[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 150 (Monday, August 4, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45268-45269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17897]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Availability of Draft Alternatives Working Paper for the Proposed 
Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport, Las Vegas, Clark County, NV

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft Alternatives Working Paper.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in cooperation with 
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is issuing this notice to advise 
the public the Draft Alternatives Working Paper for the Draft EIS will 
be made available for public comment pursuant to section 304 of the 
Vision 100 Century of Aviation Act of 2003 (Pub. L. 108-176) [49 U.S.C. 
47171(I)]. The Draft Alternatives Working Paper has been prepared for 
the construction and operation of the proposed Southern Nevada 
Supplemental Airport which lies partially within the base floodplain of 
a portion of Roach Dry Lake located along Interstate Highway 15 about 
30 miles south of Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada. FAA and BLM are 
seeking comments on the Draft Alternatives Working Paper.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David B. Kessler, AICP, Project 
Manager, Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport EIS, AWP-610.1, Airports 
Division, Federal Aviation Administration, Western-Pacific Region, P.O. 
Box 92007, Los Angeles, California 90009-2007, Telephone: 310/725-3615. 
Comments on the draft Alternatives Working Paper should be submitted to 
the address above and must be received no later than 5 p.m. Pacific 
Standard Time, Friday, October 3, 2008.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 
cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is preparing a 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Southern Nevada 
Supplemental Airport (SNSA) pursuant to the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969. The need to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) is based on the procedures described in FAA Order 
1050.1E, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures, FAA Order 
5050.4B, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing 
Instructions for Airport Actions, and BLM NEPA Handbook H-1790-1. 
Further, the FAA and BLM are preparing this EIS jointly pursuant to the 
Ivanpah Valley Airport Lands Transfer Act of 2000, (Pub. L. 106-362). 
Clark County proposes to build the airport along Interstate Highway 15 
north of the Nevada/California border about 30 miles south of Las 
Vegas, between Primm and Jean in Clark County, Nevada. The purpose of 
the proposed airport is to provide additional capacity to accommodate 
the forecasted growth in air carrier aircraft operations and aviation 
passenger demand into the Las Vegas area. This airport would supplement 
existing capacity at McCarran International Airport (LAS).
    FAA and BLM are making the Draft Alternatives Working Paper 
available to the public and governmental agencies for review and 
comment. This working paper contains information that the FAA and BLM 
will include into the Alternatives Section of the Draft EIS. FAA and 
BLM have developed the Alternatives Working Paper based on information 
disclosed in the Purpose and Need Working Paper that was made available 
to the public on January 25, 2008 (73 FR 4666-4667). The following 
general candidate alternative topics are included in the Draft 
Alternatives Working Paper: No Action, Other Modes of Transportation, 
Air Traffic Demand Management Strategies, Use of Airfield and Airspace 
Technologies, Expansion of McCarran International Airport, Use of Other 
Existing Airports in the Region, and Develop a New Airport. Several of 
these candidate alternatives have multiple sub-candidates that are 
evaluated in the Draft Alternatives Working Paper.
    Pursuant to U.S. Department of Transportation Order 5650.2, 
Floodplain Management and Protection, the FAA is also notifying the 
public that Clark County's proposed action may create a significant 
encroachment into the base floodplain for Roach Dry Lake. Roach Dry 
Lake is located east of Interstate 15 north of Primm and South of Jean, 
Nevada. Roach Dry Lake is the terminus of various unnamed ephemeral and 
semi-permanent streams. Roach Dry Lake also receives storm-related 
surface sheet flow from alluvial fans and surrounding mountainous 
areas. Clark County's proposed action would modify the shape of the dry 
lake bed and its margin terrace to accommodate the construction of the 
proposed airport. The proposed airport would be constructed on an 
earthen platform that would elevate the new airport above the water 
level that occurs in the dry lake following a storm event. This earthen 
platform may affect the natural and beneficial floodplain value of 
Roach Dry Lake by altering the total surface area usable for ground 
water infiltration and recharge. FAA and BLM expect the function of the 
Roach Dry Lake playa to be more clearly defined following completion of 
the Affected Environment section of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement. Clark County is developing a flash flood/drainage plan to 
manage storm water runoff into Roach Dry Lake that will be evaluated in 
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Clark County is seeking 
federal approval of the Airport Layout Plan for the proposed new 
airport. FAA anticipates Clark County seeking federal funding 
assistance for the proposal as well. However, FAA has not received an 
application for federal assistance to construct the proposed new 
airport from Clark County.
    The Draft Alternatives Working Paper also identifies other 
candidate alternatives that may have encroachments into base 
floodplains. FAA and BLM will consider all comments received for the 
purpose of developing future documents supporting the Draft EIS. FAA 
and BLM will accept comments on the Draft Alternatives Working Paper 
until 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, Friday, October 3, 2008.
    Copies of the Draft Alternatives Working Paper are available for 
public review at the following locations during normal business hours:
    U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, 
Western-Pacific Region, Office of the Airports Division, 15000 Aviation 
Boulevard, Hawthorne, California 90261.
    U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, 
National Headquarters, Office of Airports, Planning and Environmental 
Needs Division, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591.
    Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas Field Office, 4701 North 
Torrey Pines, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130.
    The document is also available for public review at the following 
libraries and other locations and at the following Web site: http://www.snvairporteis.com:
Boulder City Public Library, 701 Adams Boulevard, Boulder City, Nevada 
89005.

[[Page 45269]]

Gibson Library, 280 South Water Street, Henderson, Nevada 89015-7288.
Pittman Library, 1608 Moser Drive, Henderson, Nevada 89015-4323.
Paseo Verde Library, 280 South Green Valley Parkway, Henderson, Nevada 
89012-2301.
Malcolm Library, 2960 Sunridge Heights Parkway, Henderson, Nevada 
89052.
Clark County Law Library, 309 South 3rd Street, Suite 400, Las Vegas, 
Nevada 89155.
Lied Library--UNLV, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, Nevada 89104.
UNLV Libraries Government Publications, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las 
Vegas, Nevada 89101.
Nevada State Library and Archives, 716 N. Carson Street, Suite B, 
Carson City, Nevada 89701.
North Las Vegas Library District, 2300 Civic Center Drive, North Las 
Vegas, Nevada 89030-5839.
Aliante Branch Library, 2400 Deer Springs Way, North Las Vegas, Nevada 
89084.
Pahrump Community Library District, 701 East Street, Pahrump, Nevada 
89048-0578.
White Pine County Library, 950 Campton Street, Ely, Nevada 89301-1965.
Clark County Library, 1401 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89119-
5256.
Goodsprings Library, 365 West San Pedro Avenue, Goodsprings, Nevada 
89019-0667.
Lincoln County Library, 63 Main Street, P.O. Box 330, Pioche, Nevada 
89043-0330.
Alamo Branch Library, 100 South First West, P.O. Box 239, Alamo, Nevada 
89001-0239.
Caliente Branch Library, 100 Depot Avenue, P.O. Box 306, Caliente, 
Nevada 89008-0306.
Searchlight Library, 200 Michael Wendal Way, Searchlight, Nevada 89046.
Sandy Valley Library, 650 W. Quartz Avenue, Sandy Valley, Nevada 89019.
Mt. Charleston Library, 1252 Aspen Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89124.
Moapa Valley Library, 350 N. Moapa Valley Blvd., Overton, Nevada 89040.
Laughlin Library, 2840 S. Needles Hwy., Laughlin, Nevada 89020.
Blue Diamond Library, 14 Cottonwood Drive, Blue Diamond, Nevada 89004.
Moapa Town Library, 1340 E. Highway 168, Moapa, Nevada 89025.
Indian Springs Library, 715 Gretta Lane, Indian Springs, Nevada 89018.
Bunkerville Library, 150 W. Virgin Street, Bunkerville, Nevada 89007.
Mesquite Library, 121 W. First St., Mesquite, Nevada 89027.
Enterprise Library, 25 E. Shelbourne Way, Las Vegas, Nevada 89123.
Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway, Henderson, Nevada 
89014.
Las Vegas Library, 833 Las Vegas Blvd. North, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101.
Meadows Library, 300 W. Boston Ave., Las Vegas, Nevada 89102.
Rainbow Library, 3150 N. Buffalo Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89128.
Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89177.
Spring Valley Library, 4280 S. Jones Blvd, Las Vegas, Nevada 89103.
Sunrise Library, 5400 Harris Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89110.
Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89134.
West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, Nevada 
89146.
West Las Vegas Library, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd., Las Vegas, Nevada 
89106.
Whitney Library, 5175 E. Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89106.
University of Nevada Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway Box 457001, 
Building LLB 1173, MS 7033, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-7001.
William S. Boyd School of Law, UNLV, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Box 451003, 
Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-1003.
Nevada State College, 1125 Nevada State Drive, Henderson, Nevada 89015.

    The Draft Alternatives Working Paper will be available for public 
comment for 30 days. Written comments on the Draft Alternatives Working 
Paper should be submitted to the address above under the heading FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT and must be received no later than 5 p.m. 
Pacific Standard Time, Friday, October 3, 2008.

    Issued in Hawthorne, California on July 29, 2008.
Mark A. McClardy,
Manager, Airports Division, Western--Pacific Region, AWP-600.
[FR Doc. E8-17897 Filed 8-1-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P