[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 126 (Thursday, July 2, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31710-31711]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15621]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary


Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Campus 
Development Project Within the Fort Meade Complex, MD

AGENCY: Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of intent; notice of public meeting; request for 
comments.

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Defense (DOD) announces its intent to 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the 
environmental planning process for a Campus Development Project at Fort 
George G. Meade, Maryland (hereafter referred to as Fort Meade). The 
DOD proposes the development of a portion of Fort Meade (referred to as 
``Site M'') as an operational complex and to construct and operate 
consolidated facilities to meet the National Security Agency's (NSA) 
continually evolving requirements and for Intelligence Community use. 
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to provide facilities that are 
fully-supportive of the Intelligence Community's mission. The need for 
the action is to consolidate multiple agencies' efforts to ensure 
capabilities for current and future mission accomplishments as directed 
by Congress and the President.
    Publication of this notice begins a scoping process that identifies 
and determines the scope of environmental issues to be addressed in the 
EIS. This notice requests public participation in the scoping process 
and provides information on how to participate.

DATES: There will be an open house at 4 p.m. followed by a scoping 
meeting from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21, 2009, at Fort Meade 
Middle School, 1103 26th Street, Fort Meade, Maryland 20755. Comments 
or questions regarding this EIS should be submitted by 45 days from the 
date of publication in the Federal Register to ensure sufficient time 
to consider public input in the preparation of the Draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: The open house and scoping meeting will be held at the Fort 
Meade Middle School, 1103 26th Street, Fort Meade, Maryland 20755. Oral 
and written comments will be accepted at the scoping meeting. You can 
also submit written comments to ``Campus Development EIS'' c/o E2M, 
2751 Prosperity Avenue, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22031 or submitted by e-
mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeffrey Williams at (301) 688-
2970, or e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: The NSA is a tenant DOD agency on Fort Meade. NSA is a 
high-technology organization that is on the frontier of communications 
and data processing. In order to meet mission growth requirements as 
well as provide consolidated facilities that are fully-supportive of 
the Intelligence Community's mission, development of a modern 
operational complex is needed at the NSA campus on Fort Meade.
    Proposed Action and Alternatives: The Campus Development Project 
was initiated to provide a modern operational complex to meet the 
growth requirements of NSA and consolidated facilities for Intelligence 
Community use. Development is proposed for a portion of Fort Meade 
(referred to as ``Site M'') adjacent to the NSA campus. Site M is 
divided into northern (Site M1, 137 acres) and southern (Site M2, 99 
acres) portions. DOD proposes that development of Site M occur in three 
option phases over a horizon of approximately 20 years.
     Phase I. Development would occur in the near term on the 
western half of Site M1, supporting 1.8 million square feet of 
facilities for NSA to consolidate mission elements, enabling services, 
and support services across the campus based on function; servicing the 
need for more collaborative environment and optimal adjacencies, 
including associated infrastructure (e.g., electrical substation and 
generator plants providing 60 megawatts of electricity) and 
administrative functions for up to 6,500 personnel.
     Phase II. Development would occur in the mid-term on the 
eastern half of Site M1, supporting 1.2 million square feet of 
administrative facilities.
     Phase III. Development would occur on Site M2 in the long 
term, supporting an additional 2.8 million square feet of 
administrative facilities, bringing built space to 5.8 million square 
feet for up to 11,000 personnel.
    Alternatives identified include each of the development phases 
identified above, as well as three options for

[[Page 31711]]

redundant emergency backup power generation and various pollution 
control systems. These alternatives will be further developed during 
preparation of the Draft EIS as a result of public and agency input and 
environmental analyses of the activities. The No Action Alternative 
(not undertaking the Campus Development Project) will also be analyzed 
in detail.
    This notice of intent is required by 40 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) 1508.22 and briefly describes the proposed action and possible 
alternatives and our proposed scoping process. The EIS will comply with 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Council on 
Environmental Quality regulations in 40 CFR parts 1500-1508, and DOD 
Instruction 4715.9 (Environmental Planning and Analysis).
    Significant Issues: Environmental issues to be analyzed in the EIS 
will include potential impacts on air quality, natural resources, water 
use, solid waste, transportation, and cumulative impacts from increased 
burdens to the installation and neighboring community based on 
projected growth.
    Scoping Process: Public scoping is an early and open process for 
identifying and determining the scope of issues to be addressed in the 
EIS. Scoping begins with this notice, continues through the public 
comment period (see DATES), and ends when the DOD has completed the 
following actions:

--Invites the participation of Federal, State, and local agencies, any 
affected Indian tribe and other interested persons
--Determines the actions, alternatives, and impacts described in 40 CFR 
1508.25
--Identifies and eliminates from detailed study those issues that are 
not significant or that have been covered elsewhere
--Indicates any related environmental assessments or environmental 
impact statements that are not part of the EIS
--Other relevant environmental review and consultation requirements
--Indicates the relationship between timing of the environmental review 
and other aspects of the proposed program
--At its discretion, exercises the options provided in 40 CFR 
1501.7(b).

    Once the scoping process is complete, the DOD will prepare a Draft 
EIS, and will publish a Federal Register notice announcing its public 
availability. If you want that notice to be sent to you, please contact 
the DOD Project Office point of contact identified in FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. You will have an opportunity to review and comment 
on the Draft EIS. Additionally, the DOD anticipates holding a public 
meeting after publication of the Draft EIS in the vicinity of Fort 
Meade, Maryland to present the Draft EIS and receive public comments 
regarding the document. The DOD will consider all comments received and 
then prepare the Final EIS. As with the Draft EIS, the DOD will 
announce the availability of the Final EIS and once again give you an 
opportunity for review and comment.

    Dated: June 29, 2009.
Morgan E. Frazier,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. E9-15621 Filed 7-1-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-06-P