[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 240 (Friday, December 12, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75665-75667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-29142]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY


Science and Technology Directorate; Notice of Availability of the 
Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed National Bio and 
Agro-Defense Facility

AGENCY: Science and Technology Directorate (Office of National 
Laboratories within the Office of Research), DHS; Department of 
Agriculture (USDA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announces the 
availability of its National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (NBAF Final EIS). This announcement is 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as 
amended, and its implementing regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. 
The Proposed Action to site, construct, and operate the National Bio 
and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) would allow researchers to develop 
tests to detect foreign animal diseases and zoonotic diseases 
(transmitted from animals to humans) and develop vaccines (or other 
countermeasures such as antiviral therapies) to protect agriculture and 
food systems in the United States. The NBAF would enhance U.S. 
biodefense capabilities with modern and integrated high-security 
(biosafety levels 3 and 4) facilities that would ensure U.S.

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vulnerabilities and risks from agro-terrorism are safely addressed. DHS 
anticipates that the proposed NBAF would focus biosafety level 3 
agricultural (BSL-3Ag) research on African swine fever, classical swine 
fever, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, foot and mouth disease, 
Japanese encephalitis, and Rift Valley fever; BSL-4 research would 
address Hendra and Nipah viruses.

DATES: DHS will consider comments on the NBAF Final EIS, received by 
January 12, 2009, to determine whether they identify new information 
relevant to environmental concerns bearing upon the Preferred 
Alternative.

ADDRESSES: The NBAF Final EIS, which includes the Executive Summary and 
the Comment Response Document, is available online at http://www.dhs.gov/nbaf and in designated reading rooms (see SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION). Compact disks and paper copies are available upon written 
request via e-mail or U.S. mail. Submit written comments on the NBAF 
Final EIS to [email protected] or via mail: NBAF Program 
Manager; P.O. Box 2188; Germantown, MD 20875-2188. Individual names and 
addresses (including e-mail addresses) received as part of comment 
documents on the NBAF Final EIS will be part of the public record and 
subject to disclosure. Any person wishing to have his/her name, 
address, or other identifying information withheld from public release 
must state this request in the comment document. DHS will consider all 
comments received before the Record of Decision is signed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the NBAF Final EIS 
should be directed to James V. Johnson DHS; Science and Technology 
Directorate; Mail Stop 2100; 245 Murray Lane, SW.; Building 
410; Washington, DC 20528-0300 or e-mail to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DHS is responsible for detecting, 
preventing, protecting against, and responding to terrorist attacks 
within the United States. These responsibilities, as applied to the 
defense of animal agriculture, are shared with the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA). In developing a coordinated strategy to adequately 
protect the nation against biological threats to animal agriculture, 
DHS and USDA identified a gap that must be filled by an integrated 
research, development, test, and evaluation infrastructure for 
combating threats to U.S. agriculture. To bridge this gap and comply 
with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9, Defense of United 
States Agriculture and Food, DHS proposed to build the integrated 
research, development, test, and evaluation facility called the 
National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF).
    In June 2008, DHS published the NBAF Draft EIS, which analyzed the 
environmental impacts of the Proposed Action on six site alternatives, 
as well as the No Action Alternative. The site alternatives include: 
(1) South Milledge Avenue Site, Athens, Georgia; (2) Manhattan Campus 
Site, Manhattan, Kansas; (3) Flora Industrial Park Site, Flora, 
Mississippi; (4) Plum Island Site, Plum Island, New York; (5) Umstead 
Research Farm Site, Butner, North Carolina; and (6) Texas Research Park 
Site, San Antonio, Texas. Under the No Action Alternative, the NBAF 
would not be constructed and DHS would continue to use the Plum Island 
Animal Disease Center with necessary investments in facility upgrades, 
replacements, and repairs so that it could continue to operate at its 
current capability level.
    The EPA published the Notice of Availability of the NBAF Draft EIS 
on June 27, 2008 (73 FR 36540). During the 60-day public comment 
period, which concluded on August 25, 2008, DHS held 13 public meetings 
in the vicinity of the site alternatives and in Washington, DC to 
facilitate information exchange and to solicit comments on the NBAF 
Draft EIS.
    DHS gave equal consideration to the approximately 5,400 identified 
comments collected via e-mail, mail, public meetings, and toll-free fax 
and telephone numbers during the public comment period. DHS's responses 
to comments are presented in Appendix H of the Final EIS. The NBAF 
Final EIS reflects changes based on the comments received, availability 
of new data, and correction of errors and omissions.
    DHS anticipates distributing approximately 2,600 copies of the NBAF 
Final EIS and/or the Executive Summary to congressional members and 
committees; federal, state, and local agency and governmental 
representatives and elected officials; Native American representatives; 
special interest groups and non-governmental organizations; and 
individuals.
    The DHS Preferred Alternative identified in the NBAF Final EIS is 
to build and operate the NBAF at the Manhattan Campus Site in Kansas.
    The NBAF Final EIS analyzes the potential impacts of the Proposed 
Action on the physical, biological, and human environments at each of 
the six site alternatives, as well as the potential impacts of the No 
Action Alternative. This Final EIS is not a decision document. DHS and 
USDA, a consulting agency on this EIS, will also consider information 
from associated support documentation including: Threat and Risk 
Assessment, Site Cost Analysis, Site Characterization Study, Plum 
Island Facility Closure and Transition Cost Study, as well as prior 
analysis of the site alternatives against DHS's site selection 
evaluation criteria.
    DHS will announce its decision on the Proposed Action in the Record 
of Decision (ROD) that identifies the alternatives considered, the 
decisions made, the environmentally preferable alternative, and the 
factors balanced by the Department in making the decision. The NBAF ROD 
will include: (1) The decision whether or not to build the NBAF; (2) if 
the decision is made to build the NBAF, where it will be built; (3) the 
site alternatives considered in the EIS; (4) whether all practicable 
means to avoid or minimize environmental impacts from the alternative 
selected have been adopted and, if not, why; (5) any monitoring and 
enforcement that would be necessary to offset unavoidable environmental 
impacts; and (6) relevant comments on the NBAF Final EIS. DHS will 
issue a ROD on the proposed action no sooner than 30 days after the NOA 
of the NBAF Final EIS is published in the Federal Register.
    The NBAF Final EIS is available for review at the following reading 
rooms:

Georgia

University of Georgia Main Library, 320 South Jackson Street, Athens, 
GA 30602;
Oconee County Library, 1080 Experiment Station Road, Watkinsville, GA 
30677.

Kansas

Manhattan Public Library, 629 Poytnz Avenue, Manhattan, KS 66502;
Hale Library, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506.

Mississippi

City of Flora Library, 144 Clark Street, Flora, MS 39071.

New York Site

Acton Public Library, 60 Old Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, CT 06475;
Southold Free Library, 53705 Main Road, Southold, NY 11971.

North Carolina

Richard H. Thornton Library, 210 Main Street, Oxford, NC 27565-0339;
South Branch Library, 1547 South Campus Drive, Creedmoor, NC 27522.

[[Page 75667]]

Texas

Central Library, 600 Soledad, San Antonio, TX 78205.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347 (National Environmental Policy 
Act).

    Dated: December 3, 2008.
Bruce Knight,
Under Secretary, Marketing and Regulatory Programs, USDA.
Jay M. Cohen,
Under Secretary, Science & Technology, DHS.
[FR Doc. E8-29142 Filed 12-11-08; 8:45 am]
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