Department of the Army March 13, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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).