Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Military Housing Privatization Initiative at Eglin AFB, Florida and Hurlburt Field, Florida, 69078-69080 [E9-30980]
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69078
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 30, 2009 / Notices
review and discussion by the Task Force
on the Prevention of Suicide by Member
of the Armed Forces.
Special Accommodations
If special accommodations are
required to attend (sign language,
wheelchair accessibility) please contact
Ms. Severine Bennett at (202) 374–5755
or bennett_severine@bah.com by
January 1, 2010.
Dated: December 24, 2009.
Mitchell S. Bryman,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. E9–30946 Filed 12–29–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001–06–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
[Docket ID USA–2009–0028]
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY: The Department of Defense
has submitted to OMB for clearance, the
following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).
DATES: Consideration will be given to all
comments received by January 29, 2010.
Title, Form, and OMB Number: Corps
of Engineers Civil Works
Questionnaire—Generic Clearance;
OMB Control Number 0710–0001.
Type of Request: Revision.
Number of Respondents: 185,500.
Responses Per Respondent: 1.
Annual Responses: 185,500.
Average Burden Per Response: 7
minutes.
Annual Burden Hours: 21,642 hours.
Needs and Uses: The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineer utilizes the data
collected from the questionnaire items
for planning data to formulate and
evaluate alternative water resources
development plans, to determine the
effectiveness and evaluate the impacts
of Corps projects, and in the case of the
flood damage mitigation, to obtain
information on flood damage incurred,
whether or not a project is being
considered or exists. All survey
questionnaires are administered either
by face-to-face, mail, or telephone
methods. Public surveys are used to
gather data for planning and operating
Corps projects and facilities and to
determine public preferences and
satisfaction.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; business or other for-profit;
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not-for-profit institutions; farms; State,
local or tribal government.
Frequency: On occasion.
Respondent’s Obligation: Voluntary.
OMB Desk Officer: Mr. James Laity.
Written comments and
recommendations on the proposed
information collection should be sent to
Mr. Laity at the Office of Management
and Budget, Desk Officer for DoD, Room
10236, New Executive Office Building,
Washington, DC 20503.
You may also submit comments,
identified by docket number and title,
by the following method:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name, docket
number and title for this Federal
Register document. The general policy
for comments and other submissions
from members of the public is to make
these submissions available for public
viewing on the Internet at https://
www.regulations.gov as they are
received without change, including any
personal identifiers or contact
information.
DOD Clearance Officer: Ms. Patricia
Toppings.
Written requests for copies of the
information collection proposal should
be sent to Ms. Toppings at WHS/ESD/
Information Management Division, 1777
North Kent Street, RPN, Suite 11000,
Arlington, VA 22209–2133.
Dated: December 24, 2009.
Mitchell S. Bryman,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. E9–30929 Filed 12–29–09; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Notice of Availability of GovernmentOwned Inventions; Available for
Licensing
Department of the Navy, DoD.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
SUMMARY: The invention listed below is
assigned to the United States
Government as represented by the
Secretary of the Navy. U.S. Patent No.
7,233,284: Hanheld GPS jammer locator,
Navy Case No. 97678.
ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the
inventions cited should be directed to
Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons
Division, Code 4L4000D, 1900 N. Knox
Road Stop 6312, China Lake, CA 93555–
6106 and must include the Navy Case
number.
PO 00000
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael D. Seltzer, Ph.D., Head,
Technology Transfer Office, Naval Air
Warfare Center Weapons Division, Code
4L4000D, 1900 N. Knox Road Stop
6312, China Lake, CA 93555–6106,
telephone 760–939–1074, FAX 760–
939–1210, E-mail:
michael.seltzer@navy.mil.
Authority: 35 U.S.C. 207, 37 CFR Part
404.7.
Dated: December 18, 2009.
A. M. Vallandingham,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate
General’s Corps, U.S. Navy, Federal Register
Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E9–30898 Filed 12–29–09; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Air Force
Notice of Intent To Prepare a
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for the Military Housing
Privatization Initiative at Eglin AFB,
Florida and Hurlburt Field, Florida
AGENCY: United States Air Force, Air
Force Materiel Command, Air Force
Special Operations Command.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA, 42 United States Code [USC]
4321–4347), the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA
Regulations (40 Code of Federal
Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500–1508),
and the United States Air Force’s (Air
Force) Environmental Impact Analysis
Process (EIAP, 32 CFR Part 989), the Air
Force is issuing this notice to advise the
public of its intent to prepare a
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (SEIS) for the Military
Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI)
at Eglin AFB, Florida and Hurlburt
Field, Florida.
This NOI describes the Air Force’s
proposed alternatives, scoping process,
and identifies the Air Force’s point of
contact. As part of the SEIS, the Air
Force will analyze potential
environmental impacts associated with
the alternatives for the MHPI, including
a No Action Alternative. This is the
fourth revision to the SEIS, which will
describe the changes in the alternative
development process used to identify
potential parcels of land for the MHPI,
consider F–35 aircraft noise profiles,
identify new alternatives resulting from
this process, and identify the potential
impacts to the affected environment
from MHPI.
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 30, 2009 / Notices
Purpose: The purpose of this action is
for the Air Force to implement the
MHPI by leveraging private sector
funds, expertise, and efficiency with Air
Force resources (land and residences).
The Air Force would ‘‘privatize’’ its
military family housing assets (those
currently owned and operated by the
government as opposed to leased
housing) to accelerate the improvement
and availability of housing for military
families.
Proposed Action: To obtain 1,477
military family housing units through
some mixture of parcels from the five
alternatives listed below plus the
Hurlburt Field parcels. To implement
the MHPI, the Air Force’s proposed
action includes the conveyance of all
1,413 existing military family housing
units and infrastructure distributed
among several parcels of land located on
Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field to a
private developer.
Of the existing units, the private
developer would demolish 1,404,
renovate units in place, and accept the
Air Force’s conveyance of nine existing
historic units ‘‘as is.’’ The private
developer would construct 1,477 new
units (548 units for Hurlburt Field and
929 units for Eglin AFB) in phases and
return nine historic units (five historic
units located at Georgia Avenue on
Eglin AFB and four historic units at
Camp Pinchot) to the Air Force for
adaptive reuse for purposes other than
residential housing (e.g., offices,
meeting places, etc.) once replacement
units are constructed. At completion of
the project, a private developer would
own and operate 1,477 military family
housing units (548 units for Hurlburt
Field and 929 units for Eglin AFB) on
behalf of the Air Force.
All construction and demolition
activities would occur on Air Forceowned property at Eglin AFB and
Hurlburt Field. The Air Force would
lease the real property underlying the
current units to the private developer.
For areas not designated for rebuilding,
this lease would last only until
demolition is complete or once
replacement units are built (in the case
of the historic units), at which time the
property would be returned to the Air
Force. For areas designated for
rebuilding, renovation, or conveyance as
is, the real property would be leased to
the private developer for a period of 50
years from the date of the transaction. In
addition, the existing Hurlburt Field
FAMCAMP area would relocate as part
of this proposed action.
Alternatives: Activities described
under the Proposed Action, including
construction of housing on Hurlburt
Field, would be common across all
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alternatives, except the No Action
Alternative. The alternatives for MHPI
differ in the distribution of the housing.
The following locations are being
considered:
Alternative 1. Crestview Park/Duke
Field Area consists of two parcels
totaling 567 acres. The area is located
approximately one mile northwest of
Duke Field, just south of the Yellow
River along the northern border of the
Eglin Reservation.
Alternative 2. Eglin Northeast Area
comprises four parcels totaling 2,458
acres. The area is located approximately
one mile southeast of Mossy Head,
Florida, right inside the northeastern
Eglin Reservation border.
Alternative 3. White Point Area
comprises seven parcels totaling 416
acres. The area is located at White Point
along the coastline of Choctawhatchee
Bay south of Niceville, Florida, and
adjacent to SR–20.
Alternative 4. Eglin Main Base/
Valparaiso Area comprises eight parcels
totaling 695 acres. The largest parcel
(620 acres) is located in the southwest
corner of Eglin Main Base adjacent to
the New Plew housing area. The
remaining parcels are located along the
northeast border of Eglin Main Base,
near the East Gate and adjacent to
Valparaiso.
Alternative 5. North Fort Walton
Beach Area comprises five parcels
totaling 457 acres with a 50 acre buffer
area. Three parcels were previously
identified in MHPI NEPA
documentation as the ‘‘Camp Pinchot
Expansion Area’’ (located adjacent to
the Camp Pinchot Historic District and
bordered on the west by SR–189 and the
east by Garnier Bayou) and parts of the
‘‘Poquito Bayou Expansion Area’’
(located just north of the existing
Poquito Bayou housing area). The
remaining two parcels are located along
the southern Eglin Reservation
boundary in north Fort Walton Beach
just north of SR–189 and adjacent to the
Okaloosa County Fairgrounds. The
Camp Pinchot Historic District is not
included in this alternative.
No Action Alternative. The Air Force
would not implement the Proposed
Action at Eglin or Hurlburt Field.
Instead, the Air Force would continue to
manage/maintain and replace/upgrade
MFH in accordance with existing Air
Force policy and resources.
Background: This document
constitutes the fourth revision of an EIS
that started with a Notice of Intent in
January 2004 (Federal Register/Vol. 69,
No. 116, pg. 3570/January 26, 2004).
The first iteration of the Draft EIS was
published and released to the public in
April 2005 (Federal Register/Vol. 70,
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
69079
No. 67, pg. 17994/April 8, 2005). After
consideration of concerns raised during
the public comment period, the Air
Force issued the second iteration, the
Revised Draft EIS in March 2006
(Federal Register/Vol. 71, No. 62, pg.
16302/March 31, 2006), which received
public and agency comments. Before the
EIS was finalized, circumstances arose
causing the Air Force to halt the
completion of the EIS and reevaluate the
Proposed Action.
The 2005 Base Closure and
Realignment (BRAC) decisions resulted
in the direction to beddown the Joint
Strike Fighter (JSF) (i.e., the F–35
aircraft) and the Army’s 7th Special
Forces Group. This BRAC directed
action resulted in a planned net gain of
approximately 4,000 additional military,
civilian, and contractor personnel (not
including family members) at Eglin
AFB. As a result, the Air Force
conducted a new housing requirements
analysis and issued its third EIS
iteration, the Supplemental Draft EIS in
Aug 2008 (Federal Register/Vol. 73, No.
154, pg. 46269/August 8, 2008). The
third iteration analyzed the potential
consequences from housing alternatives
limited exclusively to the main base
areas of Eglin AFB or Hurlburt Field due
to a shortfall in project financials
associated with hurricane-related
increases in construction/insurance
costs.
Scoping: In order to effectively define
the full range of issues to be evaluated
in the EIS, the Air Force will determine
the scope of the EIS (i.e., what will be
covered and in what detail) by soliciting
scoping comments from interested state
and federal agencies and interested
members of the public through the
Federal Register and various media in
the local areas of concern. Scoping
comments should be submitted to the
address below by the date indicated.
The Air Force will also hold a series of
scoping meetings to further solicit input
regarding the scope of the proposed
action and alternatives.
DATES: Three scoping meetings will be
held in the potentially impacted
communities. The scheduled dates,
times, locations and addresses for the
meetings will be published in local
media a minimum of 15 days prior to
the scoping meetings. The Air Force
intends to hold scoping meetings in the
following communities: Crestview, FL;
Ft Walton Beach, FL; and Niceville, FL.
In addition to comments received at
the scoping meetings, any written
comments on the scope of the proposed
EIS should be provided to the address
below by Friday, February 1, 2010.
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69080
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 30, 2009 / Notices
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE
CONTACT: Mike Spaits, Eglin AFB
Public
Affairs Office, 101 West D Avenue,
Suite 110, Eglin Air Force Base, FL
32542–5499, phone (850) 882–2836, email: mike.spaits@eglin.af.mil or check
the Web site, https://www.eglin.af.mil/
housing_privatization/index.asp.
Bao-Anh Trinh,
YA–3, DAF, Air Force Federal Register Liaison
Officer.
[FR Doc. E9–30980 Filed 12–29–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001–05–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Air Force
Notice of Intent to Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement for
Basing F–35A Operational Aircraft
mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY: United States Air Force, Air
Combat Command and Air National
Guard.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321, et
seq.), the Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) Regulations for
Implementing the Procedural Provisions
of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500–1508), and
Air Force policy and procedures (32
CFR Part 989), the Air Force is issuing
this notice to advise the public of its
intent to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the
potential environmental impacts of
establishing operational F–35 Joint
Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft at one or
more existing Air Force installations
within the continental United States.
The proposed basing alternatives
include: Mt. Home AFB, Idaho; Hill
AFB, Utah; Burlington Air Guard
Station (AGS), Vermont; Shaw AFB/
McEntire Joint National Guard Base
(JNGB), South Carolina (SC); and
Jacksonville AGS, Florida.
Each candidate base is an alternative.
For Mt. Home AFB, Hill AFB, and Shaw
AFB/McEntire JNGB, the potential
environmental impacts will be analyzed
for no action and in increments of 24
primary assigned aircraft (PAA). For
Burlington AGS and Jacksonville AGS,
the potential environmental impacts
will be analyzed for no action and in
increments of 18 and 24 primary
assigned aircraft.
The Air Force version of the F–35 JSF,
designated F–35A, is a conventional
take-off, multiple-role fighter with an
emphasis on air-to-ground missions.
The aircraft was designed to supplement
and eventually replace legacy aircraft as
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19:01 Dec 29, 2009
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well as complement the air-to-air
mission of the F–22A Raptor. At any of
the alternative locations, the beddown
action would involve personnel
changes, facility construction and
modifications, and aircraft operations.
Scoping: In order to effectively define
the full range of issues to be evaluated
in the EIS, the Air Force will determine
the scope of the EIS (i.e., what will be
covered and in what detail) by soliciting
scoping comments from interested state
and federal agencies and interested
members of the public through the
Federal Register and various media in
the local areas of concern. Scoping
comments should be submitted to the
address below by the date indicated.
The Air Force will also hold a series of
scoping meetings to further solicit input
regarding the scope of the proposed
action and alternatives.
DATES: The Air Force intends to hold
scoping meetings in the following
communities: January 11–14, 2010
Grand View, Twin Falls, Boise, and Mt.
Home Idaho; January 19–22, 2010
Ogden, Layton, Callao Utah; Wendover
Nevada; January 25–28, 2010 Winooski,
Vermont; Littleton, New Hampshire;
Watertown, New York; February 1–4,
2010 Sumter, Eastover, and Kingstree,
South Carolina; Augusta and Brunswick
Georgia; February 8–12 2010
Jacksonville, Avon Park, Lake Wales
and Palatka Florida. The scheduled
dates, times, locations and addresses for
the meetings will be published in local
media a minimum of 15 days prior to
the scoping meetings. All meetings will
be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Comments will be accepted at any
time during the environmental impact
analysis process. However, to ensure the
Air Force has sufficient time to consider
public input in the preparation of the
Draft EIS, comments should be
submitted to the address below by
March 1, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Sheryl Parker, HQ ACC/A7PS, 129
Andrews Street, Suite 337, Langley
AFB, VA 23665–2769, telephone 757/
764–9334.
Bao-Anh Trinh, YA–3, DAF,
Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E9–30671 Filed 12–29–09; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Air Force
U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory
Board Notice of Meeting
AGENCY: U.S. Air Force Scientific
Advisory Board, Department of the Air
Force, Defense.
ACTION: Meeting Notice.
SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act of
1972 (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended),
the Government in the Sunshine Act of
1976 (5 U.S.C. 552b, as amended), and
41 CFR 102–3.150, the Department of
Defense announces that the United
States Air Force Scientific Advisory
Board meeting will take place on
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010, at the
SAF/AQ Conference and Innovation
Center, 1550 Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA,
22202. The meeting will be from 8
a.m.—5 p.m. The purpose of the
meeting is to hold the United States Air
Force Scientific Advisory Board
quarterly meeting to discuss the FY10
Scientific Advisory Board study topics
tasked by the Secretary of the Air Force
and the results of the Air Force Research
Laboratory Assessment.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b, as
amended, and 41 CFR 102–3.155, the
Administrative Assistant of the Air
Force, in consultation with the Office of
the Air Force General Counsel, has
determined in writing that the United
States Air Force Scientific Advisory
Board meeting will be closed to the
public because they will be concerned
with classified information and matters
covered by sections 5 U.S.C. 552b(c) (1)
and (4).
Any member of the public wishing to
provide input to the United States Air
Force Scientific Advisory Board should
submit a written statement in
accordance with 41 CFR 102–3.140(c)
and section 10(a)(3) of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act and the
procedures described in this paragraph.
Written statements can be submitted to
the Designated Federal Officer at the
address detailed below at any time.
Statements being submitted in response
to the agenda mentioned in this notice
must be received by the Designated
Federal Officer at the address listed
below at least five calendar days prior
to the meeting which is the subject of
this notice. Written statements received
after this date may not be provided to
or considered by the United States Air
Force Scientific Advisory Board until its
next meeting. The Designated Federal
Officer will review all timely
submissions with the United States Air
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 249 (Wednesday, December 30, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69078-69080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-30980]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Air Force
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for the Military Housing Privatization Initiative at Eglin
AFB, Florida and Hurlburt Field, Florida
AGENCY: United States Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force
Special Operations Command.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA, 42 United States Code [USC] 4321-4347), the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA Regulations (40 Code of Federal
Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500-1508), and the United States Air Force's
(Air Force) Environmental Impact Analysis Process (EIAP, 32 CFR Part
989), the Air Force is issuing this notice to advise the public of its
intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS)
for the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) at Eglin AFB,
Florida and Hurlburt Field, Florida.
This NOI describes the Air Force's proposed alternatives, scoping
process, and identifies the Air Force's point of contact. As part of
the SEIS, the Air Force will analyze potential environmental impacts
associated with the alternatives for the MHPI, including a No Action
Alternative. This is the fourth revision to the SEIS, which will
describe the changes in the alternative development process used to
identify potential parcels of land for the MHPI, consider F-35 aircraft
noise profiles, identify new alternatives resulting from this process,
and identify the potential impacts to the affected environment from
MHPI.
[[Page 69079]]
Purpose: The purpose of this action is for the Air Force to
implement the MHPI by leveraging private sector funds, expertise, and
efficiency with Air Force resources (land and residences). The Air
Force would ``privatize'' its military family housing assets (those
currently owned and operated by the government as opposed to leased
housing) to accelerate the improvement and availability of housing for
military families.
Proposed Action: To obtain 1,477 military family housing units
through some mixture of parcels from the five alternatives listed below
plus the Hurlburt Field parcels. To implement the MHPI, the Air Force's
proposed action includes the conveyance of all 1,413 existing military
family housing units and infrastructure distributed among several
parcels of land located on Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field to a private
developer.
Of the existing units, the private developer would demolish 1,404,
renovate units in place, and accept the Air Force's conveyance of nine
existing historic units ``as is.'' The private developer would
construct 1,477 new units (548 units for Hurlburt Field and 929 units
for Eglin AFB) in phases and return nine historic units (five historic
units located at Georgia Avenue on Eglin AFB and four historic units at
Camp Pinchot) to the Air Force for adaptive reuse for purposes other
than residential housing (e.g., offices, meeting places, etc.) once
replacement units are constructed. At completion of the project, a
private developer would own and operate 1,477 military family housing
units (548 units for Hurlburt Field and 929 units for Eglin AFB) on
behalf of the Air Force.
All construction and demolition activities would occur on Air
Force-owned property at Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field. The Air Force
would lease the real property underlying the current units to the
private developer. For areas not designated for rebuilding, this lease
would last only until demolition is complete or once replacement units
are built (in the case of the historic units), at which time the
property would be returned to the Air Force. For areas designated for
rebuilding, renovation, or conveyance as is, the real property would be
leased to the private developer for a period of 50 years from the date
of the transaction. In addition, the existing Hurlburt Field FAMCAMP
area would relocate as part of this proposed action.
Alternatives: Activities described under the Proposed Action,
including construction of housing on Hurlburt Field, would be common
across all alternatives, except the No Action Alternative. The
alternatives for MHPI differ in the distribution of the housing. The
following locations are being considered:
Alternative 1. Crestview Park/Duke Field Area consists of two
parcels totaling 567 acres. The area is located approximately one mile
northwest of Duke Field, just south of the Yellow River along the
northern border of the Eglin Reservation.
Alternative 2. Eglin Northeast Area comprises four parcels totaling
2,458 acres. The area is located approximately one mile southeast of
Mossy Head, Florida, right inside the northeastern Eglin Reservation
border.
Alternative 3. White Point Area comprises seven parcels totaling
416 acres. The area is located at White Point along the coastline of
Choctawhatchee Bay south of Niceville, Florida, and adjacent to SR-20.
Alternative 4. Eglin Main Base/Valparaiso Area comprises eight
parcels totaling 695 acres. The largest parcel (620 acres) is located
in the southwest corner of Eglin Main Base adjacent to the New Plew
housing area. The remaining parcels are located along the northeast
border of Eglin Main Base, near the East Gate and adjacent to
Valparaiso.
Alternative 5. North Fort Walton Beach Area comprises five parcels
totaling 457 acres with a 50 acre buffer area. Three parcels were
previously identified in MHPI NEPA documentation as the ``Camp Pinchot
Expansion Area'' (located adjacent to the Camp Pinchot Historic
District and bordered on the west by SR-189 and the east by Garnier
Bayou) and parts of the ``Poquito Bayou Expansion Area'' (located just
north of the existing Poquito Bayou housing area). The remaining two
parcels are located along the southern Eglin Reservation boundary in
north Fort Walton Beach just north of SR-189 and adjacent to the
Okaloosa County Fairgrounds. The Camp Pinchot Historic District is not
included in this alternative.
No Action Alternative. The Air Force would not implement the
Proposed Action at Eglin or Hurlburt Field. Instead, the Air Force
would continue to manage/maintain and replace/upgrade MFH in accordance
with existing Air Force policy and resources.
Background: This document constitutes the fourth revision of an EIS
that started with a Notice of Intent in January 2004 (Federal Register/
Vol. 69, No. 116, pg. 3570/January 26, 2004). The first iteration of
the Draft EIS was published and released to the public in April 2005
(Federal Register/Vol. 70, No. 67, pg. 17994/April 8, 2005). After
consideration of concerns raised during the public comment period, the
Air Force issued the second iteration, the Revised Draft EIS in March
2006 (Federal Register/Vol. 71, No. 62, pg. 16302/March 31, 2006),
which received public and agency comments. Before the EIS was
finalized, circumstances arose causing the Air Force to halt the
completion of the EIS and reevaluate the Proposed Action.
The 2005 Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) decisions resulted in
the direction to beddown the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) (i.e., the F-35
aircraft) and the Army's 7th Special Forces Group. This BRAC directed
action resulted in a planned net gain of approximately 4,000 additional
military, civilian, and contractor personnel (not including family
members) at Eglin AFB. As a result, the Air Force conducted a new
housing requirements analysis and issued its third EIS iteration, the
Supplemental Draft EIS in Aug 2008 (Federal Register/Vol. 73, No. 154,
pg. 46269/August 8, 2008). The third iteration analyzed the potential
consequences from housing alternatives limited exclusively to the main
base areas of Eglin AFB or Hurlburt Field due to a shortfall in project
financials associated with hurricane-related increases in construction/
insurance costs.
Scoping: In order to effectively define the full range of issues to
be evaluated in the EIS, the Air Force will determine the scope of the
EIS (i.e., what will be covered and in what detail) by soliciting
scoping comments from interested state and federal agencies and
interested members of the public through the Federal Register and
various media in the local areas of concern. Scoping comments should be
submitted to the address below by the date indicated. The Air Force
will also hold a series of scoping meetings to further solicit input
regarding the scope of the proposed action and alternatives.
DATES: Three scoping meetings will be held in the potentially impacted
communities. The scheduled dates, times, locations and addresses for
the meetings will be published in local media a minimum of 15 days
prior to the scoping meetings. The Air Force intends to hold scoping
meetings in the following communities: Crestview, FL; Ft Walton Beach,
FL; and Niceville, FL.
In addition to comments received at the scoping meetings, any
written comments on the scope of the proposed EIS should be provided to
the address below by Friday, February 1, 2010.
[[Page 69080]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Mike Spaits, Eglin AFB Public
Affairs Office, 101 West D Avenue, Suite 110, Eglin Air Force Base, FL
32542-5499, phone (850) 882-2836, e-mail: mike.spaits@eglin.af.mil or
check the Web site, https://www.eglin.af.mil/housing_privatization/index.asp.
Bao-Anh Trinh,
YA-3, DAF, Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E9-30980 Filed 12-29-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-05-P