Department of the Navy August 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321-4370h); the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508); Department of the Navy (DoN) Procedures for Implementing NEPA (32 CFR Part 775); and Marine Corps NEPA directives (Marine Corps Order P5090.2A), the DoN, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Bureau of Reclamation, has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a Draft Legislative Environmental Impact Statement (LEIS) that evaluates the potential environmental consequences that may result from renewing the withdrawal of approximately 228,465 acres of public land for continued use as part of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (CMAGR) in Imperial and Riverside counties, California. With the filing of the Draft LEIS, the United States Marine Corps (USMC) is initiating a 90-day public comment period and has scheduled four public meetings to receive oral and written comments on the Draft LEIS. Federal, state, and local agencies; Native American tribes; and interested parties are encouraged to provide comments in person at any of the public meetings, or in writing anytime during the public comment period. This notice announces the dates and locations of the public meetings and provides supplementary information about the environmental planning effort. These public meetings also meet the requirement set forth in Section 806 of the California Desert Protection Act for the Secretary of the Navy to hold a public hearing in the State of California to receive public comments on the Draft LEIS.

The Department of the Navy, after carefully weighing the operational, scientific, technical, and environmental implications of the alternatives considered, announces its decision to employ up to four Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) sonar systems with certain geographical restrictions and monitoring mitigation designed to reduce potential adverse effects on the marine environment. This decision, which pertains to the employment of up to four SURTASS LFA sonar systems (as originally analyzed in the 2001 Final Overseas Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Statement [FOEIS/EIS] for SURTASS LFA Sonar) initially augmented in the 2007 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement [FSEIS]), and further augmented on the 2012 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS/SOEIS) implements the preferred alternative, Alternative 2, identified in the 2012 FSEIS/SOEIS for SURTASS LFA sonar.

The Department of the Navy (DoN) is extending the public comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Proposed Modernization and Expansion of Townsend Bombing Range (TBR), Georgia (GA) until September 27, 2012. A Notice of Availability (NOA) and a Notice of Public Meetings (NOPMs) for the Draft EIS were published in the Federal Register on Friday, July 13, 2012 (Federal Register/Vol. 77, No. 135, Pages 41385-41387 (NOPMs) and Page 41403 (NOA)). Those notices announced the initial public comment period, including public meetings that took place on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 and Thursday, August 9, 2012, and provided additional information on the background and scope of the Draft EIS. The initial public comment period requested the submission of all comments on the Draft EIS to the DoN by August 27, 2012. The DoN is extending the public comment period until September 27, 2012.

Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and regulations implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 1500- 1508), and in accordance with the requirements of the California Military Lands Withdrawal and Overflights Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-433, part of the California Desert Protection Act), the Department of the Navy (DoN), in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Legislative Environmental Impact Statement (LEIS). Separately, and in accordance with the Engle Act of 1958 (Pub. L. 85-337) and 43 CFR part 2310, the DoN submitted a land withdrawal renewal application to BLM. The Draft EIS/LEIS evaluates the potential environmental effects associated with the proposed Congressional reauthorization of the current land withdrawal of approximately 1.03 million acres of public land in Kern, Inyo, and San Bernardino counties, California. The proposed 25-year withdrawal would comprise the current North and South ranges at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWSCL), California. The Draft EIS/LEIS also addresses an increase of up to 25 percent in the tempo of military activity within current land use areas approved for designated uses, and the implementation of an update of the installation's Comprehensive Land Use Management Plan (CLUMP). The proposed action would enable the DoN to meet its mission to support state-of-the-art air warfare weapons systems testing and evaluation, and the readiness of the military services, using existing facilities and infrastructure, and on safe, operationally realistic, and instrumented land ranges. With the filing of the Draft EIS/LEIS and submission of the application to renew the public land withdrawal, the DoN and BLM are initiating a 90-day public comment period and have scheduled three public open house meetings to receive oral and written comments on the Draft EIS/LEIS and the proposed renewal of the public land withdrawal. This notice announces the dates and locations of the public meetings and provides supplementary information. Dates and Addresses: The 90-day public comment period for the Draft EIS/LEIS began on August 10, 2012 and will end on November 8, 2012. The DoN and BLM will hold three public meetings, using an open house format, to inform the public about the Draft EIS/LEIS and the public land withdrawal renewal process. Representatives from the DoN and BLM will be available to discuss and answer questions on the proposed action and alternatives, the land withdrawal renewal, the environmental planning process, and the findings presented in the Draft EIS/LEIS. Public open house meetings will be held at each location between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on the following dates: 1. Tuesday, October 2, 2012, SpringHill Suites, 113 East Sydnor Avenue, Ridgecrest, California 93555. 2. Wednesday, October 3, 2012, Trona Community Senior Center, 13187 Market Street, Trona, California 93562. 3. Thursday, October 4, 2012, Statham Hall, 138 North Jackson Street, Lone Pine, California 93545. Federal, state and local agencies and officials, and interested groups and individuals are encouraged to provide oral or written comments in person at any of the public meetings. A stenographer will be present to transcribe oral comments. Comments also may be submitted in writing anytime during the public comment period to: Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, ATTN: NAWSCL Land Withdrawal Renewal EIS/LEIS Project Manager (Mr. Gene Beale), 1220 Pacific Highway, San Diego, California 92132-5190. In addition, comments may be submitted any time during the public comment period via the project Web site: https://www.chinalakeleis.com. All statements, whether oral, oral transcription, written, or submitted via the web site during the public review period will become part of the public record on the Draft EIS/LEIS and be considered in preparing the Final EIS/LEIS if postmarked or received by November 8, 2012.