[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 69 (Friday, April 10, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17824-17825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-9561]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Public Hearing for the Pacific Missile Range Facility 
Enhanced Capability Draft Environmental Impact Statement at Pacific 
Missile Range

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy announces that it will hold two 
public hearings to inform the public of the Pacific Missile Range 
Facility Enhanced Capability Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) findings and to solicit comments.
    Federal, state, and local agencies and interested parties are 
invited and urged to be present or represented at the hearings. Oral 
statements will be heard and transcribed by a stenographer. However, to 
assure the accuracy of the record, all statements should be submitted 
in writing. All statements, both oral and written, will become part of 
the public record on this action and will be given equal consideration.
    In the interest of available time, each speaker will be asked to 
limit his or her oral comments to five minutes. If longer statements 
are to be presented, they should be summarized at the public hearing(s) 
and submitted in writing either at the public hearing(s) or mailed

[[Page 17825]]

to the address below. Written comments on the DEIS should be mailed to 
the address below and must be postmarked not later than May 26, 1998 to 
be part of the official record.
    The DEIS has been distributed to various federal, state and local 
agencies, elected officials, special interest groups, the media, and 
concerned citizens. Copies of the DEIS have also been placed in local 
libraries in Hawaii. A limited number of copies are available at the 
address below.

DATES AND ADDRESSES: Public hearing dates and locations are as follows:

1. Saturday, April 25, 1998, 10 a.m., Waimea United Church of Christ 
Educational Center, Waimea, Hawaii
2. Tuesday, April 28, 1998, 5 p.m., Weinberg Memorial Hall, Disabled 
American Veterans Park, 2685 North Nimitz Hwy., Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, TO PROVIDE COMMENTS OR FOR A COPY OF THE DEIS 
CONTACT: Ms. Vida Mossman, P.O. Box 128, Kekaha, Kauai, Hawaii, 96752-
0128.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality 
regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) implementing the procedural 
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Department of 
the Navy has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) Enhanced Capability 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement at Pacific Missile Range Facility. 
The DEIS assesses the potential impacts associated with enhancing PMRF 
capabilities. The Proposed Action would enable PMRF to fully 
accommodate the testing and training needs of the Navy's Theater 
Ballistic Missile Defense (TBMD) program as well as other DOD Theater 
Missile Defense (TMD) programs. The proposed enhancement would also 
serve to increase PMRF's viability in the future by providing the 
capability for potential customers to develop, test and train in the 
use of evolving defensive systems.
    The DEIS analyzes additional missile launch and support locations, 
facility construction, launch preparation activities, missile flight 
tests, radar and optical tracking operations, and intercept tests in 
the Pacific Ocean.
    Environmental issues analyzed in the DEIS for enhancing PMRF 
include: Air quality; airspace control; biological resources; cultural 
resources; geology and soils; hazardous materials and waste; safety and 
health; land use; noise; socioeconomics; transportation; utilities; 
visual and aesthetics; and water resources. In addition, the document 
addresses ocean areas and environmental justice.

Proposed Action

    The Navy proposes to enhance capabilities of PMRF to conduct 
missile defense testing by (1) upgrading existing radar, telemetry, 
optics, electronic warfare, differential global positioning system, and 
other instrumentation facilities; and (2) the construction and 
operation of additional missile launch sites, sensor and 
instrumentation facilities, and a missile storage building.
    Areas being considered for the launch and/or instrumentation sites 
include (1) Kauai and Niihau; (2) land-based support locations on Tern 
Island and Johnston Atoll; and (3) ocean areas within and outside U.S. 
territorial waters. Any testing would comply with current U.S. policy 
concerning compliance with treaties and international agreements.

No Action

    The No-Action Alternative is the continuation of existing range and 
land-based training and operations; existing research development, 
testing and evaluation activities; and ongoing base operations and 
maintenance of the technical and logistical facilities that support the 
training and operations missions conducted at PMRF.

    Dated: April 7, 1998.
Lou Rae Langevin,
LT, JAGC, USN, Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 98-9561 Filed 4-9-98; 8:45 am]
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