[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 11, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52899-52900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-25184]



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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Final Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Proposed Demolition of Historic Facilities at Wright-
Patterson Air Force Base, OH

    The United States Air Force (Air Force) announces its intent to 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the potential 
environmental impacts of the proposed demolition of multiple historic 
facilities eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic 
Places at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Ohio. It is 
anticipated that the proposed action and alternatives would impact the 
following resources: Cultural resources (specifically, historic 
properties), health and safety issues (e.g., asbestos and lead-based 
paint), socioeconomics, visual resources, land use, transportation 
(including parking), air quality, and noise. The EIS will provide the 
decisionmakers and the public with the information required to 
understand the future consequences of the proposed action and 
alternatives.
    Due to defense cutbacks, military installations are being required 
to reduce the number of square feet of base facilities. In addition, 
any military construction of new facilities must be offset by a 
reduction in the square footage of existing buildings. An ongoing 
program to reduce excess square footage is in effect at WPAFB. This 
program addresses a total of 54 facilities that have been proposed for 
demolition through the year 2000.
    The base contains a number of significant cultural resources, 
including the Huffman Prairie Flying Field, a portion of the Dayton 
Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, and five potential National 
Historic Districts. Three of these districts, the Fairfield Air Depot 
Historic District (FADHD), the Wright Field Historic District (WFHD), 
and the Army Air Forces Historic District (AAFHD) contain the 
facilities proposed for demolition. The FADHD includes the original 40-
acre tract of land for the World War I Fairfield Air Depot that 
represents the earliest military presence at what is now WPAFB, and a 
portion of adjacent Wilbur Wright Field, which was leased by the 
government during the war and later became part of the combined 
Fairfield Air Depot complex. The WFHD includes the original Wright 
Field complex, constructed between 1926 and 1931, that served as 
headquarters for the Materiel Division of the U.S. Army Air Corps. The 
AAFHD was constructed between 1941 and 1945 in support of World War II 
mobilization and includes expanded wartime flying, modification, 
testing, and maintenance facilities.
    Of the 54 facilities considered for demolition under the ongoing 
program at WPAFB, 23 facilities are potentially eligible for nomination 
to the National Register of Historic Places. The structures will be 
evaluated for impacts resulting from the proposed action and reasonable 
alternatives. It is anticipated that the cumulative impacts of past and 
proposed future facility demolition will result in significant adverse 
impacts to base cultural resources, and particularly to the three 
historic districts. Alternatives to the proposed demolition under 
consideration include:

Alternative 1--No Action Alternative

    The buildings would be retained in their current capacity and would 
be maintained and utilized in a manner similar to their present use.

Alternative 2--Adaptive Reuse

    This alternative would consist of altering the existing use of the 
facilities and either returning the facilities to their original use or 
adapting the facilities for suitable alternative use. Many of the 
historic facilities are no longer used for the function for which they 
were constructed.

Alternative 3--Mothballing

    This alternative is included in a category of alternatives known as 
``banking the facilities,'' whereby buildings are vacated but preserved 
for future use. Mothballing would include documenting the significant 
features, conducting a condition assessment, stabilizing and securing 
the building, providing adequate ventilation to the interior, securing 
utilities and mechanical systems, and developing and implementing a 
maintenance and monitoring plan.

Alternative 4--Stabilization

    This alternative is a type of ``banking'' alternative. 
Stabilization would involve stabilizing the structure (e.g., bracing, 
reinforcement), turning off utilities, controlling pests by securing 
outside openings, securing the exterior from moisture penetration, 
providing periodic monitoring, and developing a minimal maintenance 
plan.

Alternative 5--Pickling

    This alternative is a type of ``banking'' alternative. Pickling 
would consist of turning off all utilities, with no environmental 
controls.

Alternative 6--Combination of Alternatives

    Under this alternative, a combination of the alternatives above 
(demolition, no action, adaptive reuse, and banking) would be 
implemented. Some buildings would be demolished while others could be 
reused, banked for possible future use, or continued in their current 
use.
    To provide a forum for public officials and the community to 
provide 

[[Page 52900]]
information and comments, a scoping meeting will be held on Thursday, 
October 26, 1995 from 7:30 to 9:30 PM at Fairborn High School 
Auditorium, 900 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Road, Fairborn, Ohio. The 
purpose of this meeting is to present information concerning the 
proposed action and alternatives under consideration and to solicit 
public input regarding the issues to be evaluated and other reasonable 
alternatives that should be included. For persons unable to attend the 
scoping meeting, written comments and questions are welcome and will 
receive the same weight as oral comments received at the scoping 
meeting.
    To ensure that the Air Force will have sufficient time to consider 
public input on issues and alternatives in the preparation of the draft 
EIS, comments should be submitted to the address below within 30 days 
after the date of the scoping meeting. The Air Force will accept 
comments at the address below at any time during the environmental 
impact analysis process.
    For further information concerning the preparation of the EIS for 
the facility demolition program at WPAFB, or to provide written 
comments, contact: Tom Perdue, 88 ABW/EME, 5490 Pearson Road, Wright-
Patterson AFB, OH 45433-5332.
Patsy J. Conner,
Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 95-25184 Filed 10-10-95; 8:45 am]
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