is 
scheduled to be complete by 2019, when full P-3C retirement from the 
Fleet is to occur.
    The following installations have been identified as receiving sites 
for the P-8A MMA: NAS Whidbey Island, Washington; NAS Jacksonville, 
Florida; MCBH Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; and a training detachment site at 
NAS North Island, California. The Navy evaluated a range of 
alternatives in the DEIS based on the number of squadrons homebased at 
each site, placement of the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), and the 
number of main operating bases.
    The EIS addresses environmental impacts of the proposed action 
pertaining to the basing and operation of P-8A MMA and the associated 
construction and/or renovation of buildings and other support 
facilities. In addition, the EIS assesses impacts on each local 
community and economy associated with relocation of military and 
contract personnel to or from the area to support the operation and 
maintenance of P-8A MMA squadrons.
    The EIS addresses any potential environmental impacts associated 
with: Water resources; air quality; biological resources; threatened 
and endangered species; land use; noise exposure levels; socioeconomic 
resources; infrastructure; and cultural resources. The analyses include 
direct and indirect impacts, and account for cumulative impacts from 
other foreseen federal activities at the homebase and detachment sites.
    The Navy conducted the scoping process to identify community 
concerns and local issues that should be addressed in the EIS. Federal, 
state, and local agencies and interested parties provided written 
comments to the Navy and identified specific issues or topics of 
environmental concern that should be addressed in the EIS. The Navy 
considered these comments in determining the scope of the EIS.
    The DEIS has been distributed to various Federal, state, and local 
agencies, as well as other interested individuals and organizations. In 
addition, copies of the DEIS have been distributed to the following 
libraries and publicly accessible facilities for public review:
    1. Oak Harbor City Library, 1000 SE Regatta Drive, Oak Harbor, WA.
    2. Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA.
    3. Charles Webb Wesconnett Regional Branch, Jacksonville Public 
Library, 6887 103rd Street, Jacksonville, FL.
    4. Kaneohe Public Library, 45-829 Kamehameha Highway, Honolulu, HI.
    An electronic copy of the DEIS is available for public viewing at 
https://www.MMAEIS.com. Requests for single copies of the DEIS (on CD-
ROM) or its Executive Summary may be made online at https://
www.MMAEIS.com. Federal, state, and local agencies, as well as 
interested parties, are invited and encouraged to be present or 
represented at the hearings. To ensure the accuracy of the record, all 
statements presented orally at the public hearings should be submitted 
in writing. All comments will become part of the public record and will 
be responded to in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). 
Equal weight will be given to oral and written statements. In the 
interest of available time, and to ensure all who wish to give an oral 
statement at the public hearings have the opportunity to do so, each 
speaker's comments will be limited to three minutes. If a longer 
statement is to be presented, it should be summarized at the public 
hearing and the full text submitted in writing either at the hearing or 
mailed or faxed to:
    Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Attn: MMA 
PM, 6506 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk, VA 23508-1278, Fax 757-322-4805.
    Residents from the county where the public hearing is being held 
will be given first priority to speak publicly, to ensure that county's 
residents have an opportunity to make verbal comments. Residents will 
be required to sign in to speak. Comments can be made in the following 
ways: (1) Oral statements/written comments at the public hearings or 
(2) written comments mailed or faxed to address/fax number in this 
notice or (3) comments submitted via the Web site at https://
www.MMAEIS.com. All written comments postmarked by April 18, 2008, will 
become a part of the official public record and will be responded to in 
the FEIS.

    Dated: February 29, 2008.
T.M. Cruz,
Lieutenant, Office of the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Navy Federal 
Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E8-4468 Filed 3-6-08; 8:45 am]
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