[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 31170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8463]



[[Page 31170]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Availability of Final Supplemental Programmatic 
Environmental Assessment (SPEA) and Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI) for the 2006 Supplement to the 2002 Rim of the Pacific 
Exercises Programmatic Environmental Assessment, Hawaii

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DOD.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the Council on Environmental Quality 
Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) implementing the procedural 
provisions of NEPA, the United States Department of the Navy (Navy) 
gives notice that a Final SPEA has been prepared and an Environmental 
Impact Statement is not required for implementation of the 2006 Rim of 
the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Conrad Erkelens at 808-471-5455 or 
write to Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet (N465), 251 Makalapa Drive, 
Pearl Harbor, HI 96860.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RIMPAC has been conducted at various 
locations throughout the State of Hawaii and surrounding ocean areas 
biennially for the last 32 years. The purpose of RIMPAC is to implement 
a selected set of exercises that are combined into a multinational, sea 
control/power projection Fleet training exercise in a multi-threat 
environment. RIMPAC exercises enhance the abilities of a multinational 
Fleet force to communicate and operate in simulated hostile scenarios. 
In 2002, a Programmatic EA (PEA) was prepared in support of the RIMPAC 
exercises. The PEA identified the proposed action as the set of 
exercises and locations that would be used for RIMPAC activities for 
the foreseeable future. It identified the maximum usage of ongoing 
training assets and exercises that could be conducted within a given 
RIMPAC event and evaluated the impacts on the environment within those 
bounds. The FONSI for the RIMPAC PEA, signed June 11, 2002, concluded 
that as long as future RIMPAC exercises did not exceed the evaluated 
set of activities, the proposed action could be implemented without 
supplemental NEPA documentation. Thus, the scope of each future RIMPAC 
exercise has been evaluated for consistency with the 2002 RIMPAC PEA 
and its FONSI.
    The 2006 SPEA was prepared to evaluate new training event locations 
and to review all proposed RIMPAC 2006 activities to the analysis in 
the 2002 RIMPAC PEA and a 2004 SPEA to ensure all proposed activities 
are addressed. The review included an evaluation of: Training levels 
(personnel and equipment) and types of equipment; facilities and 
procedures for implementing RIMPAC at each installation or range; and 
changes in the affected environment or environmental sensitivities. In 
addition, the 2006 SPEA also includes a description of the 
Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) operations, and the ASW acoustic effects 
modeling completed for RIMPAC 2006.
    The only change being proposed is the location for conducting the 
Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) at the Pacific Missile Range 
Facility (PMRF) and Niihau. No new training events are proposed. The 
NEO training event locations at PMRF and Niihau, when added to the 
proposed action assessed in the RIMPAC PEA and 2004 Supplement, form 
the proposed action for the purpose of the 2006 SPEA.
    Accordingly, the analysis conducted in the SPEA focused on the 
following resources: Terrestrial and marine environments and cultural 
resources. Specifically, the 2006 SPEA includes analysis related to 
mid-frequency active sonar based on application of emergent science. 
Long-term studies of the quantification and effects of exposure of 
marine mammal species to acoustic emissions are progressing, and Navy, 
in coordination with the National Marine Fisheries Service is 
incorporating the results into this SPEA. The ASW training events being 
analyzed are not new and have taken place with no significant changes 
over the previous 19 RIMPAC exercises. However, new scientific 
information has led to the ability to quantitatively identify 
harassment levels, as defined in the Marine Mammal Protection Act, 
through the use of newly derived threshold criteria metrics. 
Additionally, scientific advances in effects-analysis modeling of sound 
on marine mammals have provided Navy the ability to predict cumulative 
effects on marine species due to a proposed action. Due to these 
advances in scientific information, the 2006 SPEA provides an effects-
analysis on marine mammals that may be affected by the RIMPAC training 
events that use hull-mounted mid-frequency active sonar.
    The Final SPEA and FONSI may be obtained by written request from: 
Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet (N465), 251 Makalapa Drive, Pearl Harbor, 
HI 96860. For additional information, write to the above address or 
call Mr. Conrad Erkelens at 808-471-5455. The Final SPEA and FONSI are 
also available for public review at the project Web site at http://www.smdcen.us/rimpac06/ rimpac06/. In addition, the documents may be reviewed at 
the following locations:

Wailuku Public Library, 251 High Street, Wailuku, Hawaii 96793, (Maui).
Hilo Public Library, 300 Waianaenue Avenue, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, 
Hawaii).
Hawaii State Library, Hawaii and Pacific Section Document Unit, 478 
South King Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, (Oahu).
Lihue Public Library, 4344 Hardy Street, Lihue, Hawaii 96766, (Kauai).

    Dated: May 26, 2006.
M. A. Harvison,
LT, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer.
 [FR Doc. E6-8463 Filed 5-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3810-FF-P