[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2796-2799]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-673]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Job Corps: Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) 
for the New Job Corps Center on Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay, 
CA

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration.

ACTION: Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the 
new Job Corps Center on Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay, 
California.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations 
(40 CFR Part 1500-08) implementing procedural provisions of the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Department of Labor, 
Employment and Training Administration, Office of Job Corps, in 
accordance with 29 CFR 11.11(d), gives notice that an Environmental 
Assessment (EA) has been prepared and the proposed plans for the 
establishment of a Job Corps Center on Treasure island in San Francisco 
Bay, California, will have no significant environmental impact. 
Pursuant to 29 CFR 11.11(d)(1), this Preliminary Finding of No 
Significant Impact will be made available for public review and comment 
for thirty (30) days.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by February 10, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Any comment(s) are to be submitted to Lynn Kotecki, 
Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20210, (202) 219-5468.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Copies of the EA and additional 
information are available to interested parties by contacting Marta 
Aguilar-Dugan, Region IX (Nine), Office of Job Corps, 71 Stevenson 
Street, Suite 1015, San Francisco, California, 94119, (415) 744-6658.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the proposed action is to 
create a new Job Corps Center in the San Francisco Bay Area that would 
provide up to 850 enrollees with training and support services in a 
residential environment. The Job Corps training and services include 
basic education, vocational skills training, work

[[Page 2797]]

experience, counseling, health care, and related support services. The 
program is intended to prepare participants to obtain and hold gainful 
employment, pursue further education or training, or satisfy entrance 
requirements for service in the Armed Forces.
    The Proposed Job Corps Center will be developed on land and in 
buildings now occupied by the United States Navy. The Job Corps would 
occupy about 35.5 acres of the 403-acre Treasure island. Treasure 
Island is located adjacent to Yerba Buena Island and the San Francisco-
Oakland Bay Bridge in San Francisco Bay. Naval Station Treasure Island 
will be closed by the Department of Defense on September 30, 1997. The 
Job Corps Center has been proposed as one of the first non-military 
uses of the base, and is planned for implementation before the base 
closure is fully complete.
    The Job Corps Center would be planned for an optimum capacity of 
720 single residents and 130 non-resident students. It is estimated 
that many of the non-residents would be single parents with up to 60 
children that would use child care services available to the Job Corps 
on Treasure island. Therefore, a total of 910 people would be served at 
the Center.
    The Job Corps would take possession of a total of 470,347 gross 
square feet of floor space in twelve existing buildings. The streets, 
sidewalks, parking lots, and utility systems serving the buildings are 
in place and mature landscaping is found around many of the structures.
    Job Corps' estimates of the rehabilitation work that would be 
necessary to adapt these buildings to meet the needs of their programs 
indicates that 3 of the buildings would need no rehabilitation work, 2 
would require major renovation and the remaining 7 would require minor 
to moderate modifications. The buildings that would require no work 
include the following: Building 363, which houses an existing Job Corps 
sponsored Culinary Arts school (with about 120 students); Building 368, 
the cafeteria; and Building 364, which would be reserved for future 
upgrading by Job Corps' vocational training students. Minor 
rehabilitation, such as upgrading of fire doors, HVAC, electrical and 
plumbing systems and interior space conversions to meet Job Corps 
needs, would be undertaken in Buildings 369, 450, 487, 488, and 489. 
Building 365 would require moderate rehabilitation work to reconfigure 
the existing space into storage. Loading docks and a freight elevator 
would be added. An area on the second floor of Building 442, the 3-year 
old medical/dental building would be reconfigured to provide medical 
wards.
    The buildings slated for major rehabilitation are Buildings 366 and 
367. Building 366 would be reconfigured from open bay dormitories to 
vocational shops. The bathrooms would have to be converted to male/
female facilities and an interior elevator would be added. Building 367 
would be reconfigured from an open bay dormitory to classroom space. 
The bathrooms would also have to be reconfigured and an elevator 
installed.
    The only new building anticipated at this time would be a building 
to house recreational facilities for the students on the ``campus''. 
The size and configuration of the building has not been defined, 
although it is expected that it would be located on what is now a 1.5-
acre grassy playing field/landscaped area near Buildings 369, 488 and 
489, which would be dormitories.
    Treasure Island, the site of the proposed project, is a manmade 
island of about 403 acres. It was built on Yerba Buena Shoals and a 
sand spit extending north from Yerba Buena Island between 1936 and 1939 
as the site for the Golden Gate International Exposition. The island 
was constructed from sediments dredged from San Francisco Bay. The 
Exposition or ``World's Fair'' opened on the island in February 1939 
and had a second run in 1940.
    A few months after the Fair closed, the Navy leased Treasure Island 
from San Francisco and the Yerba Buena-based Naval activities spread 
out to cover both islands. The island became a major naval facility 
during World War II, and has operated as a Naval Base continuously 
since. After the war, the City of San Francisco agreed to trade the 
deed to Treasure Island in exchange for Government owned land south of 
San Francisco where the San Francisco International Airport was 
eventually built.
    Exiting buildings on Treasure Island, today, includes three Naval 
training center facilities, 907 family-housing units, 1,000 bachelor 
quarters, medical/dental clinics, a brig, 5 active piers, recreational 
facilities, a school and a child-care center, a commissary, a sewage 
treatment plant, fire station, Naval Public Works department and a 
variety of other facilities. The Treasure Island Museum is located in 
the Headquarters building, which is one of only three remaining 
structures built for the 1939 Exposition.
    Treasure Island is considered an urban setting and is located 
within the boundaries of the City and County of San Francisco. As a 
federal/military enclave within the City, the Island has not been 
subject to local planning and zoning regulations; San Francisco is 
currently beginning work on a reuse plan for conversion of the Island 
from military to civilian use.
    The project will help offset the substantial population and 
employment loses that are occurring in the Bay Area from the Navy's 
base closure actions affecting Treasure Island and other nearby 
facilities. The Job Corps will replace more than 10% of the Navy's 
current Treasure Island population, which will decline to zero by late 
1997.
    The Job Corps Center will also provide employment opportunities for 
teachers and support staff, and will purchase goods and services from 
the surrounding communities. This will offset a small proportion of the 
economic losses to the region from the base closure actions. The 
ability of the Job Corps to begin functioning on the site before the 
Navy leaves Treasure Island in 1997 is considered a benefit, as it will 
help smooth the transition from military to civilian employment on the 
site.
    The San Francisco Bay Area is considered one of the most 
earthquake-prone areas of the United States. Treasure Island lies 
approximately 11 miles east of the San Andreas Fault and 10 miles west 
of the Hayward Fault, both major faults. It is estimated that there is 
a 90 percent probability that one or more large earthquakes (magnitude 
7 or greater) will occur in the San Francisco Bay region during the 30-
year period between 1990 and 2020.
    Since there are no active or buried faults located beneath Treasure 
Island, the risk of ground rupture due to fault displacement is very 
low. However, the island is potentially subject to violent to extremely 
violent ground shaking and there is a high potential for liquefaction 
in the event of major earthquake. Previous Navy studies of buildings on 
Treasure Island have determined that only Building 2 and 3 are likely 
to sustain more than 25 percent damage should a significant earthquake 
event occur. The Job Corps would have no activities in Buildings 1 or 
2. However, the Job Corps will consider seismic forces and risks to 
buildings occupants when retrofiting the existing Navy buildings to 
meet Job Corps requirements.
    The potential for major seismic activity around the Pacific Rim 
places Treasure Island at risk to damage from Tsunamis. Tsunamis having 
a wave height or runup of 8 feed at Treasure Island can be expected to 
occur once every 200 years. The possibility of a Tsunamis is considered 
to be a low risk, particularly since the Job Corps Center

[[Page 2798]]

would be protected behind the Island's perimeter dike, the top of which 
is more than 8 feet above sea level. The emergency preparedness and 
response plan for this facility will consider warning and response 
protocols for this risk.
    The proposed Job Corps Center will not have any significant impacts 
on natural systems or resources. Implementation of the existing 
Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan for Treasure Island will reduce 
the risks of stormwater pollution of San Francisco Bay as a result of 
activities on the Island. The project will not introduce any 
significant new sources of potential pollution to the Island.
    Treasure Island, including the area where the Job Corps activities 
would be centered is not considered a valuable, unique or sensitive 
natural area. The Job Corps would utilize existing buildings and urban 
spaces for the same, or similar uses that have been continuing for 
decades. The Project is not expected to have any adverse effects on 
vegetation and wildlife including rare, threatened or endangered 
species of plants or animals.
    It is not expected that the Job Corps programs will introduce any 
new stationary sources of air pollutant emissions; however, if any 
future vocational training programs involve the use of equipment 
requiring permits to operate from the BAAQMD, such permits will be 
sought and the conditions met. The majority of the Job Corps students 
at Treasure Island will be residential students and will contribute 
proportionately fewer vehicle miles, hence fewer air pollutants, than 
most residents of the Bay Area. No adverse impacts on air quality are 
projected.
    No long-term adverse noise impacts are expected. The Job Corps site 
is outside the traffic noise impact zone of the Bay Bridge, and no 
significant impacts from local traffic noise is expected. The site may 
currently be within the 60 dBA CNEL zone of flights from Alameda Naval 
Air Station. However, since Alameda Naval Air Station is being closed 
concurrently with Treasure Island, this potential impact will be 
temporary and no special mitigation is deemed necessary.
    Construction work necessary for the modification and upgrading of 
some of the existing buildings would result in short-term noise 
impacts, although most noisy work would occur inside the building 
shells. Air compressors, trucks, lifts, concrete pumpers, and other 
equipment would be operated around the buildings undergoing remodeling 
and could result in short-term noise impacts at surrounding locations. 
To mitigate these potential impacts, construction activities will be 
limited to the hours of 7AM to 6PM, and sound control devices and 
muffled exhausts will be required on noise-generating equipment.
    The existing streetlighting and security lighting systems are 
expected to remain in place. The addition of the Job Corps Center to 
Treasure Island will not affect existing views of nighttime lights on 
Treasure Island from off-site locations. No impacts are expected.
    Treasure Island contains no archeological or prehistoric resources 
as it was constructed with materials dredged form the bottom of San 
Francisco Bay.
    The only buildings on the Island found to have historical 
importance are Buildings 1, 2 and 3. None of these buildings are within 
the area that would be used by the Job Corps. It is concluded that the 
project would not have any impacts on historic or archeological 
resources.
    No electricity, natural gas, telephone or cable telephone services 
would have to be extended nor would the capacity of any supply lines 
have to be increased to serve the project.
    The Jobs Corps will be dependent upon the central steam heating 
system on Treasure Island for space heating. It is now known who will 
be responsible for this utility service after the Navy leaves. The Job 
Corps will work with the Navy and City of San Francisco during the Base 
Closure and Realignment process to ensure that this utility service 
will remain operational or that a substitute is implemented prior to 
base closure.
    Water supply for domestic use and firefighting is adequate to meet 
the project's needs.
    The existing sewage treatment plant has ample capacity to 
adequately treat and dispose of the sewage generated by the proposed 
project. Because some of the buildings will be changed from residential 
to instructional facilities, the Job Corps will generate less sewage 
from the same complex of buildings than the Navy has in the past.
    Solid waste disposal will continue to be provided by private 
contractors.
    The project's impact upon daily peak hour traffic on the Bay Bridge 
by Job Corps personnel will be an addition of fewer than 150 round 
trips, which is less than 20 percent of the traffic generated by the 
Naval Station in recent years. This traffic will have little or no 
effect on the Bay Bridge traffic, and is not considered a significant 
impact.
    Job Corps personnel will experience difficulty merging onto the Bay 
Bridge during peak traffic periods, just as Navy personnel do today and 
have in the past. It is not known if San Francisco's reuse plan for 
Treasure Island will consider improvements to these sub-standard access 
ramps. Nor is it known if such improvements are physically feasible at 
a reasonable cost. The Job Corps will work with the City of San 
Francisco during the reuse planning process to ensure that access 
improvements for Treasure Island are carefully considered and 
evaluated.
    Medical services will be available to Job Corps personnel from the 
medical/dental clinic which the Job Corps will acquire from the Navy.
    Treasure Island is within the jurisdiction of the San Francisco 
Police Department. Police services will be provided by the City and 
County of San Francisco with support from military police as long as 
the Navy remains on the base. Subsequently, the San Francisco Police 
Department will be responsible for all calls for service from the 
Island. The proposed Job Corps Center's potential need for police 
services is not expected to have a significant impact on the City and 
County of San Francisco.
    Fire services will be provided by the Navy until base closure. At 
that time the operation of the Fire Station will be the responsibility 
of the City and County of San Francisco. San Francisco is also expected 
to address the fire services in the Reuse Plan.
    Preliminary screening has indicated that radon gas is not a 
significant concern at Treasure Island. No impacts are expected.
    Asbestos may have been used in the building materials for seven or 
eight of the twelve structures to be acquired by the Job Corps. The Job 
Corps will survey the buildings for asbestos-containing materials and 
abate them as necessary in conjunction with the other rehabilitation 
efforts required to adapt the buildings to Job Corps uses. Any 
asbestos-containing materials removed from the buildings will be 
disposed of at licensed, off-site facilities in accordance with Federal 
and State regulations. Completion of the abatement program will 
eliminate any potential health hazards from asbestos.
    Compliance with the Federal Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard 
Reduction Act of 1992 by the Navy and/or the Department of Labor is 
expected to adequately address any potential lead-based paint hazards 
at the facility.
    Water supplied to Treasure Island is well within the Federal 
drinking water quality standards for lead. No adverse impacts upon the 
water supply are expected.

[[Page 2799]]

    There are twenty Installation Restoration sites on Treasure Island 
containing hazardous wastes cataloged by the Navy. None of these are 
located within the confines of the area that would be transferred to 
the Department of Labor for the proposed Job Corps facility. Two of the 
seventy-five Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) on the base are within 
the boundaries of the Job Corps site. These underground storage tanks 
have been removed. One of the sites requires further remediation work, 
consisting of the removal and treatment of soil with petroleum 
hydrocarbon contamination and, possibly, the treatment of contaminated 
groundwater. Groundwater beneath Treasure Island is not withdrawn for 
any domestic or irrigation use. Remediation of this UST site will be 
completed by the Navy before base closure is complete. The Navy intends 
to conduct all remediation work with proper site safety protocols; no 
adverse impacts are projected.
    PCB-containing transformers have been removed from Treasure Island. 
One of the identified Installation Restoration sites, which will be 
cleaned, has PCB contamination. This site, however, is far from the 
buildings that will be utilized by the Job Corps. No impacts from PCB 
contamination are projected.
    Naval Station Treasure Island is a regulated hazardous waste 
generator. The sources of hazardous wastes generated on the Island are 
primarily in the military training and industrial activities on the 
site, which are concentrated on the eastern and southern sides of the 
Island. Activities resulting in the generation of hazardous waste do 
not occur in the residential and administrative buildings that would be 
used by the Job Corps. The medical/dental building generates small 
quantities of medical wastes, which are disposed of in accordance with 
appropriate regulations. It is presumed that these practices will be 
continued by the Department of Labor, as required by law, upon transfer 
of the medical building. No adverse impacts to Job Corps personnel is 
expected as a result of on-site chemical use.
    On February 3, 1994 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Select 
Committee on Base Closure conducted a Public Hearing on the proposed 
location of a Job Corps Center at Treasure Island. The Public Hearing 
was attended by approximately 37 people, of which 18 offered comments 
and testimony. Every piece of testimony offered was in support of the 
project; no testimony was submitted, in person or in writing, that 
questioned or opposed a Job Corps Center at Treasure Island.
    The Alternatives considered in the preparation of the EA were: (1) 
The ``No Build'' Alternative, (2) the ``Alternative Sites'' 
Alternative, and (3) the ``Continued as Proposed'' alternative. The 
``No Build'' Alternative would mean that the Department of Labor would 
not proceed with plans for development of the proposed Job Corps Center 
on Treasure Island, and a unique opportunity for the youth of the area 
to educationally benefit from a Job Corps would be forgone. Although 
choosing the ``No Build'' would result in no environmental impact upon 
the area, the opportunity to obtain land and buildings that can be 
adapted to meet Job Corps need would also be lost. The benefits to the 
City of San Francisco and to the region from the location of an 
expanded Job Corps presence on Treasure Island would also be foregone.
    The Job Corps has investigated alternative locations in the Bay 
Area for the proposed center. However, the alternative sites were 
rejected in favor of Treasure Island because none of these sites have 
the potential to be adapted to Job Corps functions as quickly or as 
cost effectively as the Treasure Island site. In addition, two of the 
sites were within or adjacent to residential areas and the proposed 
Presidio, much of which will be redeveloped as a Park. The other site 
was considered significantly constrained due to soil contamination.
    The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Select Committee on Base 
closure conducted a Public Hearing on February 3, 1994, regarding the 
proposed location of a Job Corps Center at Treasure Island. The Public 
Hearing was attended by approximately 37 people. The results of the 
hearing confirmed that there was unanimous support from all 
participants at the hearing for a Job Corps Center at Treasure Island.
    Based on the information gathered during the preparation of the EA 
for the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 
the Office of Job Corps finds that the development of the Treasure 
Island Job Corps Center will not cause any significant impact on the 
environment and, therefore, recommends that the project continue as 
proposed. This proposed action is not considered to be highly 
controversial.

    Dated at Washington, DC, this 23rd day of December 1994.
Peter E. Rell,
Director of Job Corps.
[FR Doc. 95-673 Filed 1-10-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M