Army Department March 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hereby cancels its Notice of Intent to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement as published in FR, Vol. 66, No. 105, Pages 29557 and 29558, May 31, 2001.

The Sierra Vista Landowner Group proposes to implement a large-scale, mixed-use, mixed-density master planned community with residential, commercial, office, public/quasi-public, and open space land uses, and parks. The Sierra Vista Specific Plan would include approximately 1,148 acres of residential uses; 281 acres of commercial, office, and commercial-mixed uses; 162 acres of parks and paseos; 83 acres of public/quasi-public land uses; 31 acres of urban reserve; and 190 acres of roadways and landscape corridors. The Specific Plan would also include 244 acres of open space; of these, 38 acres would be graded as part of the project and the remaining 206 acres would be preservation areas. The Specific Plan would include 9,995 dwelling units (in a mix of low, medium, and high densities) and approximately 2,419,113 square feet of retail and office uses. The project would also provide four elementary schools, one middle school, and a fire station. The proposed project is expected to generate about 25,219 new residents and 5,821 jobs. It is anticipated that construction would begin in spring 2010. The duration of construction would depend on market conditions; full buildout would likely be completed within 20 years from construction commencement. The proposed project site is approximately 2,138 acres and contains 51.87 acres of waters of the United States. The project, as proposed, would result in direct impacts to approximately 37.74 acres of waters of the United States. These acreages do not include indirect impacts from the proposed action or impacts anticipated to result from offsite infrastructure that may be determined to be required as part of the project through the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate approximately a 16- mile reach of the Santa Ana River along the southern boundary of the City of San Bernardino and the northern boundary of the City of Redlands located in San Bernardino County, CA. The focus will be on watershed improvements by developing alternatives for ecosystem restoration, and incorporating flood risk management features in some areas in downtown San Bernardino and Redlands. The restoration project will concentrate on revitalization of the riparian vegetation community; establish environmental corridor to benefit wildlife and sensitive species; and address flood risk management uses. The portion of the Santa Ana River to be studied is located entirely within San Bernardino County, CA.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), San Francisco District, the Port of Stockton, and the Contra Costa County Water Agency are preparing an Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) to evaluate the efficiency of the movement of goods along the existing deep draft navigation route extending from the San Francisco Bay to the Port of Stockton. The proposed action consists of altering the depth of the deep draft navigation route. The authority for the San Francisco Bay to Stockton Navigation Improvement Project was provided under House Document 208, House Report 89-973 cited in Section 301 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1965, Pub. L. 89-298, Sec. 204, 79 Stat. 1073. This is a notice of intent to prepare an EIS/ EIR, and to consider all reasonable alternatives, evaluate potential impacts of the proposed action, and identify appropriate mitigation measures.

The Army intends to prepare an SPEIS in order to evaluate the relative environmental and socioeconomic impacts of support operations growth in the Pacific Theater as it transforms and aligns its forces to address existing capabilities shortfalls. As part of Army growth, this evaluation will be conducted to supplement the analysis and decisions that were included in the PEIS for Grow the Army (for continental U.S. (CONUS) locations), which was completed in January 2008. The Army will use the SPEIS analysis to evaluate and compare the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of alternatives for implementing its Proposed Action. The Army's Proposed Action is to grow, realign, and transform its forces to support operations in the Pacific Theater and to ensure the proper capabilities exist to sustain operations in promoting global and national security now and into the foreseeable future. The implementation of the Proposed Action is needed to better meet military operational and national security requirements and the needs of the Army's Soldiers and their Families. The SPEIS will assess the capacity of Army installations and their ability to accommodate new units as part of Army growth and force structure realignment to support operations in the Pacific Theater. Alternatives in the SPEIS could include stationing of additional Combat Support (CS) or Combat Service Support (CSS) units or new support brigades. The following alternatives will be analyzed in the SPEIS: (1) Grow, transform, and realign forces by stationing approximately 5,000 additional CS/CSS Soldiers in reasonable locations that support operations in the Pacific Theater; (2) Grow, transform, and realign forces by stationing approximately 7,500 additional CS/CSS Soldiers in reasonable locations that support operations in the Pacific Theater and (3) Grow, transform, and realign forces by stationing approximately 10,000 additional CS/CSS Soldiers in reasonable locations that support operations in the Pacific Theater. The SPEIS will evaluate different stationing scenarios in reasonable locations, which may include Army installations in the CONUS, Hawaii and Alaska with the capability to support operations in the Pacific Theater. In addition to the above alternatives, the No Action Alternative will be considered and used as a baseline for comparison of alternatives. The No Action Alternative is to retain the U. S. Army forces in the Pacific in their current end strength and force structure. The No Action Alternative includes those stationing decisions which have already been made to include stationing actions directed by Base Realignment and Closure legislation in 2005, Army Global Defense Posture Realignment, and Army Modular Forces initiatives. The No Action Alternative is not a viable means for meeting the current and future strategic security and defense requirements of the nation. The SPEIS will analyze the Proposed Action's impacts upon the natural, cultural, and man-made environments at those stationing locations which are capable of supporting the needs of the Army and its Soldiers and Families. Viable alternatives include those stationing locations that are able to meet Army unit requirements for training ranges and maneuver space, housing and office space, maintenance and vehicle parking, and Soldier and Family quality of life (e.g., schools, gyms, medical facilities). In addition, viable alternatives must meet the operational mission requirements of the Pacific Command (PACOM).

Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (as amended), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, Regulatory Division (Corps), in coordination with the California Department of Fish and Game, Habitat Conservation Planning, South Coast Region (Department), has completed a Draft Program Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the San Diego Creek Watershed Special Area Management Plan (SAMP)/ Watershed Streambed Alteration Agreement (WSAA) Process. The San Diego Creek Watershed SAMP is a plan, which is comprised of the following elements: an Analytical Framework for Corps and Department decisionmaking; modified, watershed-specific permitting processes, including watershed- and resource-based permitting protocols and a mitigation framework for the Corps and the Department; a Strategic Mitigation Plan, which is based upon a riparian ecosystem restoration plan; a Mitigation Coordination Program to achieve implementation of the Strategic Mitigation Plan and foster a coordinated approach to aquatic resource management in the Watershed; and an implementation plan for the SAMP. The SAMP establishes alternative (aquatic resource- based and watershed-specific) permitting procedures for projects within the San Diego Creek Watershed that will alter the bed, bank or channel of rivers, streams, and lakes and associated riparian habitats under the Department's jurisdiction, and discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States subject to the Corps jurisdiction. The SAMP permitting procedures will improve the capacity of the Corps and the Department to evaluate such projects, as compared to the process each agency would normally follow in permitting such projects on a case-by-case basis.

In accordance with 37 CFR 404.6, announcement is made of the availability for licensing of U.S. Patent No. U.S. 7,298,244 entitled ``NBC Marker Light'' issued November 20, 2007. This patent has been assigned to the United States Government as represented by the Secretary of the Army.