[Federal Register: August 24, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 164)]
[Notices]
[Page 48620-48621]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24au07-40]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Notice of Availability of the Draft Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement (DPEIS) for Army Growth and Force Structure
Realignment
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
DPEIS for the growth and realignment of the U.S. Army. Pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of the Army
has prepared a DPEIS that evaluates the potential environmental and
socioeconomic effects associated with alternatives for growing and
realigning the Army's force structure. Potential impacts have been
analyzed at installations which are being considered for the stationing
of 1,000 or more Soldiers in efforts to grow and realign the Army.
DATES: Written comments on the DPEIS will be accepted for 45 days
following the publication of a Notice of Availability in the Federal
Register by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
ADDRESSES: Send all written comments and suggestions concerning this
DPEIS to: Public Affairs Office, U.S. Army Environmental Command,
Building E4460, Attention: IMAE-PA, 5179 Hoadley Road, Aberdeen Proving
Ground, MD 21010-5401. Comments may also be sent to:
PublicComments@aec.apgea.army.mil.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Public Affairs Office at (410) 436-
2556; facsimile at (410) 436-1693 (during normal business hours Monday
through Friday).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Proposed Action and analysis within the
DPEIS covers those activities needed to increase the Army's end
strength and realign its force structure from Fiscal Year 2008 through
Fiscal Year 2013 to a size and composition that is better
[[Page 48621]]
able to meet national security and defense requirements. The Proposed
Action involves stationing decisions to align Army forces in support of
military transformation, unit equipment and training readiness, and
Soldier and Family quality of life needs. To implement the Proposed
Action, new units must be stationed at locations that are able to
accommodate unit training, garrison operations, maintenance activities,
and Soldiers and their Families. In addition, final stationing
locations must support the strategic deployment and mobilization
requirements of the nation's Combatant Commanders to ensure they will
have the forces necessary to support regional contingency operations
and planning requirements.
The current global security environment is turbulent,
unpredictable, and rapidly changing. It has placed considerable demands
on the nation's military, and highlighted the need for the Army to
correct shortfalls in high-demand skills while conducting a thorough
assessment of its force capabilities. No one has felt the impacts from
the increased demands of the modern security environment more than the
Soldiers and Families of the U.S. Armed Forces. To meet the challenges
posed by a wider range of security threats present in the 21st century,
the Army requires the growth and restructuring of its forces in order
to sustain the broad range of operations needed to ensure national and
global stability.
The DPEIS is being prepared to comply with NEPA (42 U.S.C. and et
seq.) and meet Army NEPA procedures, which are outlined in
Environmental Analysis of Army Actions (32 CFR Part 651). These
regulations require the Army to consider the environmental and
socioeconomic impacts of its proposed action and alternatives and to
solicit the views of the public, so it can make an informed final
decision regarding how to proceed.
The DPEIS examines major Army training installations and their
ability to support new unit stationing actions in connection with the
growth and realignment of the U.S. Army. The DPEIS will provide the
Army senior leadership with a hard look at environmental and
socioeconomic impacts associated with the Proposed Action and inform
the decision-making process for selecting the final stationing
locations for new units. This effort includes analysis of specific
actions that will need to be taken (such as the construction of housing
and quality of life facilities, the construction of new training ranges
and infrastructure, and changes in the intensity of use of maneuver
land and firing ranges) to station new units as part of the Army's
overall efforts to grow and realign the force.
After reviewing a full range of alternatives sites, 17
installations capable of supporting the Army's growth and realignment
have been evaluated for their ability to support three action
alternatives. The installations carried forward for analysis include:
Fort Benning, GA; Fort Bragg, NC; Fort Bliss, TX; Fort Campbell, KY;
Fort Carson, CO; Fort Drum, NY; Fort Hood, TX; Fort Hunter-Liggett, CA;
Fort Irwin, CA; Fort Knox, KY; Fort Lewis, WA; Fort Polk, LA; Fort
Riley, KS; Fort Stewart, GA; White Sands Missile Range, NM; Yakima
Training Center, WA; and Yuma Proving Grounds, AZ. Each of these
installations could receive 1,000 or more additional Soldiers as part
of alternatives being examined.
Alternatives carried forward for analysis in the DPEIS include; (1)
Implementing Army force structure modifications between Fiscal Years
2008 and 2013 to support the Army's Modular transformation and Global
Defense Posture Review (GDPR) decisions; (2) Executing those actions
discussed as part of Alternative 1 and, in addition, adding
approximately 30,000 Combat Support (CS) and Combat Service Support
(CSS) Soldiers to the Army to address critical shortfalls in high
demand military skills in both Active Army and Reserve components; (3)
Executing those actions proposed in Alternatives 1 and 2 and, in
addition, grow the Army by up to 6 Active Duty Brigade Combat Teams
(BCTs). Additional BCTs would be stationed at existing or newly
established Army stationing locations within the continental United
States. In addition to these alternatives, the No Action Alternative is
described and its impacts are fully assessed and considered.
Analysis within the DPEIS covers those activities required to
implement unit stationing actions associated with Army growth and
realignment. Site-specific actions which will need to be taken include
the construction of housing and quality of life facilities (i.e.,
gymnasiums, hospitals, shopping areas), the construction of new
training ranges and infrastructure, and changes in the intensity of use
of maneuver land and firing ranges associated with the increased
frequency of training events. Stationing decisions made as part of this
effort will also consider strategic military and national security
considerations, New stationing actions must take place at locations
which, if selected, are capable of supporting the National Security
Strategy (2006), the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR, 2006), National
Military Strategy, and the Army Campaign Plan (ACP).
Direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the Proposed Action
have been considered in the DPEIS. The DPEIS identifies the
environmental and socioeconomic impacts associated with various unit
stationing actions at each of the 17 installations carried forward for
analysis. Impacts at sites would result from construction and training
activities related to the growth and realignment of Army forces.
Significant impacts to resources could be direct and long term.
Decisions from the PEIS will be tiered into site-specific NEPA analysis
at the installation level as specific stationing decisions are
determined. The DPEIS will provide Army planners and decision makers
with critical and timely information on the capacity and condition of
each of the installation's environmental and socioeconomic resources
preceding specific stationing actions. The No Action Alternative
provides the baseline conditions for comparison to proposed
alternatives. Additional concerns or impacts may be identified as a
result of comments received on the DPEIS.
The Army invites full public participation to promote open
communication and better decision making. All persons and organizations
that have an interest in the growth and realignment of the Army's
forces and associated stationing actions are invited to participate in
this NEPA evaluation process. Assistance will be provided upon request
to anyone having difficulty understanding how to participate.
The availability of the PDEIS for public comment will also be
announced through notices and national and local media news releases.
Information on the DPEIS will be posted on the U.S. Army Environmental
Command's Web site (http://www.aec.army.mil) for public access during the
public comment period.
Dated: August 15, 2007.
Addison D. Davis, IV,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Environment, Safety and
Occupational Health).
[FR Doc. 07-4149 Filed 8-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M