[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 154 (Friday, August 8, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46249-46250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-18385]


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

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Public Hearing for the Draft Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement for Developing Homeport Facilities for Three Nimitz-
Class Aircraft Carriers in Support of the U.S. Pacific Fleet

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as implemented by the Council on 
Environmental Quality Regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 
1500-1508 the U.S. Department of the Navy (Navy) has prepared and filed 
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a Draft 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for Developing 
Homeport Facilities for Three Nimitz-Class (CVN) Aircraft Carriers in 
Support of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on August 8, 2008. The Draft SEIS has 
been prepared to update the analyses contained in the 1999 Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (the 1999 FEIS) for Developing Homeport 
Facilities for Three Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carriers in Support of the 
U.S. Pacific Fleet.
    The SEIS analyzes information that was not available at the time 
the 1999 FEIS was completed, and focuses on potentially significant new 
circumstances or information relevant to environmental conditions that 
have emerged since the 2000 Record of Decision (2000 ROD) for the 1999 
FEIS. Information or circumstances that have not changed significantly 
since the 2000 ROD are not re-examined in the SEIS.
    A public hearing will be held to provide information and receive 
oral and written comments on the Draft SEIS. Federal, state, and local 
agencies and interested individuals are invited to be present or 
represented at the hearing.

Dates and Addresses: The public hearing will be held on September 3, 
2008. The hearing will consist of an open house information session 
from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and a formal public

[[Page 46250]]

hearing from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Navy representatives will be available at 
the open house information session to answer questions about the 
proposal and the Draft SEIS analyses. The open house and public hearing 
will be held at: Coronado Community Center, Nautilus Room, 1845 Strand 
Way, Coronado, CA 92118.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: SEIS Project Manager, Naval Facilities 
Engineering Command Southwest, 2730 McKean Street, Building 291, San 
Diego, CA 92136, telephone: 619-556-8509.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Navy has filed the Draft SEIS for 
Developing Homeport Facilities for Three Nimitz-Class Aircraft Carriers 
in Support of the U.S. Pacific Fleet with the EPA in accordance with 
the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. Sections 4321-4345) and its implementing regulations 
(40 CFR Parts 1500-1508). The Navy is the lead agency for the Proposed 
Action.
    A Notice of Intent for the SEIS was published in the Federal 
Register on October 18, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 201, Pages 59084-
59085), which specified that scoping comments must submitted on or 
before November 19, 2007. In response to local wildfires in the San 
Diego area, the Navy extended the normal 30-day scoping period. A 
second notice was published in the Federal Register Volume 72, 6 Number 
218, Page 63891 on November 13, 2007, indicating that the public 
comment period had been extended through December 3, 2007 for a total 
of 47 days.
    The Proposed Action from the 1999 FEIS has been implemented except 
for some minor infrastructure upgrades, some of which were not required 
at the time of the FEIS. Therefore, the Navy proposes to implement 
those minor infrastructure upgrades in order to meet current Navy 
requirements.
    The Navy's analysis of the existing CVN homeport facilities and 
infrastructure at Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) in Coronado, 
California, included a summary of specific construction projects needed 
to satisfy the requirements set out in the Naval Sea Systems Command 
and Naval Facilities Engineering Command guidance documents and Anti-
Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) guidance documents. These proposed 
minor infrastructure upgrades to Berth LIMA are analyzed in the SEIS 
and include: A fendering system, mooring bollards, a CVN security 
building and AT/FP improvements, as well as the installation of 
information systems, electrical and mechanical utility upgrades, 
paving, drainage, and site improvements.
    There are no practical alternatives to these requirements, as 
current guidelines require these features for a homeport berth. 
Consequently, no alternatives to the minor infrastructure upgrades are 
discussed.
    The primary focus of the SEIS is vehicular traffic and traffic-
related issues in the vicinity of NASNI including evaluating the 
effectiveness of traffic mitigation measures implemented pursuant to 
the 2000 ROD. The SEIS also addresses potential environmental impacts 
to air quality, noise levels, biological resources, and marine water 
resources associated with the minor CVN berth infrastructure 
improvements at NASNI, and public scoping comments related to shoreline 
erosion along First Street in the City of Coronado.
    The Draft SEIS has been distributed to various Federal, State, and 
local agencies, as well as other interested individuals and 
organizations. In addition, copies of the Draft SEIS have been made 
available for public review at the following repositories:
    1. Chula Vista Library, Civic Center Branch, 365 F Street, Chula 
Vista CA 91910;
    2. Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118;
    3. National City Public Library, 1401 National City Blvd., National 
City, CA 91950;
    4. San Diego County Library, Imperial Beach Branch, 810 Imperial 
Beach Blvd., Imperial Beach, CA 91932;
    5. San Diego Public Library, 820 E Street, San Diego, CA 92101;
    6. San Diego Public Library, Point Loma/Hervey Branch Library, 3701 
Voltaire St., San Diego, CA 92107-1606.
    The Draft SEIS is also available electronically on the project Web 
site http://www.nimitzcarriersseis.com. Copies of the Draft SEIS or 
Executive Summary may be requested, and comments on the Draft SEIS may 
be submitted, via the Web site. Federal state, and local agencies, and 
other interested parties, are invited and encouraged to be present or 
represented at the public hearing. To ensure the accuracy of the 
record, all statements presented orally at the public hearing should be 
submitted in writing. All comments will become part of the public 
record and substantive comments will be responded to in the Final SEIS.
    Equal weight will be given to oral and written statements. Persons 
wishing to speak will be required to sign in. In the interest of 
available time, and to ensure all who wish to give an oral statement at 
the public hearings have the opportunity to do so, each speaker's 
comments will be limited to three minutes. If a longer statement is to 
be presented, it should be summarized at the public hearing and the 
full text submitted in writing either at the hearing or mailed to: 
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, Attn: SEIS Project 
Manager Code: ROPME.RM, 2730 McKean Street, Building 291, San Diego, CA 
92136.
    Comments can be made in the following ways: (1) Oral statements/
written comments at the public hearing; (2) written comments mailed to 
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, Attn: SEIS Project 
Manager Code: ROPME.RM, 2730 McKean Street, Building 291, San Diego, CA 
92136; (3) written comment by e-mail to [email protected]; or (4) 
comments submitted via the project Web site at http://www.nimitzcarriersseis.com. Written comments postmarked by September 
22, 2008 will become part of the official public record.

    Dated: August 4, 2008.
T. M. Cruz,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, 
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E8-18385 Filed 8-7-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3810-FF-P