Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement for Training and Public Land Withdrawal Extension, Fort Irwin, California, 20869-20871 [2023-07321]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• Department of the Army

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 67 (Friday, April 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20869-20871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07321]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement for Training and 
Public Land Withdrawal Extension, Fort Irwin, California

AGENCY: Department of the Army, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army announces the availability of the 
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Training and Public Land 
Withdrawal Extension, Fort Irwin, California. In accordance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the EIS analyzes the 
potential environmental effects resulting from modernization of 
training activities and improvement of training facilities at the 
National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California. The Army also 
is issuing this notice to inform the public that the EIS will serve as 
a Legislative Environmental Impact Statement (LEIS) to support the 
extension of the public land withdrawal for portions of Fort Irwin. The 
Army will execute a Record of Decision (ROD) for the modernization of 
training activities and improvement of training facilities portion of 
the proposed action no sooner than 30 calendar days from the date of 
publication in the Federal Register of the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA's) Notice of Availability of the Final LEIS.

ADDRESSES: The Final LEIS may be viewed at the following locations: (1) 
Barstow Public Library, 304 East Buena Vista Street, Barstow, CA 92311; 
(2) Fort Irwin NTC Post Library, 2nd Street Building 331, Fort Irwin, 
CA 92310; (3) Fort Irwin Environmental Division Directorate of Public 
Works, 5th Street Building 381, Fort Irwin, CA 92310. The Final LEIS 
also is available as an electronic file on the Fort Irwin EIS website: 
https://aec.army.mil/index.php/irwin-nepa-meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fort Irwin Public Affairs Office, 
Renita Wickes at 760-380-4511, Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 
4:00 p.m., or via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fort Irwin comprises approximately 753,537 
acres in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County in southern 
California. The NTC at Fort Irwin provides combined arms training for 
Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), including the Army's Stryker BCTs and 
Armored BCTs. Training also is provided for Marine Corps, Navy, Air 
Force, Army Reserve, National Guard units, and law enforcement 
organizations, as well as units stationed at Fort Irwin. Fort Irwin is 
one of the few places in the world where brigade-size units (5,000+ 
soldiers) can test their combat readiness due to Fort Irwin's size, 
design, and terrain.
    Fort Irwin's mission is to train visiting Army units and joint, 
interagency, and multinational partners to fight and win in a complex 
world. Fort Irwin must also take care of soldiers, civilians, and 
family members. To achieve this mission, NTC designs and executes

[[Page 20870]]

training exercises that prepare brigade-level units for operational 
deployments. The capacity is needed at NTC to conduct up to 12 BCT 
training rotations per year.
    The Final LEIS analyzes the potential effects from the 
modernization of training, the improvement of training infrastructure, 
and the extension of the existing public land withdrawal. Training 
changes are required to support new training doctrine that focuses on 
large Army formations operating against near-peer adversaries. 
Improvements need to be made to infrastructure in order to adjust 
training to reflect evolving weapon systems capabilities and new 
mission requirements.
    Approximately 110,000 acres of Fort Irwin training land is public 
land that has been withdrawn from all types of appropriation and 
reserved for military purposes under Public Law 107-107 (2001). This 
public land withdrawal terminates on December 28, 2026. The Army has 
identified a continuing military need for the land beyond the 
termination date and intends to request that the U.S. Congress extend 
the withdrawal for at least 25 years, or in the alternative, for an 
indefinite period until there is no longer a military need for the 
land. The U.S. Army proposed action is to implement changes to training 
activities and training infrastructure at Fort Irwin. These actions 
would be undertaken to meet current doctrinal standards, including the 
National Defense Strategy, Army Regulation (AR) 350-1, Army Training 
and Leader Development; AR 350-52, Training Support System; AR 350-50, 
Combat Training Center Program; and AR 200-1, Environmental Protection 
and Enhancement. Actions proposed include the establishment of, and 
improvements to, training infrastructure such as trail networks, 
communications systems, radar systems, training areas, urban training 
sites, air operations infrastructure, and live-fire ranges.
    The Final LEIS analyzes a range of Proposed Mission Change 
Alternatives, a No Mission Change Alternative, a Withdrawal Extension 
Alternative, and a No Withdrawal Extension Alternative.
     Mission Change Alternatives: The Mission Change 
Alternatives represent different magnitudes of change in training and 
training infrastructure. For Fort Irwin's Western Training Area, the 
Final LEIS considers a range of medium to heavy-intensity training 
alternatives.
     No Mission Change Alternative: The No Mission Change 
Alternative would continue military training at the current level and 
would result in no modernization of training or improvement of training 
infrastructure at Fort Irwin. The Army is the decision maker regarding 
the mission change alternatives.
     No Withdrawal Extension Alternative: The No Withdrawal 
Extension Alternative would result in portions of the installation land 
returning to the public domain.
    Upon an application by the Army, the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) will file in the Federal Register a separate notice of withdrawal 
extension application. The Final EIS will be submitted to the U.S. 
Congress as an LEIS to support the legislative request for extension of 
this withdrawal and reservation.
    All military activities under consideration would be conducted 
within the existing boundaries of the installation, to include the 
withdrawn land. The Final LEIS evaluates the potential direct, 
indirect, and cumulative environmental and socioeconomic effects of the 
proposed action. Adverse effects would be minimized to the greatest 
extent possible through the implementation of specified avoidance, 
minimization, and mitigation measures.
    The resource areas and effects analyzed in the Final LEIS include 
air quality, transportation, noise, water resources, geological 
resources, biological resources, cultural resources, utilities, land 
use, recreation, health and safety, hazardous materials, and waste. 
Resources may be affected by changing the scope or increasing the 
geographical area of military training activities within the current 
Fort Irwin boundaries. The analysis also considers the potential for 
cumulative environmental effects.
    Both the Mission Change Alternatives and the No Mission Change 
Alternative would result in unavoidable environmental effects.
     No Mission Change Alternative: Under the No Mission Change 
Alternative, there would be less-than-significant effects on all 
evaluated resources. The mission change alternatives would result in 
minor to moderate adverse effects that would be in addition to the 
effects of the No Mission Change Alternative; however, none of the 
effects would be significant.
     Withdrawal Extension Alternative: The environmental 
effects from the Withdrawal Extension Alternative would be comparable 
to those discussed for the mission change alternatives.
     No Withdrawal Extension Alternative: While the effects of 
the No Withdrawal Extension Alternative are uncertain, because of the 
unknown future uses of these areas if Army training is not conducted on 
the land, it is expected that the No Withdrawal Extension Alternative 
would result in negligible effects on resources compared to the effects 
of the Withdrawal Extension Alternative.
    Fort Irwin met its obligations to consult under Section 106 of the 
National Historic Preservation Act concurrently with this NEPA process 
through the development of a Programmatic Agreement in consultation 
with the State Historic Preservation Office, the Advisory Council on 
Historic Preservation, other government agencies, Native American 
Tribes, and the public. The Programmatic Agreement was completed on 
December 15, 2022 and is provided as an appendix to the Draft LEIS.
    Fort Irwin has completed consultation under section 7 of the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA) with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
regarding the proposed activities. The biological opinion (BO) that 
resulted from this consultation was issued by the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service on December 13, 2021, and concludes that the proposed 
actions are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of 
endangered or threatened species. Consultation identified appropriate 
measures that are specified in the BO and that will be implemented by 
Fort Irwin to avoid or minimize effects of the activities. Fort Irwin 
will comply with the ESA and implement the measures that are specified 
in the BO. The BO is provided as an appendix to the Draft LEIS.
    The Department of the Army considered all comments received on the 
Draft LEIS when preparing the Final LEIS. Based on the analysis in the 
Final LEIS, the Army's preferred alternative consists of: the full 
Mission Change Alternative with Alternative 4 applied to the Western 
Training Area; and a request that Congress extend the land withdrawal 
for 25 years, or for an indefinite period until there is no longer a 
military need for the land.
    Federal, State, and local agencies, Native Americans, Native 
American organizations, and the public were invited to be involved in 
the public comment process for the Draft LEIS by submitting written 
comments. The Draft LEIS was published on May 21, 2021, and the comment 
period closed on July 6, 2021. The NEPA Process included two public 
meetings conducted telephonically on June 9, 2021. Responses to 
comments on the Draft EIS are included in an appendix to the Final EIS.
    The BLM will organize public participation following the 
publication

[[Page 20871]]

of its notice of application for extension of the public land 
withdrawal.

James W. Satterwhite Jr.,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-07321 Filed 4-6-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3711-02-P