Notice of Intent To Prepare an Integrated Environmental Impact Statement for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Black Hills Health Care System Proposed Improvements and Reconfiguration, Hot Springs and Rapid City, South Dakota, 28602-28603 [2014-11316]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 95 / Friday, May 16, 2014 / Notices
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Dated: May 12, 2014.
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Control.
[FR Doc. 2014–11411 Filed 5–15–14; 8:45 am]
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EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Integrated Environmental Impact
Statement for the Department of
Veterans Affairs, Black Hills Health
Care System Proposed Improvements
and Reconfiguration, Hot Springs and
Rapid City, South Dakota
AGENCY:
Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA).
ACTION:
Notice of intent
Pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.); the
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
20:00 May 15, 2014
Jkt 232001
Council on Environmental Quality
Regulations for Implementing the
Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR
Parts 1500–1508); VA’s NEPA
Implementing Guidance (38 CFR Part
26); Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (16
U.S.C. Part 470F); and the Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation
Procedures for the Protection of Historic
Properties (36 CFR Part 800 et seq.), VA
intends to prepare an integrated
environmental impact statement (EIS)
for the proposed improvements to and
reconfiguration of the VA Black Hills
Health Care System (VA BHHCS)
services in the Hot Springs and Rapid
City, South Dakota, vicinities. The
proposed action would involve
reconfiguring existing services and
expanding points of access to health
care within the VA BHHCS service area
to better serve the health care needs and
distribution of Veterans in the VA
BHHCS service area over the next 20 to
30 years. That area includes parts of
South Dakota, northwestern Nebraska,
and eastern Wyoming. The effects and
impacts to be addressed will include
those identified in 40 CFR 1508.8; i.e.,
ecological, aesthetic, historic, cultural,
economic, social, and health, whether
direct, indirect, or cumulative. Both
beneficial and detrimental effects of the
proposed action will be identified as
well. As part of the scoping process, VA
seeks public input on the relative
importance of these and other areas of
environmental concern, and suggestions
regarding additional environmental
impacts that should be evaluated.
DATES: With the publication of this
notice, VA is initiating the scoping
process to identify issues and concerns
to be addressed in the integrated EIS.
Federal, state, and local agencies,
environmental organizations,
businesses, other interested parties and
the general public are encouraged to
submit their written comments
identifying specific issues or topics of
environmental concern that should be
addressed. VA will hold two or more
public scoping meetings within the VA
BHHCS service area; the dates, times,
and locations of which will be
announced and published at least 14
days prior to the meetings. All written
comments on the proposal should be
submitted by June 16, 2014. VA will
consider all comments received during
the 30-day public comment period in
determining the scope of the integrated
EIS.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments
on VA’s notice of intent to prepare an
integrated EIS through
www.Regulations.gov or
PO 00000
Frm 00130
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
vablackhillsfuture@va.gov. Please refer
to: ‘‘VA BHHCS Notice of Intent to
Prepare an Integrated EIS’’. Comments
may also be submitted to Staff Assistant
to the Director, VA Black Hills Health
Care System, 113 Comanche Rd., Fort
Meade, SD 57741
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Staff
Assistant to the Director, VA BHHCS, at
the address above or by telephone, 605–
720–7170. Documents related to the VA
BHHCS proposed reconfiguration will
be available for viewing on the VA
BHHCS Web site: https://
www.blackhills.va.gov/
VABlackHillsFuture/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
December 2011, VA made public a
proposal to improve and reconfigure the
Black Hills Health Care System services.
The purpose of this proposed action is
to enhance and maintain the quality and
safety of care for Veterans in the 100,000
square-mile VA BHHCS service area,
replace aging buildings for Veterans in
Residential Rehabilitation and
Treatment Programs (RRTP) and
Community-Based Outpatient Clinics
(CBOC), increase access to care closer to
Veterans’ homes, and reduce out-ofpocket expenses for Veterans’ travel. VA
BHHCS served approximately 18,650
Veterans in fiscal year 2012, a decrease
from 20,500 in fiscal year 2009. VA
projections estimate that within 10 years
VA BHHCS will serve about 19,750
Veterans in the two hospitals (Hot
Springs and Fort Meade) and nine
CBOCs currently in operation.
The need for the reconfiguration of
services is further substantiated by the
following facts: (1) Veteran population
centers are not in the same location as
current VA facilities; (2) Difficulty
recruiting and retaining qualified staff at
current Hot Springs facility; (3)
Difficulty maintaining high-quality,
safe, and accessible care; (4) Long
distances and travel times to receive
specialty care; (5) Current residential
treatment facilities and locations limit
care available to Veterans; and (6)
Higher operating costs than financial
allocations.
At VA Hot Springs there are
approximately 2,800 Veterans that
receive primary care. About 5,500
Veterans visit the facility annually for
some aspect of care. The operation of
this small, highly rural facility located
in a community of approximately 3,900
persons raises concerns about safety,
quality of care, sustainability over time,
recruitment and retention of staff, and
cost of operations and maintenance and
upgrades to the facility. Contributing
factors are the difficulty complying with
rules and laws governing handicapped
E:\FR\FM\16MYN1.SGM
16MYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 95 / Friday, May 16, 2014 / Notices
EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
access, and the increasing age and cost
of operating, maintaining and improving
buildings ranging from 40 to over 100
years old.
At present, VA has identified seven
potential action alternatives to be
analyzed in the EIS: Alternative A
would involve building/leasing a CBOC
in Hot Springs and a Multi-Specialty
Outpatient Clinic (MSOC) and 100-bed
RRTP in Rapid City. Alternative B
would involve building/leasing a 100bed RRTP in Hot Springs and a MSOC
in Rapid City. Alternative C would
entail renovating Building 12 for a
CBOC and the Domiciliary for a 100-bed
RRTP at Hot Springs and building/
leasing a MSOC at Rapid City.
Alternative D would involve building/
leasing a CBOC and 24-bed RRTP at Hot
Springs and a MSOC and 76-bed RRTP
at Rapid City. Alternative E would
involve implementing a proposal put
forward by the ‘‘Save the VA’’
committee, a Hot Springs public interest
group, to repurpose VA Hot Springs as
a multifaceted national demonstration
project for Veterans care in a rural
environment. Alternative F would be an
as yet unidentified alternative use that
might be proposed during the EIS
process. Supplemental Alternative G
would entail repurposing all or part of
the Hot Springs campus through an
enhanced-use lease or other agreement
with another governmental agency or
private entity in conjunction with
Alternatives A through F. In addition to
the above seven action alternatives, the
EIS also will evaluate the impacts
associated with the No Action or ‘‘status
quo’’ alternative (Alternative H) as a
basis for comparison to the action
alternatives.
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Potential issues and impacts to be
addressed in the EIS will include, but
not be limited to, physical and
biological resources, cultural and
historic resources, land use,
socioeconomics, community services,
transportation and parking, and
cumulative effects. Relevant and
reasonable measures that could alleviate
or mitigate adverse effects and impacts
also will be included. VA will
undertake necessary consultations with
other governmental agencies and
consulting parties pursuant to the
NHPA, Endangered Species Act, Clean
Water Act, and other applicable
environmental laws. Consultation will
include, but not be limited to, the
following Federal, Tribal, state, and
local agencies: State and Tribal Historic
Preservation Officers; U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service; U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency; National Park
Service; and the Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation. Information
related to the EIS process, including
notices of public scoping and other
informational meetings and hearings,
will be available for viewing on the VA
BHHCS Web site: https://
www.blackhills.va.gov/
VABlackHillsFuture/
VA anticipates that many of the issues
to be addressed in assessing the impacts
of the various alternatives will be
broadly cultural in character; that is,
they will involve potential impacts on
the cultural environment as perceived
by Veterans, their families, Indian tribes
and communities of the area. Such
impacts may include, but are not
limited to: (a) Impacts on historic
properties; (b) impacts on the cultural
values ascribed to the Hot Springs and
Fort Meade campuses by Veterans, local
PO 00000
Frm 00131
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
28603
residents, Indian tribes and others; (c)
impacts to ongoing or traditional
cultural uses of such locations; and (d)
impacts on archaeological, historical,
and scientific data.
In the interests of efficiency,
completeness, and facilitating public
involvement, it is VA’s intention that all
cultural impacts be addressed together,
in consultation with all appropriate
parties. To facilitate this inclusive
process, VA will incorporate into its
NEPA analysis process the review
procedures for historic properties
usually carried out separately under 36
CFR 800.3 through 6 of the NHPA
Section 106 implementing regulations.
This process is described in 36 CFR
800.8(c) of those procedures and in the
Council on Environmental Quality and
Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation handbook for integrating
NEPA and Section 106 dated March
2013.
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. Jose
D. Riojas, Chief of Staff, Department of
Veterans Affairs, approved this
document on May 6, 2014, for
publication.
Dated: May 13, 2014.
Robert C. McFetridge,
Director, Regulation Policy and Management,
Office of the General Counsel, Department
of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2014–11316 Filed 5–15–14; 8:45 am]
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 95 (Friday, May 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28602-28603]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11316]
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Integrated Environmental Impact
Statement for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Black Hills Health
Care System Proposed Improvements and Reconfiguration, Hot Springs and
Rapid City, South Dakota
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
ACTION: Notice of intent
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.); the Council on Environmental Quality
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR
Parts 1500-1508); VA's NEPA Implementing Guidance (38 CFR Part 26);
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966
(16 U.S.C. Part 470F); and the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation Procedures for the Protection of Historic Properties (36
CFR Part 800 et seq.), VA intends to prepare an integrated
environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed improvements to
and reconfiguration of the VA Black Hills Health Care System (VA BHHCS)
services in the Hot Springs and Rapid City, South Dakota, vicinities.
The proposed action would involve reconfiguring existing services and
expanding points of access to health care within the VA BHHCS service
area to better serve the health care needs and distribution of Veterans
in the VA BHHCS service area over the next 20 to 30 years. That area
includes parts of South Dakota, northwestern Nebraska, and eastern
Wyoming. The effects and impacts to be addressed will include those
identified in 40 CFR 1508.8; i.e., ecological, aesthetic, historic,
cultural, economic, social, and health, whether direct, indirect, or
cumulative. Both beneficial and detrimental effects of the proposed
action will be identified as well. As part of the scoping process, VA
seeks public input on the relative importance of these and other areas
of environmental concern, and suggestions regarding additional
environmental impacts that should be evaluated.
DATES: With the publication of this notice, VA is initiating the
scoping process to identify issues and concerns to be addressed in the
integrated EIS. Federal, state, and local agencies, environmental
organizations, businesses, other interested parties and the general
public are encouraged to submit their written comments identifying
specific issues or topics of environmental concern that should be
addressed. VA will hold two or more public scoping meetings within the
VA BHHCS service area; the dates, times, and locations of which will be
announced and published at least 14 days prior to the meetings. All
written comments on the proposal should be submitted by June 16, 2014.
VA will consider all comments received during the 30-day public comment
period in determining the scope of the integrated EIS.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on VA's notice of intent to prepare
an integrated EIS through www.Regulations.gov or
vablackhillsfuture@va.gov. Please refer to: ``VA BHHCS Notice of Intent
to Prepare an Integrated EIS''. Comments may also be submitted to Staff
Assistant to the Director, VA Black Hills Health Care System, 113
Comanche Rd., Fort Meade, SD 57741
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Staff Assistant to the Director, VA
BHHCS, at the address above or by telephone, 605-720-7170. Documents
related to the VA BHHCS proposed reconfiguration will be available for
viewing on the VA BHHCS Web site: https://www.blackhills.va.gov/VABlackHillsFuture/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In December 2011, VA made public a proposal
to improve and reconfigure the Black Hills Health Care System services.
The purpose of this proposed action is to enhance and maintain the
quality and safety of care for Veterans in the 100,000 square-mile VA
BHHCS service area, replace aging buildings for Veterans in Residential
Rehabilitation and Treatment Programs (RRTP) and Community-Based
Outpatient Clinics (CBOC), increase access to care closer to Veterans'
homes, and reduce out-of-pocket expenses for Veterans' travel. VA BHHCS
served approximately 18,650 Veterans in fiscal year 2012, a decrease
from 20,500 in fiscal year 2009. VA projections estimate that within 10
years VA BHHCS will serve about 19,750 Veterans in the two hospitals
(Hot Springs and Fort Meade) and nine CBOCs currently in operation.
The need for the reconfiguration of services is further
substantiated by the following facts: (1) Veteran population centers
are not in the same location as current VA facilities; (2) Difficulty
recruiting and retaining qualified staff at current Hot Springs
facility; (3) Difficulty maintaining high-quality, safe, and accessible
care; (4) Long distances and travel times to receive specialty care;
(5) Current residential treatment facilities and locations limit care
available to Veterans; and (6) Higher operating costs than financial
allocations.
At VA Hot Springs there are approximately 2,800 Veterans that
receive primary care. About 5,500 Veterans visit the facility annually
for some aspect of care. The operation of this small, highly rural
facility located in a community of approximately 3,900 persons raises
concerns about safety, quality of care, sustainability over time,
recruitment and retention of staff, and cost of operations and
maintenance and upgrades to the facility. Contributing factors are the
difficulty complying with rules and laws governing handicapped
[[Page 28603]]
access, and the increasing age and cost of operating, maintaining and
improving buildings ranging from 40 to over 100 years old.
At present, VA has identified seven potential action alternatives
to be analyzed in the EIS: Alternative A would involve building/leasing
a CBOC in Hot Springs and a Multi-Specialty Outpatient Clinic (MSOC)
and 100-bed RRTP in Rapid City. Alternative B would involve building/
leasing a 100-bed RRTP in Hot Springs and a MSOC in Rapid City.
Alternative C would entail renovating Building 12 for a CBOC and the
Domiciliary for a 100-bed RRTP at Hot Springs and building/leasing a
MSOC at Rapid City. Alternative D would involve building/leasing a CBOC
and 24-bed RRTP at Hot Springs and a MSOC and 76-bed RRTP at Rapid
City. Alternative E would involve implementing a proposal put forward
by the ``Save the VA'' committee, a Hot Springs public interest group,
to repurpose VA Hot Springs as a multifaceted national demonstration
project for Veterans care in a rural environment. Alternative F would
be an as yet unidentified alternative use that might be proposed during
the EIS process. Supplemental Alternative G would entail repurposing
all or part of the Hot Springs campus through an enhanced-use lease or
other agreement with another governmental agency or private entity in
conjunction with Alternatives A through F. In addition to the above
seven action alternatives, the EIS also will evaluate the impacts
associated with the No Action or ``status quo'' alternative
(Alternative H) as a basis for comparison to the action alternatives.
Potential issues and impacts to be addressed in the EIS will
include, but not be limited to, physical and biological resources,
cultural and historic resources, land use, socioeconomics, community
services, transportation and parking, and cumulative effects. Relevant
and reasonable measures that could alleviate or mitigate adverse
effects and impacts also will be included. VA will undertake necessary
consultations with other governmental agencies and consulting parties
pursuant to the NHPA, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and
other applicable environmental laws. Consultation will include, but not
be limited to, the following Federal, Tribal, state, and local
agencies: State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers; U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; National
Park Service; and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Information related to the EIS process, including notices of public
scoping and other informational meetings and hearings, will be
available for viewing on the VA BHHCS Web site: https://www.blackhills.va.gov/VABlackHillsFuture/
VA anticipates that many of the issues to be addressed in assessing
the impacts of the various alternatives will be broadly cultural in
character; that is, they will involve potential impacts on the cultural
environment as perceived by Veterans, their families, Indian tribes and
communities of the area. Such impacts may include, but are not limited
to: (a) Impacts on historic properties; (b) impacts on the cultural
values ascribed to the Hot Springs and Fort Meade campuses by Veterans,
local residents, Indian tribes and others; (c) impacts to ongoing or
traditional cultural uses of such locations; and (d) impacts on
archaeological, historical, and scientific data.
In the interests of efficiency, completeness, and facilitating
public involvement, it is VA's intention that all cultural impacts be
addressed together, in consultation with all appropriate parties. To
facilitate this inclusive process, VA will incorporate into its NEPA
analysis process the review procedures for historic properties usually
carried out separately under 36 CFR 800.3 through 6 of the NHPA Section
106 implementing regulations. This process is described in 36 CFR
800.8(c) of those procedures and in the Council on Environmental
Quality and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation handbook for
integrating NEPA and Section 106 dated March 2013.
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. Jose D.
Riojas, Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs, approved this
document on May 6, 2014, for publication.
Dated: May 13, 2014.
Robert C. McFetridge,
Director, Regulation Policy and Management, Office of the General
Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2014-11316 Filed 5-15-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P
