[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 18 (Thursday, January 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4537-4538]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1768]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Public Hearings for the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Silver Strand Training Complex, San Diego, CA

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) and the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations 
for implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (Title 40 Code of 
Federal Regulations Parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Navy (Navy) 
has prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for public release on 
January 22, 2010. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a 
cooperating agency for the EIS.
    The DEIS evaluates the potential environmental impacts associated 
with training activities within the Navy's Silver Strand Training 
Complex (SSTC) and southern nearshore areas of the Naval Air Station 
North Island (NASNI). The DEIS addresses ongoing and proposed military 
training activities, introduction of new platforms and equipment for 
training, and increased access and availability to existing beach and 
inland training areas. The proposed action serves to achieve and 
maintain Fleet readiness using the SSTC to support and conduct current, 
emerging, and future training activities. A Notice of Intent for this 
EIS was published in the Federal Register on August 6, 2001 (66 FR 
41009).
    The Navy will conduct two public hearings to receive oral and 
written comments on the DEIS. An open house session will precede the 
scheduled public hearing where Navy representatives will be available 
to clarify information related to the DEIS. Federal, State, and local 
agencies, elected officials, and other interested individuals and 
organizations are invited to be present or represented at the public 
hearings. This notice announces the dates and locations of the public 
hearings.
    Dates and Addresses: Two public hearings will be held in San Diego 
County, CA to receive oral and written comments on the DEIS. All 
meetings will start with an open house session from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., 
followed by a presentation and formal public comment period from 6 p.m. 
to 7:30 p.m. Public hearings will be held on the following dates and at 
the following locations:
    1. Tuesday, February 22, 2010, at the Imperial Beach City Hall 
Community Room, 825 Imperial Beach Boulevard, Imperial Beach, CA; and
    2. Wednesday, February 23, 2010, at the Coronado Community Center, 
1845 Strand Way, Coronado, CA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Naval Facilities Engineering Command 
Southwest, Attention: Mr. Kent Randall, SSTC EIS Project Manager, 1220 
Pacific Highway, Building 1, 5th Floor, San Diego, CA 92132; or http://www.silverstrandtrainingcomplexeis.com.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SSTC has been used by the Navy for 
training over 60 years. It is located on, and adjacent to, the Silver 
Strand, a narrow, sandy isthmus separating the San Diego Bay from the 
Pacific Ocean. SSTC is divided into two non-contiguous areas: SSTC-
North (SSTC-N) and SSTC-South (SSTC-S). SSTC-N includes land areas on 
the northern-half of the Silver Strand peninsula, as well as adjacent 
nearshore waters of the Pacific Ocean and the San Diego Bay. SSTC-N is 
composed of 10 oceanside beach and boat training lanes, ocean anchorage 
areas, bayside water training areas, and bayside beaches. SSTC-S 
includes land on the southern-end of the Silver Strand

[[Page 4538]]

peninsula, as well as adjacent nearshore waters of the Pacific Ocean. 
SSTC-S consists of four oceanside beach lanes, four boat training 
lanes, and inland training areas and facilities inside a fenced area. 
SSTC-N and SSTC-S are separated by the Silver Strand State Beach. A 
training area located in the southern near shore area of NASNI, 
separate from SSTC, is used for similar types of training, and is also 
part of the DEIS. This NASNI training area is composed of the beaches 
and near shore waters from Breakers Beach to Zuniga Jetty, west of the 
city of Coronado. The Navy is not proposing to expand the geographic 
area of SSTC or the NASNI training area.
    The purpose of the proposed action is to improve the availability 
and quality of training opportunities at SSTC to achieve required 
levels of operational readiness. The proposed action is needed to 
provide a training environment consisting of training areas and range 
facilities with the capacity and capabilities to fully support required 
training tasks for operational units and military schools and meet the 
operational readiness requirements of Title 10, Section 5062 of the 
United States Code (10 U.S.C. 5062). Accordingly, the proposed action 
will meet training requirements by: (1) Continuing current training and 
increasing the number of existing training activities and introduce new 
training activities and platforms in support of Fleet Response Training 
Plan (FRTP) and surge requirements; (2) providing assured year-round 
access and unencumbered use of training areas to meet current and 
future training needs per the Navy Tactical Task List; and (3) 
providing a training range and training facilities that afford 
operational commands the flexibility to achieve diverse and realistic 
training at SSTC.
    Under the No Action Alternative, training activities would continue 
at baseline levels. SSTC would not accommodate an increase in training 
tempo or type required to execute the FRTP or introduce new platforms 
or equipment into training on SSTC. Under the No Action Alternative, 
the Navy would not accommodate training requirements for repositioned 
forces in the Southern California area. In addition, under the No 
Action Alternative, training access restrictions, including seasonal 
restrictions on SSTC beach lanes and in inland areas of SSTC-S would 
remain unchanged.
    Alternative 1, the Navy's preferred alternative, is designed to 
meet Navy and DoD current and near-term operational training 
requirements. Under Alternative 1, the Navy would increase the tempo 
and types of training, conduct existing routine training at additional 
locations within established SSTC training areas, introduce new 
platforms and equipment into training, and increase access and 
availability to SSTC training areas. New platforms and equipment would 
include replacement of Amphibious Assault Vehicles with Expeditionary 
Fighting Vehicles, an updated Offshore Petroleum Discharge System, and 
the MH-60R/S Seahawk Multi-Mission helicopter. Access and availability 
to SSTC training areas would be increased in three ways: (1) SSTC-N 
oceanside beach training lanes Blue 2, Orange 1 and Orange 2 (that are 
currently restricted during the nesting season) would be opened for 
training during the nesting season if other lanes are not available or 
if the lanes provide attributes more appropriate for training than 
other available lanes; (2) a maximum of 22 concurrent western snowy 
plover nests would be buffered for avoidance on SSTC oceanside beaches; 
and (3) training involving foot traffic, but not vehicle traffic, would 
be allowed in the vernal pools when vernal pool conditions are 
determined to be dry.
    Alternative 2 consists of all elements of Alternative 1. 
Alternative 2 includes the same increase in the number and types of 
training activities over No Action Alternative levels, training in 
additional locations within established SSTC training areas, and 
introduction of new platforms and equipment into training. In addition, 
under Alternative 2, the Navy would fully utilize all oceanside beach 
lanes along SSTC-N and SSTC-S for continuous, year-round training. The 
Navy would continue to conduct existing management practice on the SSTC 
training beaches including nest relocation, predator management and 
control, habitat modification, site preparation for maintenance, nest 
substrate enhancement, signage and education, recreational use 
restrictions, and rearing of collected eggs, injured and sick 
individuals.
    The SSTC DEIS is posted online at http://www.silverstrandtrainingcomplexeis.com and available to Federal, State, 
and local agencies, elected officials, and other interested individuals 
and organizations. The public comment period will end on March 9, 2010. 
Copies of the DEIS are available for public review at the following 
libraries:
    1. Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA; and
    2. Imperial Beach Branch Library, 810 Imperial Beach Boulevard, 
Imperial Beach, CA.
    Federal, State, and local agencies, elected officials, and 
interested individuals and organizations are invited to be present or 
represented at the public hearing. Written comments can also be 
submitted during the open house sessions preceding the public hearings.
    Oral statements will be heard and transcribed by a court reporter. 
All statements, both oral and written, will become part of the public 
record on the DEIS and will be responded to in the Final EIS (FEIS). 
Equal weight will be given to both oral and written statements; 
however, to ensure the accuracy of the record, it is recommended that 
statements be submitted in writing. In the interest of available time, 
and to ensure all who wish to give an oral statement have the 
opportunity to do so, each speaker's comments will be limited to three 
(3) minutes. If you have prepared a written statement, you may read it 
out loud if you can do so within the three minute time limit, or you 
may turn it in at the public hearing or mail the statement to Naval 
Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, Attention: Mr. Kent Randall, 
Silver Strand Training Complex EIS Project Manager, 1220 Pacific 
Highway, Building 1, 5th Floor, San Diego, CA 92132. In addition, 
comments may be submitted online at http://www.silverstrandtrainingcomplexeis.com during the comment period. All 
written comments must be postmarked by March 9, 2010, to ensure they 
become part of the official record. All comments will be addressed in 
the FEIS.

    Dated: January 22, 2010.
A.M. Vallandingham,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, 
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2010-1768 Filed 1-27-10; 8:45 am]
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