[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 116 (Friday, June 14, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30228-30229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-15136]



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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for: 
Headquarters, U.S. Army Field Artillery Center and Fort Sill, Fort 
Sill, OK

AGENCY: U.S. Army, Fort Sill, OK.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this project is to identify and evaluate the 
environmental impacts associated with implementation of the Real 
Property Master Plan (RPMP) for the U.S. Army Field Artillery Center 
and Fort Sill (USAFACFS).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Written comments may be forwarded to 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: CESWT-PL-R (J. Randolph), P.O. Box 
61, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74121-0061.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The most recent environmental documatation 
prepared under the guidelines set forth by the National Environmental 
Policy (NEPA) for Fort Sill activities, including the Master Plan, was 
the Fort Sill Ongoing Mission EIS completed in September 1978. Since 
then several changes in legislation, program activities, and missions 
have occurred. The Fort Sill Master Plan, now referred to as the Fort 
Sill Real Property Master Plan (RPMP), has become increasingly complex 
and diverse. Based upon this complexity and diversity of the RPMP, the 
nature of the activities conducted in the implementation of the RPMP, 
and its potential to have significant impacts on certain natural, 
economic, social, and cultural resources of the Fort Sill community, it 
has been determined that an EIS should be prepared for the RPMP. The 
study area for environmental concerns will be the entire Fort Sill 
installation. The objective is to provide a comprehensive and 
programmatic EIS which is a complete, objective appraisal of the 
environmental impact of the installation's RPMP. The purpose of the 
RPMP EIS is to serve as a planning document for managing activities at 
the installation by the commanders, Installation Planning Board, Master 
Planning Office, Directorate of Environmental Quality, and others; a 
source of public information, and as a reference for mitigation 
tracking.

[[Page 30229]]

Alternatives

    1. No-Action Alternative: Whereby, only those RPMP projects that 
are currently on-going or funded will be completed.
    2. Action Alternative 1: Whereby, only those RPMP projects that are 
considered to have a ``high probability'' of receiving funding, in 
addition to those currently ongoing or funded, will be completed.
    3. Action Alternative 2: Whereby, all the projects of the RPMP will 
be completed.

Significant Issues

    The Fort Sill reservation contains approximately 94,221 acres of 
land. Some of this land serves as habitat for protected species of 
wildlife. Of the areas within the installation that have been surveyed 
to date for cultural resource properties, 832 properties have been 
identified and recorded. Nearly all of the current and proposed RPMP 
projects and sited within the 6,015 acre cantonment area, where the 
majority of the installation historic buildings are located.

List of Affected Parties

    A mailing list has been developed for various notices concerning 
the preparation of this EIS. This list includes local, state, and 
federal officials having jurisdiction expertise, or other interests in 
the action: environmental interest groups, and local news media.

Scoping

    Comments received as a result of this Notice of Intent will be used 
to assist the Army in identifying potential impacts to the quality of 
human and natural environments. Individuals or organizations may 
participate in the scoping process by written comment or by attending a 
scoping meeting. The time and location of the scoping meeting will be 
announced in the Lawton Constitution and by public notice sent to 
parties indicated in the previous paragraph.
    To be considered in the Draft EIS, comments and suggestions should 
be received no later than 15 days following the public scoping meeting. 
Questions regarding this proposal may be directed to Mr. Jim Randolph 
at the above address or phone (918) 669-7191.
Gregory D. Showalter,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 96-15136 Filed 6-13-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M