[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 139 (Monday, July 21, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38982-38984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19107]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report and To Re-Open Scoping for 
Disposal and Reuse of the Long Beach Naval Station and Naval Shipyard, 
Long Beach, CA

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 
CFR parts 1500-1508) implementing procedural provisions of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the California Environmental Quality 
Act (CEQA), and the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act (DBCRA), 
the Department of the Navy (Navy) and the City of Long Beach, 
California, announce their intent to prepare a joint Environmental 
Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) and to re-open 
scoping for the proposed disposal and reuse of Long Beach Naval Station 
and Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California (hereafter referred to as 
the Naval Complex). Navy will be the lead agency for NEPA documentation 
and the City of Long Beach will be the lead agency for CEQA 
documentation.
    In 1991, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC 
Commission) recommended the closure of the Long Beach Naval Station. 
The recommendation was approved by President Bush and accepted by the 
One Hundred Second Congress later that same year. In 1995, the BRAC 
Commission recommended closure of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. The 
recommendation was approved by President Clinton and accepted by the 
One Hundred Fourth Congress later that same year. The Naval Station was 
operationally closed on September 30, 1994, and the Naval Shipyard is 
scheduled for operational closure on September 30, 1997. The Naval 
Station was declared surplus to the needs of the Federal Government in 
September 1995. Navy intends to declare the Naval Shipyard surplus to 
the needs of the Federal Government in the near future.
    The Naval Complex is located on Terminal Island in the Long Beach 
Harbor District and is generally located south of Ocean Boulevard and 
east of the Long Beach/Los Angeles municipal boundary. The Naval 
Complex includes over 500 acres of real property and 602 acres of 
submerged lands. The fuel depot, located on Naval Station property, 
will be retained by Navy. A small government-owned, contractor-operated 
parcel within the Naval Shipyard was also excluded from the BRAC 
Commission's closure recommendations and will be handled under separate 
authority. The title of the United States to approximately 85 acres of 
land and 602 acres of submerged lands is subject to reversion to the 
City of Long Beach in accordance with the judgment in United States of 
America v. 1039 Acres of Land, etc. et al.
    Pursuant to DBCRA and associated Department of Defense policy, Navy 
must treat the city's redevelopment plan for the installation as part 
of the Federal action. The redevelopment plan is a plan developed by 
the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) and

[[Page 38983]]

provides for the reuse or redevelopment of the closed bases. The City 
of Long Beach was approved as the LRA for both the Naval Station and 
the Naval Shipyard by the Secretary of Defense. The City of Long Beach 
has prepared separate reuse plans for the Naval Station and the Naval 
Shipyard. The City Reuse Plans include development of all Naval Station 
and Naval Shipyard property within the jurisdiction of the City of Long 
Beach, including the reversionary parcels. Accordingly, the 
environmental impacts of use of these parcels will also be evaluated in 
the EIS/EIR.
    Initially, Navy determined that disposal and reuse of the Naval 
Station and Navy Shipyard should be evaluated in separate NEPA 
documents because the Naval Station and Naval Shipyard were closed 
under separate BRAC Commission actions and it was possible to make 
functionally independent decisions. In addition, the Naval Shipyard had 
not yet been declared surplus. Accordingly, Navy prepared and 
distributed a Final Environmental Impact Statement, dated February 
1997, for disposal and reuse of the Long Beach Naval Station. Navy also 
published a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for disposal and reuse 
of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on September 30, 1996.
    Although the Naval Station and Naval Shipyard were closed under 
separate BRAC Commission actions, Navy has reevaluated its initial 
decision and determined that it is appropriate to address the disposal 
and reuse of the Naval Complex in a single environmental document. This 
determination was based on several factors: the properties are 
adjacent; the proposed reuse by the LRA for each property is generally 
similar; the proposed disposal and reuse actions will now occur in the 
same general timeframe; and there is the possibility that a combined 
analysis could identify mitigation measures to reduce impacts to the 
Roosevelt Base Historic District and other potential environmental 
impacts.
    Navy and the city of Long Beach have decided to prepare a joint 
EIS/EIR for these properties. The city of Long Beach, through its 
Harbor Department, prepared an EIR for the proposed development of the 
Naval Station property. The EIR was certified by the Board of Harbor 
Commissioners on September 3, 1996. The city, through its Harbor 
Department, published a notice of preparation on November 1, 1996 for 
proposed development of the Naval Shipyard but has not completed an EIR 
for that development. Therefore, for CEQA purposes, the joint EIS/EIR 
will serve as an EIR for the Shipyard and a subsequent EIR for the 
Naval Station.
    The proposed Navy action involves the disposal of land, buildings, 
and infrastructure for subsequent reuse of the Naval Complex. This 
property includes administrative buildings, housing, recreational 
facilities, utility systems, ship repair and maintenance, warehouses, 
and other support facilities. The proposed city of Long Beach action 
involves the reuse of the Naval Complex in accordance with its Reuse 
Plans. These Plans propose the demolition of 6 piers, two dry-docks 
(the large dry-dock would remain), and most of the buildings. The Reuse 
Plans also require over 6 million cubic yards of material to be dredged 
from the West Basin. Under the city of Long Beach's proposed reuse, the 
former Naval facilities would be replaced by a total of 315 acres 
devoted to marine container terminal and intermodal railyard 
operations; an 18-acre shipyard facility surrounding the remaining dry-
dock; an 18-acre Sea-Launch satellite launch vehicle preparation 
facility; a 36-acre liquid bulk facility; a 15-acre police facility; 
and over 100 acres of neobulk, breakbulk, and other port and port 
ancillary facilities.
    As the LRA's Reuse Plans would require demolition of the Roosevelt 
Base Historic District, Navy will undertake an adaptive reuse study of 
the historic district. Navy will also reinitiate consultation under 
section 106 of the National Historic preservation act with the State 
Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation to develop a Memorandum of Agreement addressing potential 
effects on the historic district and identifying possible mitigation 
measures.
    This joint EIS/EIR will analyze the environmental effects of the 
disposal and reuse of the Naval Complex. Environmental issues to be 
addressed in the joint EIS/EIR include: Geology, topography, and soils; 
hydrology; biology; noise; air quality; land use; historic and 
archeological resources; socioeconomics; transportation/circulation; 
public facilities/recreation; safety and environmental health, 
including environmental justice; aesthetics; and utilities. The 
analysis will include an evaluation of the direct, indirect, short-
term, and cumulative impacts associated with the proposed action. The 
probable environmental impacts of the project include potential adverse 
impacts upon biology, noise and vibration levels, air quality, 
historical resources, transportation/circulation, ground shaking, 
liquefaction, and risks from hazardous material.
    Alternatives will be developed primarily from the reuse plans 
adopted by the LRA. A ``no action'' alternative, wherein Navy would 
retain the property in caretaker status, will be included in the joint 
EIS/EIR. Other alternatives may be developed from suggestions received 
during the public scoping process or from the adaptive reuse study of 
the Roosevelt Base Historic District that will be undertaken by Navy. 
Navy and the city of Long Beach encourage the involvement of all 
interested parties in the development of potential alternatives.

    No decisions regarding disposal will be made until this NEPA/CEQA 
process is complete.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Department of the Navy and the city of Long 
beach will initiate a scoping process for the purpose of determining 
the scope of issues to be addressed and for the purpose of identifying 
significant issues relative to this action, including the use of 
baseline data for the period prior to the closure of the Naval Complex 
pursuant to California Resources Code Section 21083.8.1. A public 
meeting to allow oral comments from the public will be held at the Long 
Beach City Council Chamber, 333 West Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, 
California on August 20, 1997 at 6:00 p.m. This meeting will be 
advertised in area newspapers and notices will be mailed to the 
interested parties, including responsible agencies, identified through 
scoping and during preparation of previous documents. Navy and city of 
Long Beach representatives will be available at the scoping meeting to 
receive comments from the public regarding issues of concern. A brief 
presentation describing the disposal and NEPA/CEQA processes will 
precede requests for public comments. It is important that federal, 
state, and local agencies, as well as interested organization and 
individuals, take this opportunity to identify other reuse alternatives 
and environmental concerns that should be addressed during preparation 
of the joint EIS/EIR.
    Agencies and the public are invited and encouraged to provide 
written comments in addition to, or in lieu of, oral comments at the 
public meeting. To be most helpful, scoping comments should clearly 
describe specific issues or topics that the commenter believes the 
joint EIS/EIR should address. Written comments or questions regarding 
the scoping process and or the joint EIS/EIR should be postmarked no 
later than September 3, 1997 and sent to

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the address below. To ensure that all comments are received and 
addressed, Navy will be the point of contact for this joint EIS/EIR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Melanie Ault, BRAC Program Office, 
Southwest Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, 1420 Kettner 
Boulevard, Suite 501, San Diego, CA 92101-2404.

    Dated: July 16, 1997.
D.E. Koenig,
LCDR, JAGC, USN, Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 97-19107 Filed 7-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3810-FF-M