[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30313-30314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14348]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Availability of the Revised Final Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions Stored at Pine Bluff 
Arsenal, AR

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This announces the availability of the Revised Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the construction and operation 
of the proposed chemical agent disposal facility at Pine Bluff Arsenal, 
Arkansas. The proposed facility will be used to demilitarize all 
stockpiled chemical agents and munitions currently stored at Pine Bluff 
Arsenal. The Revised Final EIS examines the potential impacts of on-
site incineration, alternative locations within the Pine Bluff Arsenal, 
and the ``no action'' alternative. The ``no action'' alternative is 
considered to be a deferral of the demilitarization with continued 
storage of agents and munitions at Pine Bluff Arsenal.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In its Record of Decision (53 FR 5816-5817, 
dated February 26, 1988) for the Final Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement on the Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program, the 
Department of the Army selected on-site disposal by incineration at all 
eight chemical munition storage sites within the continental United 
States as the method by which it will destroy its lethal chemical 
stockpile. On March 29, 1989, the Department of the Army published a 
Notice of Intent in the Federal Register (54 FR 12944-12945) which 
provided notice that, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act 
and implementing regulations, it would prepare a draft site-specific 
EIS for the proposed Pine Bluff chemical agent disposal facility. In 
1995, the Department of the Army prepared a Draft EIS to assess the 
site-specific health and environmental impacts of on-site incineration 
of chemical agents and munitions stored at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. A 
Notice of Availability was published on June 9, 1995, in the Federal 
Register (60 FR 30537) which provided notice that the Draft EIS was 
available for comment. All comments from the Draft EIS were considered 
and responses included in the Final EIS. A Notice of Availability for 
the Final EIS was published on October 18, 1996, in the Federal 
Register (61 FR 54437). After publication, the Army revised the Final 
EIS by performing an additional review of the potential impacts. This 
Revised Final EIS includes a discussion of that review. After a 30-day 
waiting period the Army will publish a Record of Decision.

WAITING PERIOD: Comments will be accepted during this 30-day waiting 
period, which begins with the Environmental Protection Agency's 
publication of the notice of availability.

COPIES: To obtain copies of the Revised Final EIS, contact the Program 
Manager for Chemical Demilitarization (PMCD), Data and Document Control 
Center, at

[[Page 30314]]

(410) 671-4901. For more information, contact Ms. Cathy Stalcup, OPMCD, 
or Mr. Jeff Lindblad, Pine Bluff Chemical Activity, at (410) 671-3629 
and (501) 540-2429, respectively.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will 
also publish a Notice of Availability for the Final EIS in the Federal 
Register.

    Dated: May 28, 1997.
Richard E. Newsome,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Environment, Safety and 
Occupational Health), OASA (I, L&E).
[FR Doc. 97-14348 Filed 6-2-97; 8:45 am]
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