Notice of Intent To Prepare Legislative Environmental Impact Statement Regarding Proposed Public Land Withdrawal in Vicinity of Arizona State Route 95, Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, 55414-55415 [2022-19461]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
55414
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 174 / Friday, September 9, 2022 / Notices
standards by purchasing them from
ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor
Drive, P.O. Box C700, West
Conshohocken, PA 19428–2959; phone:
610–832–9585; www.astm.org.
Alternatively, interested parties can
schedule an appointment to inspect
copies of the standards at CPSC’s Office
of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission, 4330 East-West
Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814,
telephone: 301–504–7479; email: cpscos@cpsc.gov.
Comments must be received by
September 23, 2022. Because of the
short statutory time frame Congress
established for the Commission to
consider revised voluntary standards
under section 104(b)(4) of the CPSIA,
CPSC will not consider comments
received after this date.
Alberta E. Mills,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety
Commission.
[FR Doc. 2022–19468 Filed 9–8–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Notice of Intent To Prepare Legislative
Environmental Impact Statement
Regarding Proposed Public Land
Withdrawal in Vicinity of Arizona State
Route 95, Yuma Proving Ground,
Arizona
Department of the Army, DoD.
Notice of intent.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Department of the Army
(Army) intends to prepare a legislative
environmental impact statement (LEIS)
regarding the withdrawal and
reservation for military purposes of
approximately 22,000 acres of public
land now managed by the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM). This
withdrawal and reservation would add
to the existing withdrawal and
reservation for the Army’s Yuma
Proving Ground (YPG), Arizona. It
would improve public safety and meet
testing and training requirements for
advances in Global Positioning System
(GPS)-guided parachute technologies.
The additional land would allow for
higher-altitude parachute releases and
would provide an additional buffer in
case of release-point errors and system
failures. The proposed withdrawal area,
which would extend to Arizona State
Route (SR) 95, would establish SR 95 as
a distinct physical landmark for the
YPG boundary. This notice announces
the beginning of the public comment
process, including public scoping
jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:57 Sep 08, 2022
Jkt 256001
meetings. When the Army submits its
land withdrawal application, BLM will
file a separate Notice of Application for
Withdrawal in the Federal Register. The
LEIS will analyze potential impacts of
the Army’s use of the land. The LEIS
will be transmitted to Congress to
support legislative decision-making
regarding the Army’s request.
DATES: To be considered during the
LEIS process, comments must be
received by December 8, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Please mail written
comments to: Mr. Daniel Steward,
Environmental Sciences Division, U.S.
Army Garrison—Yuma Proving Ground,
301 C St., Bldg. 307, Yuma, AZ 85365.
Please email written comments to:
usarmy.ypg.imcom.mbx.nepa@
army.mil.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Mr.
Daniel Steward, YPG Environmental
Sciences Division, by telephone at (928)
328–2125 or by email at
daniel.m.steward.civ@army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Army
intends to prepare an LEIS to analyze
potential impacts from a possible
legislative withdrawal for military
purposes of approximately 22,000 acres
of public land managed by BLM. The
proposed action involves a withdrawal
and reservation of 21,200 acres of public
land from all forms of appropriation
(such as mining claims) and 800 acres
of federal surface estate (meaning the
subsurface is not included). The land is
needed to improve public safety and
meet testing and training requirements
for advances in parachute technologies.
If enacted into law, the withdrawal
would add to—and be adjacent to—the
829,565 acres withdrawn on July 1,
1952, under Public Land Order 848, as
amended, for use by the Army in
connection with Yuma Test Station
(currently known as YPG). The land
withdrawal the Army is currently
seeking would be for an indefinite
period—i.e., until there is no longer a
military need for the land.
YPG is located in the southwestern
corner of Arizona, near the CaliforniaArizona border. It is bounded by the
Colorado River to the west and the Gila
River to the south. The installation lies
approximately 23 miles northeast of the
city of Yuma, Arizona. A portion is
situated in La Paz County and a portion
is situated in Yuma County. Both
counties are in Arizona. The proposed
withdrawal involves land in each
county. YPG occupies about 1,300
square miles and extends approximately
60 miles north to south and 50 miles
east to west. YPG’s mission is to plan,
conduct, assess, analyze, report, and
support developmental, production, and
PO 00000
Frm 00027
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
operational tests on: medium- and longrange artillery; aircraft target acquisition
equipment and armament; armored
tracked and wheeled vehicles; a variety
of munitions; and parachute systems for
personnel and supplies. YPG also
provides training support to the Army,
DoD, other federal agencies, and
international and commercial
customers.
The purpose of the proposed land
withdrawal is to provide approximately
22,000 acres of additional area for
testing and training at YPG. The Army
requires the additional land as a safety
buffer for testing advanced air delivery
technologies and aviation systems. The
additional land will also allow the
Army to execute more complex air
delivery and tactical scenarios. Higher
altitudes and greater offset distances are
required to test parachute systems’ full
capabilities. Parachute systems need
larger buffer areas (i.e., surface safety
zones) than are currently available. The
surface safety zone is an area in space
and on the ground that provides an
additional buffer in case of error or
failure. Surface safety zones protect
people from being injured by material
dropping from the sky during air
delivery testing and training.
Currently, because of land and
airspace limitations, systems are not
tested to their full capability for altitude
and precision. Higher-elevation and
GPS-guided air delivery methods are
being developed to provide better
support to soldiers and other personnel
in the field. GPS-guided delivery is
designed to ensure payloads arrive at
the intended location while keeping
aircrews and other personnel out of
harm’s way. A payload is a palletized
package of various weights and items,
such as a vehicle, equipment, and/or
supplies. Guided delivery systems
undergoing development require safety
buffers to contain potential testing
errors and failures. The requested
withdrawal area would provide an
additional safety buffer to protect the
public. Without the proposed
withdrawal, drops could land outside
the current YPG boundary. This could
result in injury or death to members of
the public. The land withdrawal would
restrict the public from accessing
hazardous areas, thus reducing the
potential for injuries and death. The
withdrawn land may also be used for
other training and testing activities that
are not known at this time. Such
activities would be subject to additional
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) analysis.
Currently, the boundary between YPG
and BLM land lacks a contiguous
physical landmark demarcating the two
E:\FR\FM\09SEN1.SGM
09SEN1
jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 174 / Friday, September 9, 2022 / Notices
areas, which has led to unintentional
public intrusions onto YPG. The
requested withdrawal area extends to
SR 95. This would establish the
highway as a distinct physical landmark
for the YPG boundary, thereby
improving public safety.
In addition to the proposed action, the
LEIS will analyze a range of alternatives,
including a no-action alternative under
which there would be no additional
land withdrawal and YPG would not
expand its capability. While the
proposed action entails a withdrawal of
land for an indefinite period, action
alternatives could include the
withdrawal and reservation of land for
a shorter duration (e.g., 25 years).
The Army will analyze potential
environmental impacts resulting from
the withdrawal of land from BLM
oversight and from expanding military
capability within the withdrawn area.
The Army will cover possible impacts to
biological and cultural resources in a
separate NEPA analysis before training
and testing begin.
The withdrawal could impact
recreational activities that occasionally
take place on the BLM-managed land
proposed for withdrawal. Recreational
use of the area is currently allowed, but
if Congress withdraws and reserves this
land for YPG, public use would be
subject to the terms of the relevant
legislation and applicable Army
regulations, procedures, and
management plans. Thus, public use
would likely be restricted in some
manner.
The LEIS will also identify mitigation
measures that would reduce or
eliminate any adverse impacts resulting
from the transfer of this land to the
Army’s administrative control. The
environmental analysis will include
coordination with area Native American
Tribes, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, and other federal, state, and
local agencies. The Army is not aware
of any federal or state permits or other
approvals that would be required in
conjunction with a legislative
withdrawal or reservation. The Army is
requesting the withdrawal of
approximately 22,000 acres from all
types of appropriation (such as mining
claims) under federal public land laws.
This administrative activity does not
have the potential to cause effects to
historic properties within the meaning
of 36 CFR part 800.3(a)(1), and is not
subject to further review under Section
106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act.
The Army is the lead agency for the
LEIS and BLM is a cooperating agency.
As a cooperating agency, BLM will join
the Army in the public comment
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:57 Sep 08, 2022
Jkt 256001
process. Both agencies will thereby
fulfill their requirements to inform the
public about the proposed action.
Federal, state, and local agencies, Native
American Tribes, private organizations,
and the public are invited to participate
in the public comment process for the
LEIS by participating in a public
scoping meeting(s) and/or by submitting
written comments. The Army invites
potential alternatives, information, and
analyses relevant to the proposed
action. To be considered, written
comments must be sent no later than
December 8, 2022. Comments may be
mailed to Mr. Daniel Steward,
Environmental Sciences Division, U.S.
Army Garrison—Yuma Proving Ground,
301 C St., Bldg. 307, Yuma, AZ 85365,
or emailed to
usarmy.ypg.imcom.mbx.nepa@
army.mil.
In response to the COVID–19
pandemic and to Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
recommendations for social distancing
and avoiding large public gatherings,
the Army will not hold in-person public
scoping meetings. YPG will instead host
two online/telephonic public scoping
meetings 30 days after publication of
this notice. Specific details regarding
the public scoping meetings will be
announced through local media and on
the YPG LEIS website: https://ypgenvironmental.com/highway-95-landwithdrawal-leis/. Public scoping
materials will also be posted to the YPG
LEIS website.
For those who do not have ready
access to a computer or to the internet,
hard copies of public scoping materials
are available upon request. Any mailed
requests for public scoping materials
must be postmarked no later than
September 29, 2022.
The public will also be invited to
review and comment on the Draft LEIS
when it is released. Public comments
will be considered before proposed
legislation is presented to Congress and
before any decision is made to
implement the proposed action. Actual
and estimated milestone dates are as
follows: BLM published a Notice of
Application for Withdrawal in the
Federal Register on April 4, 2022;
public meetings were held on June 7
and 8, 2022; BLM filed a Notice of
Proposed Withdrawal in the Federal
Register on June 30, 2022. LEIS public
scoping meetings are to be held 30 days
after publication of this Notice of Intent
in the Federal Register; a 90-day public
comment period regarding the Draft
LEIS is expected to start in July 2023;
PO 00000
Frm 00028
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
55415
and the Final LEIS is expected to be
available in February 2024.
James W. Satterwhite Jr.,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022–19461 Filed 9–8–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3711–02–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. CP22–17–000]
Rio Grande LNG, LLC; Notice of
Scoping Period Requesting Comments
on Environmental Issues for the
Proposed Carbon Capture and
Sequestration System Amendment,
and Notice of Public Scoping Sessions
The staff of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) will prepare an
environmental document that will
discuss the environmental impacts of
the Carbon Capture and Sequestration
System Amendment (CCS System
Amendment) involving construction
and operation of facilities by Rio Grande
LNG, LLC (Rio Grande) in Cameron
County, Texas. Rio Grande’s CCS
System Amendment was filed under
section 3 of the Natural Gas Act as an
amendment to its November 22, 2019
Authorization order for the Rio Grande
LNG Terminal.1 The Commission will
use this environmental document in its
decision-making process to determine
whether the CCS System Amendment is
consistent with the public interest.
This notice announces the opening of
the scoping process the Commission
will use to gather input from the public
and interested agencies regarding the
project amendment. As part of the
National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) review process, the Commission
takes into account concerns the public
may have about proposals and the
environmental impacts that could result
from its action whenever it considers
the issuance of an authorization under
Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act. This
gathering of public input is referred to
as ‘‘scoping.’’ The main goal of the
scoping process is to focus the analysis
in the environmental document on the
important environmental issues.
Additional information about the
Commission’s NEPA process is
described below in the NEPA Process
and Environmental Document section of
this notice.
1 Rio Grande LNG, LLC, 169 FERC ¶ 61,131
(2019), order on reh’g, 170 FERC ¶ 61,046 (2020).
E:\FR\FM\09SEN1.SGM
09SEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 174 (Friday, September 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55414-55415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19461]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Notice of Intent To Prepare Legislative Environmental Impact
Statement Regarding Proposed Public Land Withdrawal in Vicinity of
Arizona State Route 95, Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona
AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of the Army (Army) intends to prepare a
legislative environmental impact statement (LEIS) regarding the
withdrawal and reservation for military purposes of approximately
22,000 acres of public land now managed by the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM). This withdrawal and reservation would add to the
existing withdrawal and reservation for the Army's Yuma Proving Ground
(YPG), Arizona. It would improve public safety and meet testing and
training requirements for advances in Global Positioning System (GPS)-
guided parachute technologies. The additional land would allow for
higher-altitude parachute releases and would provide an additional
buffer in case of release-point errors and system failures. The
proposed withdrawal area, which would extend to Arizona State Route
(SR) 95, would establish SR 95 as a distinct physical landmark for the
YPG boundary. This notice announces the beginning of the public comment
process, including public scoping meetings. When the Army submits its
land withdrawal application, BLM will file a separate Notice of
Application for Withdrawal in the Federal Register. The LEIS will
analyze potential impacts of the Army's use of the land. The LEIS will
be transmitted to Congress to support legislative decision-making
regarding the Army's request.
DATES: To be considered during the LEIS process, comments must be
received by December 8, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Please mail written comments to: Mr. Daniel Steward,
Environmental Sciences Division, U.S. Army Garrison--Yuma Proving
Ground, 301 C St., Bldg. 307, Yuma, AZ 85365. Please email written
comments to: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Mr. Daniel Steward, YPG Environmental
Sciences Division, by telephone at (928) 328-2125 or by email at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Army intends to prepare an LEIS to
analyze potential impacts from a possible legislative withdrawal for
military purposes of approximately 22,000 acres of public land managed
by BLM. The proposed action involves a withdrawal and reservation of
21,200 acres of public land from all forms of appropriation (such as
mining claims) and 800 acres of federal surface estate (meaning the
subsurface is not included). The land is needed to improve public
safety and meet testing and training requirements for advances in
parachute technologies. If enacted into law, the withdrawal would add
to--and be adjacent to--the 829,565 acres withdrawn on July 1, 1952,
under Public Land Order 848, as amended, for use by the Army in
connection with Yuma Test Station (currently known as YPG). The land
withdrawal the Army is currently seeking would be for an indefinite
period--i.e., until there is no longer a military need for the land.
YPG is located in the southwestern corner of Arizona, near the
California-Arizona border. It is bounded by the Colorado River to the
west and the Gila River to the south. The installation lies
approximately 23 miles northeast of the city of Yuma, Arizona. A
portion is situated in La Paz County and a portion is situated in Yuma
County. Both counties are in Arizona. The proposed withdrawal involves
land in each county. YPG occupies about 1,300 square miles and extends
approximately 60 miles north to south and 50 miles east to west. YPG's
mission is to plan, conduct, assess, analyze, report, and support
developmental, production, and operational tests on: medium- and long-
range artillery; aircraft target acquisition equipment and armament;
armored tracked and wheeled vehicles; a variety of munitions; and
parachute systems for personnel and supplies. YPG also provides
training support to the Army, DoD, other federal agencies, and
international and commercial customers.
The purpose of the proposed land withdrawal is to provide
approximately 22,000 acres of additional area for testing and training
at YPG. The Army requires the additional land as a safety buffer for
testing advanced air delivery technologies and aviation systems. The
additional land will also allow the Army to execute more complex air
delivery and tactical scenarios. Higher altitudes and greater offset
distances are required to test parachute systems' full capabilities.
Parachute systems need larger buffer areas (i.e., surface safety zones)
than are currently available. The surface safety zone is an area in
space and on the ground that provides an additional buffer in case of
error or failure. Surface safety zones protect people from being
injured by material dropping from the sky during air delivery testing
and training.
Currently, because of land and airspace limitations, systems are
not tested to their full capability for altitude and precision. Higher-
elevation and GPS-guided air delivery methods are being developed to
provide better support to soldiers and other personnel in the field.
GPS-guided delivery is designed to ensure payloads arrive at the
intended location while keeping aircrews and other personnel out of
harm's way. A payload is a palletized package of various weights and
items, such as a vehicle, equipment, and/or supplies. Guided delivery
systems undergoing development require safety buffers to contain
potential testing errors and failures. The requested withdrawal area
would provide an additional safety buffer to protect the public.
Without the proposed withdrawal, drops could land outside the current
YPG boundary. This could result in injury or death to members of the
public. The land withdrawal would restrict the public from accessing
hazardous areas, thus reducing the potential for injuries and death.
The withdrawn land may also be used for other training and testing
activities that are not known at this time. Such activities would be
subject to additional National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
analysis.
Currently, the boundary between YPG and BLM land lacks a contiguous
physical landmark demarcating the two
[[Page 55415]]
areas, which has led to unintentional public intrusions onto YPG. The
requested withdrawal area extends to SR 95. This would establish the
highway as a distinct physical landmark for the YPG boundary, thereby
improving public safety.
In addition to the proposed action, the LEIS will analyze a range
of alternatives, including a no-action alternative under which there
would be no additional land withdrawal and YPG would not expand its
capability. While the proposed action entails a withdrawal of land for
an indefinite period, action alternatives could include the withdrawal
and reservation of land for a shorter duration (e.g., 25 years).
The Army will analyze potential environmental impacts resulting
from the withdrawal of land from BLM oversight and from expanding
military capability within the withdrawn area. The Army will cover
possible impacts to biological and cultural resources in a separate
NEPA analysis before training and testing begin.
The withdrawal could impact recreational activities that
occasionally take place on the BLM-managed land proposed for
withdrawal. Recreational use of the area is currently allowed, but if
Congress withdraws and reserves this land for YPG, public use would be
subject to the terms of the relevant legislation and applicable Army
regulations, procedures, and management plans. Thus, public use would
likely be restricted in some manner.
The LEIS will also identify mitigation measures that would reduce
or eliminate any adverse impacts resulting from the transfer of this
land to the Army's administrative control. The environmental analysis
will include coordination with area Native American Tribes, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, and other federal, state, and local
agencies. The Army is not aware of any federal or state permits or
other approvals that would be required in conjunction with a
legislative withdrawal or reservation. The Army is requesting the
withdrawal of approximately 22,000 acres from all types of
appropriation (such as mining claims) under federal public land laws.
This administrative activity does not have the potential to cause
effects to historic properties within the meaning of 36 CFR part
800.3(a)(1), and is not subject to further review under Section 106 of
the National Historic Preservation Act.
The Army is the lead agency for the LEIS and BLM is a cooperating
agency. As a cooperating agency, BLM will join the Army in the public
comment process. Both agencies will thereby fulfill their requirements
to inform the public about the proposed action. Federal, state, and
local agencies, Native American Tribes, private organizations, and the
public are invited to participate in the public comment process for the
LEIS by participating in a public scoping meeting(s) and/or by
submitting written comments. The Army invites potential alternatives,
information, and analyses relevant to the proposed action. To be
considered, written comments must be sent no later than December 8,
2022. Comments may be mailed to Mr. Daniel Steward, Environmental
Sciences Division, U.S. Army Garrison--Yuma Proving Ground, 301 C St.,
Bldg. 307, Yuma, AZ 85365, or emailed to
[email protected].
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention recommendations for social distancing and
avoiding large public gatherings, the Army will not hold in-person
public scoping meetings. YPG will instead host two online/telephonic
public scoping meetings 30 days after publication of this notice.
Specific details regarding the public scoping meetings will be
announced through local media and on the YPG LEIS website: https://ypg-environmental.com/highway-95-land-withdrawal-leis/. Public scoping
materials will also be posted to the YPG LEIS website.
For those who do not have ready access to a computer or to the
internet, hard copies of public scoping materials are available upon
request. Any mailed requests for public scoping materials must be
postmarked no later than September 29, 2022.
The public will also be invited to review and comment on the Draft
LEIS when it is released. Public comments will be considered before
proposed legislation is presented to Congress and before any decision
is made to implement the proposed action. Actual and estimated
milestone dates are as follows: BLM published a Notice of Application
for Withdrawal in the Federal Register on April 4, 2022; public
meetings were held on June 7 and 8, 2022; BLM filed a Notice of
Proposed Withdrawal in the Federal Register on June 30, 2022. LEIS
public scoping meetings are to be held 30 days after publication of
this Notice of Intent in the Federal Register; a 90-day public comment
period regarding the Draft LEIS is expected to start in July 2023; and
the Final LEIS is expected to be available in February 2024.
James W. Satterwhite Jr.,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-19461 Filed 9-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3711-02-P
