[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 190 (Tuesday, September 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56857-56858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22934]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2008-0991]
Proposed Modernization of the Coast Guard; Final Programmatic
Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of Final Programmatic Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces the availability of the Final
Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for Coast Guard
modernization. Based on the PEA's analysis and the mitigation plan
committed to in the PEA, the Coast Guard determined that an
environmental impact statement is not required, and a Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI) has been issued for the proposed action.
Availability: Electronic copies of the Final PEA and FONSI, as well
as comments received on the Draft PEA and FONSI, are available from the
Federal Docket Management Facility at Internet Web site address: http://www.regulations.gov using the docket number USCG-2008-0991.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice,
please contact Ms. Kebby Kelley, USCG, telephone (202) 475-5690, e-
mail: [email protected], or Mr. Frank Esposito, USCG, telephone
(202) 372-3746, e-mail: [email protected]. If you have
questions on viewing the docket, please call Ms. Renee Wright, Program
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as implemented by the Council on
Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the Coast
Guard prepared a Final PEA and FONSI for the Proposed Modernization of
the Coast Guard.
Response to Comments
On August 15, 2008, the Coast Guard initiated a 30-day public
comment period with publication of a Notice of Availability of the
Proposed Modernization of the Coast Guard Draft PEA in the Federal
Register (73 FR 47959). The Coast Guard received 23 public comments
during this period.
Summary of Comments and the USCG Responses
Many of the 23 separate comments either acknowledged receipt or
noted approval of the Coast Guard's modernization proposal. The
remaining comments fell into the following four groups.
Several comments focused on the managerial philosophy and
motivation of the Coast Guard in proposing this modernization. While
these comments are useful to decision makers, they are not relevant to
the environmental impact analyses associated with the proposed
modernization and, therefore, will not be addressed in the Final PEA.
A second group of comments focused on decisions that are yet to be
made, such as exact locations of possible new facilities or precise
organizations that might or might not be moved. While these comments
are also useful to decision makers, they are not yet ripe for further
analysis and will not be considered further in the Final PEA. As stated
in the Draft PEA, NEPA analysis and documentation may be prepared for
future individual actions and their site-specific impacts if such
actions are not adequately covered by this programmatic NEPA document.
The third group of comments advocated moving large segments of the
Coast Guard to various new locations around the nation. These
alternatives do not meet the purpose and need described in the PEA to
minimize disruption to the workforce, minimize costs of modernization
(such as, by utilizing existing facilities), and minimize disruption to
mission execution. These proposals are, therefore, not evaluated in
detail in the Final PEA.
Finally, a fourth group of comments was not addressed because it
raised matters, such as the Deepwater Replacement contract, that are
outside the scope of the Coast Guard modernization decision.
Background and Purpose
The Coast Guard intends to modernize its command structure, support
systems, and business practices to position itself for sustainable and
effective mission execution into the
[[Page 56858]]
twenty-first century. The Coast Guard prepared a PEA that identified
and examined the reasonable alternatives and assessed their potential
environmental impacts. The PEA identified potential direct, indirect,
and cumulative impacts associated with proposed modernization,
including Coast Guard mission-related impacts and site-specific
impacts.
The Coast Guard developed two action alternatives to achieve
modernization, a full modernization alternative and a partial
modernization alternative. These two alternatives represented the upper
and lower levels of change required to achieve the purpose and need of
the modernization and, therefore, captured the range of social,
economic, and environmental impacts that would occur while implementing
modernization initiatives. The full modernization alternative
emphasizes co-location of mission support and operations resources and
functions and included potential construction at the Coast Guard Yard,
Curtis Bay, Maryland. The partial modernization alternative would focus
on operating from existing locations rather than co-locating functional
resources in a single location and includes no new construction. The
partial modernization alternative would minimally achieve the purpose
and need for modernization, while the full modernization alternative
would allow the Coast Guard to reach the fully envisioned functionality
of modernization. The Coast Guard prefers the full modernization
alternative. Either modernization alternative would be implemented over
at least 5 years.
The Coast Guard has determined that the mitigation committed to in
the Final Coast Guard-prepared PEA will reduce all potentially
significant environmental impacts to a level of insignificance. Thus,
the Final PEA was determined to adequately and accurately discuss the
environmental issues and impacts of the proposed action and provides
sufficient evidence and analysis for determining that an environmental
impact statement is not required. A Finding of No Significant Impact
was, therefore, issued for the full modernization alternative which is
the Coast Guard's preferred alternative.
Dated: September 24, 2008.
Clifford I. Pearson,
Vice Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. E8-22934 Filed 9-29-08; 8:45 am]
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