Navy Department September 5, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice is to inform the public that the Department of the Navy is expanding the Virginia Capes (VACAPES) Range Complex Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (EIS/OEIS) area of consideration and to invite the public to provide comments for consideration during preparation of the EIS/OEIS. Since the December 2006 EIS/OEIS scoping notice [FR 71143], potential shallow water inert mine warfare training areas have been identified in the southern portion of the Chesapeake Bay, south of latitude 37[deg] 25'N. The proposed training areas would consist of instrumented shapes placed temporarily for training purposes. Each of the two proposed training areas would be approximately one by four square nautical miles in area. Training in these mine warfare areas would not involve use of active sonar. Arrangement could vary periodically and location within the proposed training areas would vary depending on operational requirements; however shipping lanes will be avoided. Divers will be required to perform periodic maintenance and replacement of the instrumented shapes. Scoping comments previously submitted following publication of the December 2006 Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/OEIS for the VACAPES Range Complex are still valid and need not be resubmitted. The Navy encourages additional comments or concerns on the expanded area of consideration. VACAPES Range Complex requirements, additional EIS/OEIS information, proposed action background, alternatives, environmental considerations, and public participation inputs can be found at https:// www.vacapesrangecomplexeis.com. More detailed information regarding this notice of intent can be found on the project Web site.

The Naval Research Advisory Committee (NRAC) will meet to discuss classified information from government organizations and proprietary information from commercial organizations. All sessions of the September 26 Plenary Session will be devoted to briefings and discussions focusing on emerging threats posed by potential adversaries, the exploitation of physical vulnerabilities and the tactical applications of known and emerging technologies. These sessions will also include proprietary information regarding technology applications and systems under development in the private sector between competing companies. In addition, these sessions will focus on the assessment of the emerging concepts of operations in each of these areas and evaluate appropriate options in such areas as: Training, S&T funding allocation, technology monitoring, and progress assessments; and probable time frames for transformation and implementation. Furthermore, these sessions will identify, review, and assess challenges with the utilization and fielding of various technology applications. All sessions on September 27 will be open to the public except for the meeting period from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. dealing with the security and counterintelligence briefing which will involve discussions of security policies and procedures classified at the SECRET level.