[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 145 (Friday, July 29, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-18510]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: July 29, 1994]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy

 

Revised Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement for Base Realignment at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry 
Point, Craven County, NC

    Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality 
regulation (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Navy 
announced on November 15, 1993, its intent to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the environmental effects of the 
realignment of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, Craven 
County, North Carolina. The proposed action is being conducted in 
accordance with the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 
(Public Law 101-510) and the specific 1993 base closure and realignment 
decisions which became effective in September
1993. The proposed action involves the relocation of F/A-18 aircraft 
and dedicated personnel from Naval Air Station Cecil Field, 
Jacksonville, Florida, to MCAS Cherry Point.
    The purpose of this notice is to supplement the information 
provided in the original Notice of Intent which stated that an existing 
outlying airfield may need to be renovated or a new outlying airfield 
may need to be developed to provide for the increased training needs. 
Three scoping meetings were held in Eastern North Carolina on December 
7, 8, and 9, 1993, and the process of preparing the EIS was begun. 
Since these initial scoping meetings, the Navy has been studying this 
issue to determine reasonable outlying airfield sites.
    A tiered screening approach progressively narrowed down a number of 
potential areas meeting the general requirements for an outlying 
airfield to a short list of nine candidate areas. These included: the 
three existing Marine Corps Outlying Landing Fields (MCOLF) in eastern 
North Carolina [MCOLF Atlantic in Carteret County, Marine Corps 
Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue in Carteret County, and MCOLF Oak Grove 
in Jones County]; a site identified jointly with the United States 
Forest Service within the Croatan National Forest along Black Swamp 
Road; and five potentially suitable privately owned sites.
    The final step in the screening process involved utilizing a set of 
specific operational and environmental criteria to evaluate each of the 
nine candidate sites. From this evaluation, three sites are considered 
to be reasonable sites and will be evaluated in detail in the EIS. 
These sites are three of the five privately owned sites: an 
agricultural site which lies east of Bay City Road in Beaufort County 
at the Beaufort County/Pamlico County Line; a site in northern Beaufort 
County, east of Route 32 at the Beaufort County/Washington County line; 
and a site within Carteret County north of Beaufort in the Open Grounds 
Farm area. The other sites are not considered reasonable because of the 
potential for significant environmental impacts and incompatible land 
uses.
    Agencies and the public are invited and encouraged to provide 
additional written comments on the proposed OLF development areas 
discussed in this notice. Comments should clearly describe specific 
issues or topics which should be addressed in the EIS. Written comments 
and/or questions regarding this notice should be mailed to: Commander, 
Atlantic Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, 1510 Gilbert 
Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23511-2699 (Attn: Mr. Jim Haluska, Code 
2032JH), telephone (804) 445-2307. All comments should be received no 
later than August 29, 1994.

    Dated: July 26, 1994.
Lewis T. Booker, Jr.,
LCDR, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 94-18510 Filed 7-28-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3810-AE-P