[Federal Register: March 14, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 49)]
[Notices]
[Page 11849-11850]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14mr07-29]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS) for Base Realignment and Closure Actions at Aberdeen Proving
Ground, MD
AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA).
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army announces the availability of a
DEIS that
[[Page 11850]]
evaluates the potential environmental impacts associated with
realignment actions directed by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
Commission at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
DATES: The public comment period for the DEIS will end 45 days after
publication of an NOA in the Federal Register by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
ADDRESSES: Please send written comments on the DEIS to Mr. Buddy Keesee
at: Department of the Army, Directorate of Safety, Health, and
Environment, Attention: IMNE-APG-SHE-R (Bud Keesee), Building 5650,
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005-5001 or via e-mail at
Buddy.Keesee@us.army.mil.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Keesee at (410) 278-6755 during
normal business hours Monday through Friday.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Proposed Action and subject of the DEIS
covers construction and renovation activities and the movement of
personnel associated with the BRAC directed realignment of Aberdeen
Proving Ground.
To implement the BRAC recommendations, Aberdeen Proving Ground will
be receiving personnel, equipment, and missions from various
realignment and closure actions within the Department of Defense. To
implement the BRAC Commission recommendations, the Army will provide
the necessary facilities/buildings and infrastructure to support the
changes. Permanent facilities will be constructed or renovated to house
the: Army Research Institute, Army Research Laboratory, Army Test and
Evaluation Command, Joint Program Executive Office--Chemical Biological
Defense, Walter Reed Army Institute for Research (Medical Research
Institute of Chemical Defense), Communications--Electronics Life Cycle
Management Command, Communications--Electronics Research Development
and Engineering Center, and other units and activities.
All the major planning, engineering, and siting analyses for the
incoming BRAC actions at the Aberdeen Proving Ground are essentially
complete, however, final design features continue to be reviewed. The
DEIS shows areas within which potential construction and/or renovation
will occur; although, the exact footprints, in many cases, have not yet
been determined. The DEIS analyzes the potential impacts within these
developmental areas.
Following a rigorous examination of all implementation
alternatives, those alternatives found not to be viable were dropped
from further analyses in the DEIS. Alternatives carried forward include
the Proposed Alternative and a No Action Alternative. The Proposed
Alternative includes construction, renovation, and operation of
proposed facilities to accommodate incoming military missions at
Aberdeen Proving Ground as mandated by the 2005 BRAC recommendations.
Minor alternative siting variations of proposed facilities were also
evaluated. The DEIS addresses existing environmental resources likely
to be affected by the Proposed Action, including those resources areas
identified during the public scoping process. Implementation of the
Proposed Alternative will result in significant impacts to
transportation and socioeconomic factors. Depending on the final siting
of some facilities, there is the potential for significant impacts to
cultural resources due to adverse effects resulting from the
disturbance or destruction of certain sites and buildings during
renovation and construction activities. Impacts to these cultural
resources would be direct, long-term, and significant.
No other significant beneficial or significant adverse impacts have
been identified for land use, aesthetics and visual resources, air
quality, noise, geology and soil, water resources, biological
resources, utilities, or hazardous and toxic substances. The No Action
Alternative provides the baseline conditions for comparison to the
Proposed Alternative.
The Army invites the general public, local governments, other
federal agencies, and state agencies to submit written comments or
suggestions concerning the alternatives and analyses addressed in the
DEIS. An electronic version of the DEIS is available for download on
the U.S. Army BRAC Division Web site at: http://www.hdqa.army.mil/acsim/brac/nepa_eis_docs.htm.
The public and government agencies are
invited to participate in a public meeting where oral and written
comments and suggestions will be received.
Public meetings are scheduled for April 10, 2007 from 6 p.m. to 8
p.m. at the Ramada Inn Conference Center, 1700 Van Bibber Road,
Edgewood, Maryland, and April 11, 2007 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the
Holiday Inn, 1007 Beards Hill Road, Aberdeen, Maryland.
Dated: March 7, 2007.
Addison D. Davis, IV,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, (Environment, Safety and
Occupational Health).
[FR Doc. 07-1192 Filed 3-13-07; 8:45 am]
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