[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23747-23749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10396]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the Disposal and Reuse of Naval Air Station Brunswick,
ME, and To Announce Public Hearings
AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as implemented by the Council on
Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the
Department of the Navy (Navy) with the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) acting as a cooperating agency, has prepared and filed the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the potential
environmental consequences associated with the disposal and reuse of
Naval Air Station (NAS) Brunswick, Maine. The Navy is required to close
NAS Brunswick per Public Law 101-510, the Defense Base Closure and
Realignment Act of 1990, as amended in 2005. Public hearings will be
held to provide information and receive oral and written comments on
the Draft EIS. Federal, state and local agencies, and interested
individuals are invited to be present or represented at the hearings.
DATES AND ADDRESSES: Two public hearings will be held. Each scheduled
public hearing will be preceded by an open information session to allow
interested individuals to review information presented in the Draft
EIS. Navy representatives will be available during the information
session to provide clarification as necessary related to the Draft EIS.
Afternoon and evening information sessions are scheduled as follows:
1. Evening Information Session and Public Hearing: Brunswick Junior
High
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School, Gymnasium, 65 Columbia Avenue, Brunswick, Maine 04011.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Information Session--4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Public Hearing--7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
2. Daytime Information Session and Public Hearing: Town of
Brunswick, Parks and Recreation Building, 30 Federal Street, Brunswick,
Maine 04011.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Information Session--10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Public Hearing--12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, BRAC Program Management
Office Northeast, 4911 Broad Street, Building 679, Philadelphia, PA
19112-1303, telephone 215-897-4900, fax 215-897-4902, e-mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Navy acting as a lead agency with the
FAA acting as a cooperating agency, has prepared and filed, the Draft
EIS for the Disposal and Reuse of NAS Brunswick, Maine in accordance
with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321-4345) and its implementing regulations (40 CFR
parts 1500-1508). A Notice of Intent for this Draft EIS was published
in the Federal Register on October 24, 2008 (Federal Register/Vol. 73,
No. 207 pgs 63451 & 63452/Friday, October 24, 2008/Notices). Navy is
lead agency for the proposed action. The purpose of the proposed action
is to dispose of NAS Brunswick, Maine in a manner consistent with the
Brunswick Naval Air Station Reuse Master Plan as developed by the
Brunswick Local Redevelopment Authority (BLRA) in December 2007. The
Navy is required to close NAS Brunswick, Maine, in accordance with
Public Law 101-510, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of
1990, as amended in 2005. NAS Brunswick must be closed on or before
September 15, 2011. The BRAC Law exempts the decision-making process of
the Commission from the provisions of NEPA. The Law also relieves the
Department of Defense (DoD) from the NEPA requirements to consider the
need for closing, realigning, or transferring functions, and from
looking at alternative installations to close or realign. However, in
accordance with NEPA, before disposing of any real property, the Navy
must analyze the environmental effects of the disposal of the NAS
Brunswick property. This Draft EIS has identified and considered two
alternatives for the disposal and reuse of NAS Brunswick, and the no-
action alternative.
Alternative 1 includes the disposal of NAS Brunswick and its
outlying properties by the Navy and its reuse in a manner consistent
with the Brunswick Naval Air Station Reuse Master Plan. This
alternative would maintain the existing airfield for private aviation
purposes. It is anticipated that full build-out of the Plan would be
implemented over a 20-year period. The Brunswick Naval Air Station
Reuse Master Plan calls for the development of approximately 1,630
acres (51%) of the total base property. In addition, approximately
1,570 acres (49%) of the base would be dedicated to a variety of active
and passive land uses, including recreation, open space, and natural
areas. The plan reuses the existing airfield and its supporting
infrastructure, provides a mix of land use types and densities, and
preserves open space and natural areas. The Navy has recognized
Alternative 1 as the preferred alternative.
Alternative 2 includes the disposal of NAS Brunswick and its
outlying properties by the Navy and its reuse in a manner that features
a higher density of residential and community mixed-use development and
does not include reuse of the airfield. Similar to Alternative 1, this
alternative includes a mix of land use types, preserves open space and
natural areas. It is anticipated that full build-out of the high-
density scenario would be implemented over a 20-year period. Under
Alternative 2 there would be development of approximately 1,580 acres
(49%) of the total base property. In addition, approximately 1,620
acres (51%) of the base would be dedicated to a variety of active and
passive land uses, including recreation, open space, and natural areas.
Although this alternative would have less developable acres than
Alternative 1, the density of residential and community mixed-uses
would be higher.
Alternative 3 is required by NEPA and will evaluate the impacts at
NAS Brunswick in the event that the property is not disposed. Under
this alternative, existing mission and support operations would be
relocated; however, the installation would be retained by the U.S.
government in caretaker status. No reuse or redevelopment would occur
at the facility. The installation would be placed in caretaker status.
The Draft EIS addresses environmental impacts of each alternative
pertaining to the disposal and reuse of the NAS Brunswick property.
The Draft EIS addresses any potential environmental impacts under
each alternative associated with: water resources; air quality;
biological resources; soils, topography, and geology; land use; noise
exposure levels; socioeconomic resources; community facilities;
transportation; environmental management; infrastructure; and cultural
resources. The analyses includes direct and indirect impacts, and
accounts for cumulative impacts from other foreseen Federal, State, or
local activities at and around NAS Brunswick. The Navy conducted the
scoping process to identify community concerns and local issues that
should be addressed in the EIS. Federal, State and local agencies, and
interested parties provided written comments to the Navy and identified
specific issues or topics of environmental concern that should be
addressed in the EIS. The Navy considered these comments in determining
the scope of the EIS. The Draft EIS has been distributed to various
Federal, State, and local agencies, as well as other interested
individuals and organizations. In addition, copies of the Draft EIS
have been distributed to the following libraries and publicly
accessible facilities for public review:
1. Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant Street, Brunswick, ME
04011-2261.
2. Town of Brunswick--Department of Planning and Development, 28
Federal Street, Brunswick, Maine 04011.
3. Topsham Public Library, 25 Foreside Road, Topsham, ME 04086-
1832.
An electronic copy of the Draft EIS is available for public viewing
at http://www.brunswickeis.com. Federal, State and local agencies, as
well as interested parties, are invited and encouraged to be present or
represented at the hearings. To ensure the accuracy of the record, all
statements presented orally at the public hearings should be submitted
in writing. All comments will become part of the public record and will
be responded to in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).
Equal weight will be given to oral and written statements. In the
interest of available time, and to ensure all who wish to give an oral
statement at the public hearings have the opportunity to do so, each
speaker's comments will be limited to three minutes. If a longer
statement is to be presented, it should be summarized at the public
hearing and the full text submitted in writing either at the hearing or
mailed or e-mailed to: Director, BRAC Program Management Office (PMO)
Northeast, 4911 Broad Street, Building 679, Philadelphia, PA 19112-
1303, telephone 215-897-4900, fax 215-897-4902, e-mail:
[email protected].
Residents will be required to sign-in to speak. Comments can be
made in the following ways: (1) Oral statements or
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written comments at the public hearings; or (2) Written comments mailed
to the BRAC PMO address in this notice; or (3) Written comments faxed
to the BRAC PMO fax number in this notice; or (4) Comments submitted
via e-mail using the BRAC PMO e-mail address in this notice. All
written comments postmarked by Monday, June 28, 2010, will become a
part of the official public record and will be responded to in the
FEIS.
Requests for special assistance, sign language interpretation for
the hearing impaired, language interpreters, or other auxiliary aids
for scheduled public hearing meeting must be sent by mail or e-mail to
Mr. Matthew Butwin, Ecology and Environment, Inc., 368 Pleasant View
Drive, Lancaster, NY 14086, telephone: 716-684-8060, e-mail:
[email protected].
Dated: April 27, 2010.
A.M. Vallandingham,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2010-10396 Filed 5-3-10; 8:45 am]
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