Final Environmental Impact Statement and Finding of No Practicable Alternative for the Proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted Maneuver Training Area at Fort Benning, Georgia, 10042-10044 [2021-03208]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• Department of the Army

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 31 (Thursday, February 18, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10042-10044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03208]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Final Environmental Impact Statement and Finding of No 
Practicable Alternative for the Proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted 
Maneuver Training Area at Fort Benning, Georgia

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army (Army) announces the availability 
of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed 
Heavy Off-Road Mounted Maneuver Training Area (HOMMTA) at Fort Benning, 
Georgia. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), the Final EIS analyzes the potential environmental and 
socioeconomic impacts, and identifies related mitigation measures, 
associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining a HOMMTA of at 
least 2,400 contiguous acres at Fort Benning to support heavy off-road 
mounted maneuver (Proposed Action). The Proposed Action would support 
the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) in its mission to train the 
maneuver forces of the Army and would increase the total amount of 
heavy off-road maneuver training area on Fort Benning, enabling Fort 
Benning to conduct realistic training in accordance with current Army 
training requirements.
    The Proposed Action would provide a training area to meet existing 
training needs; it would not result in additional soldiers being 
stationed at Fort Benning, traffic, or any training off of the 
Installation. Training land development would occur over a 2- to 3-year 
period; development would primarily include vegetation removal and the 
construction of tank trails, culverted water crossings, and road 
upgrades, as well as burying existing overhead utilities. As feasible, 
buffers would be used to protect environmentally sensitive resources 
such as streams, wetlands, cemeteries, and archaeological sites. A 
Finding of No Practicable Alternative (FONPA)

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addressing potential impacts on wetlands and 100-year floodplains is 
also included in the Final EIS.

DATES: No decision will be made until 30 days after publication of the 
Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, at which time the Army may execute a 
Record of Decision (ROD).

ADDRESSES: Requests for additional information related to the Final EIS 
should be sent to Fort Benning Environmental Management Division, Attn: 
NEPA Program Manager, 6650 Meloy Drive, Building 6, Room 309, Fort 
Benning, Georgia 31905-5122, or email comments to 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Please contact Mr. John Brown, Fort 
Benning Environmental Management Division, at 
[email protected] or (706) 545-7549 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. 
ET. Fort Benning has also established a web page that contains 
information updates and background on the HOMMTA EIS, including the 
materials identified in this NOA, at https://www.benning.army.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fort Benning plays a critical role in 
supporting the Army's overarching mission. As the Army's MCoE, the home 
of the Army's Armor and Infantry Schools, Fort Benning must support the 
institutional training of Infantry and Armor soldiers and leaders. The 
institutional training conducted at Fort Benning provides Army leaders 
with the opportunity to respond to a wide variety of situations that 
they can expect to encounter on the modern battlefield. Fort Benning is 
also home to several deployable units that conduct off-road mounted 
maneuver training, including the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, 
Task Force 1-28 Infantry, and elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment.
    Fort Benning must be able to train and develop highly skilled and 
cohesive units capable of conducting operations across the full 
spectrum of potential conflicts. Inherent in and vital to training 
Infantry and Armor soldiers and leaders properly is the requirement to 
provide sufficient heavy off-road mounted maneuver training area. 
Currently, the only training area at Fort Benning suitable for heavy 
off-road mounted maneuver training is the Good Hope Maneuver Training 
Area (GHMTA). Since the initial development of the GHMTA, the Army's 
training strategy has changed to ``cross-domain movement and maneuver'' 
that requires additional contiguous area for heavy off-road maneuver.
    The Final EIS analyzes the potential environmental and 
socioeconomic impacts associated with the Proposed Action, including 
direct, indirect, and cumulative effects. Mitigation of adverse effects 
through avoidance and environmentally sensitive design, such as 
establishment of buffers, would be used to avoid impacts to sensitive 
resources to the maximum extent practicable. The Final EIS identifies 
additional mitigation measures that the Army may implement to further 
reduce identified adverse impacts.
    The Army has completed consultation for this action under Section 7 
of the Endangered Species Act, and this is incorporated in the EIS.
    The Army identified three reasonable Action Alternatives that would 
meet the purpose of and need for the Proposed Action; these three 
Action Alternatives (i.e., three distinct locations on Fort Benning 
where a HOMMTA could be constructed) are analyzed in detail in the 
Final EIS.
    1. Alternative 1 (Preferred Alternative): Northern Mounted Maneuver 
Training Area Alternative: This alternative includes approximately 
4,724 acres and is located adjacent to and east of the current Northern 
Maneuver Training Area and west of and near Fort Benning's Digital 
Multi-Purpose Range Complex (DMPRC).
    Of the Action Alternatives, Alternative 1 would provide the most 
preferable size and configuration to enable high-quality heavy off-road 
mounted maneuver training. Accordingly, the Army has identified 
Alternative 1 as the Preferred Alternative to implement the Proposed 
Action.
    2. Alternative 2: Red Diamond Alternative: This alternative 
includes approximately 3,744 acres and is located south of the Southern 
Maneuver Training Area (SMTA) near the Installation's southern 
boundary.
    3. Alternative 3: Eastern Boundary Alternative: This alternative 
includes approximately 2,405 acres and is located between the northern 
dudded impact area and the Installation's eastern boundary.
    The Army also carried forward the No Action Alternative for 
detailed analysis in the Final EIS. While the No Action Alternative 
would not satisfy the purpose and need for the Proposed Action, this 
Alternative was retained to provide a comparative baseline against 
which to analyze the effects of the Action Alternatives as required 
under the Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA Regulation.
    Resource areas analyzed in the Final EIS include: Land use 
(recreation), air quality, noise, soils and topography, water resources 
(including wetlands and floodplains), biological resources, cultural 
resources, socioeconomics, infrastructure, and hazardous and toxic 
materials and waste.
    Based on the analysis presented in the Final EIS, potentially 
significant adverse impacts could occur to biological resources (i.e., 
from disturbance of unique ecological areas). Impacts to all other 
resource areas would be less-than-significant (i.e., negligible, minor, 
or moderate) adverse or beneficial. Practical mitigation measures are 
presented in the Final EIS to reduce potential adverse effects.
    All Action Alternatives for the Proposed Action may adversely 
impact wetlands and/or 100-year floodplains. Accordingly, the Army has 
also prepared a FONPA to comply with Executive Order (E.O.) 11988, 
Floodplain Management, and E.O. 11990, Protection of Wetlands. As 
described in the Final EIS, environmental protection measures (e.g., 
buffers from heavy maneuver training) and regulatory compliance 
measures (e.g., permitting under Sections 401 and 404 of the CWA) would 
be implemented to minimize adverse impacts on these resources.
    The Army conducted a public review and comment period for the Draft 
EIS between May 29 and July 13, 2020, including a public teleconference 
on June 30, 2020. The Army considered and addressed in the Final EIS 
comments received on the Draft EIS during this comment period.
    Printed copies of the Final EIS and FONPA will be made available to 
the public for 30 days at the Columbus Public Library, Cusseta-
Chattahoochee County Public Library, Milton E. Long Library, and the 
Phenix City-Russell County Library, if the libraries are open for 
public visitation when this NOA is published. An electronic copy of the 
Final EIS and FONPA is posted on the HOMMTA EIS web page at https://www.benning.army.mil.
    After publication of this NOA of the Final EIS, the Army will 
prepare and publish its ROD announcing which Alternative is 
environmentally preferred, which Alternative it selects for 
implementation (be it an Action Alternative or the No Action 
Alternative), and which mitigation measures it will implement to reduce 
potential adverse impacts. Publication of the ROD will occur no sooner 
than 30

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days after publication of this NOA of the Final EIS.

James W. Satterwhite,
Alternate, Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-03208 Filed 2-17-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5061-AP-P