Record of Decision for the Proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted Maneuver Training Area at Fort Benning, Georgia, 48129-48130 [2021-18465]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• Department of the Army

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 164 (Friday, August 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48129-48130]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18465]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Record of Decision for the Proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted 
Maneuver Training Area at Fort Benning, Georgia

AGENCY: Department of the Army, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA).

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army (Army) announces the availability 
of its Record of Decision (ROD) 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 ROD identifies 
the Army's Selected Alternative (and basis for its selection), the 
Environmentally Preferred Alternative, and the mitigation measures the 
Army commits to implement with the Selected Alternative. The ROD is 
based on the results of the Army's Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) that analyzed the potential environmental and socioeconomic 
impacts associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining a 
HOMMTA of at least 2,400 contiguous acres at Fort Benning to support 
off-road mounted maneuver (Proposed Action).

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 Final EIS and ROD, 
including the materials identified in this NOA, at https://www.benning.army.mil/Garrison/DPW/EMD/HOMMTA/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Proposed Action will support the 
Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) in its mission to train maneuver 
soldiers and leaders of the Army and would increase the total amount of 
heavy off-road maneuver training area on Fort Benning, enabling the 
Army to conduct realistic training in accordance with current Army 
training requirements.
    The Proposed Action will provide a training area to meet existing 
training needs; it will not result in additional soldiers, traffic, or 
any training off of the Installation. Training land development will 
occur over a 2- to 3-year period; development will 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 will be used to protect environmentally 
sensitive resources such as streams, wetlands, cemeteries, and 
archaeological sites.
    Fort Benning serves a critical role in supporting the Army's 
overarching mission. Fort Benning's institutional training 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 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), which contains various environmental constraints 
that cannot support the maneuver training requirements of the MCoE. As 
such, Fort Benning proposed to construct a new HOMMTA with sufficient 
contiguous area to enable all units and courses to complete required 
cross-domain movement and maneuver training.
    The Final EIS, published on February 26, 2021 and supported by 
other studies, analyses, and permit applications to meet Federal 
requirements (e.g., the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act), 
analyzed the potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts 
associated with the Proposed Action, including direct, indirect, and 
cumulative effects. The Final EIS responded to comments received on the 
Draft EIS. The Final EIS also identified mitigation measures that the 
Army may implement to reduce potential adverse impacts.
    The Army studied three reasonable Action Alternatives (i.e., three 
distinct locations on Fort Benning where a HOMMTA could be constructed) 
that would meet the purpose of and need for the Proposed Action:
    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 identified Alternative 
1 as the Preferred Alternative to implement the Proposed Action in the 
Draft and Final EIS.
    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.
    Alternative 3: Eastern Boundary Alternative: This alternative 
includes

[[Page 48130]]

approximately 2,405 acres and is located between the northern dudded 
impact area and the Installation's eastern boundary.
    The Army also analyzed the No Action Alternative in detail. While 
the No Action Alternative would not satisfy the purpose of or need for 
the Proposed Action, it 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 Regulations.
    During formal consultation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, 
the Army determined that potential moderate adverse impacts on the 
federally listed red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) would occur primarily 
from removal of clusters and habitat during HOMMTA construction, 
resulting in up to 11 ``incidental takes.'' The HOMMTA Biological 
Opinion, however, reached the conclusion that the Army can reduce those 
potential adverse impacts through mitigation, and implementation of the 
HOMMTA with Alternative 1 would not jeopardize recovery of the RCW.
    Potential impacts to Unique Ecological Areas, a subcomponent of 
biological resources, may be significant if they cannot be fully 
avoided with implementation of Alternative 1. No other resource is 
anticipated to experience significant adverse impacts.
    Based on the analysis presented in the Final EIS, the No Action 
Alternative is the Environmentally Preferred Alternative. Of the Action 
Alternatives, Alternative 2 is the Environmentally Preferred 
Alternative. Considering potential environmental and socioeconomic 
impacts, national defense needs, Fort Benning's mission requirements, 
and the purpose of and need for the Proposed Action, however, the Army 
has selected Alternative 1 (i.e., the Army's Preferred Alternative) to 
implement the Proposed Action. The Army determined that Alternative 1 
strikes a proper balance between providing environmental protection and 
achieving the Army's training requirements.
    The Army received several comments during the Final EIS waiting 
period. The Army took these comments into account in making its 
decision; however, the comments do not present information that 
constitutes significant new circumstances or information relevant to 
environmental concerns that would require supplementation of the EIS.
    The ROD formally adopts numerous mitigation measures that the Army 
will implement to reduce potential adverse environmental impacts under 
Alternative 1. All practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental 
harm from the Selected Alternative have been adopted. Mitigation 
measures that the Army considered but does not adopt at this time are 
listed in the Draft Mitigation and Monitoring Plan in the Final EIS 
with explanations of why those mitigation measures were considered not 
practical or necessary.
    An electronic copy of the ROD is posted on the HOMMTA EIS web page 
at https://www.benning.army.mil/Garrison/DPW/EMD/HOMMTA. Additionally, 
interested parties may contact Mr. John Brown (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT) to request a printed copy.
    Publication of the ROD formally concludes the NEPA planning process 
for this Proposed Action, acknowledging that the Army will implement 
the adopted mitigation measures as identified in the ROD. The Army will 
implement Alternative 1, including all mitigation measures identified 
in the ROD, as described in the Final EIS.

James W. Satterwhite, Jr.,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-18465 Filed 8-26-21; 8:45 am]
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