[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 161 (Friday, August 19, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51957-51958]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21216]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Medical Facilities Development and University Expansion at Naval 
Support Activity Bethesda, Bethesda, Maryland and To Announce Public 
Scoping Meetings

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) of 1969, the regulations implemented by the Council 
on Environmental Quality (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] parts 
1500-1508), the Department of the Navy (DoN) announces its intent to 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the 
potential environmental effects associated with the proposed actions at 
Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bethesda to implement the Congressional 
mandate in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 National Defense Authorization Act 
(NDAA) to achieve the new statutory world-class standards for military 
medicine at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at 
Bethesda (WRNMMCB) by providing enduring facilities commensurate in 
quality, capability and condition as those provided by the Base 
Realignment and Closure (BRAC) investment and address the space and 
operational limitations at the Uniformed Services University of the 
Health Sciences (USUHS). The proposed actions, which will enhance and 
support but not add to the missions of the installation, medical center 
or USUHS, include: (1) The demolition of five (5) hospital buildings 
and reconstruction of a single 5-story facility and associated parking 
garage, utility capacity upgrades, and temporary medical facilities to 
provide uninterrupted patient care during construction (Medical 
Facilities Development) and (2) the expansion of the USUHS and 
associated parking garage.
    These proposed actions are two components of the 2012 NSA Bethesda 
Master Plan that the DoN is currently updating and this EIS analyzes 
the implementation of these components. The 2012 NSA Bethesda Master 
Plan reflects ongoing projects previously considered under NEPA as well 
as potential future development opportunities at NSA Bethesda. The EIS 
will evaluate the cumulative effects of the proposed actions in the 
context of the known, ongoing activities and identify the potential 
programmatic effects of the proposed actions in the context of the 
potential future development opportunities. Therefore, the EIS will 
analyze the environmental effects of the 2012 NSA Bethesda Master Plan 
relative to the implementation of the proposed actions in this EIS. For 
the potential future development opportunities, the DoN will ensure the 
appropriate NEPA review is completed at such time as the projects are 
proposed for implementation.
    The proposed actions at NSA Bethesda consist of: (1) The Medical 
Facilities Development, which includes demolition of Buildings 2, 4, 6, 
7, and 8 and construction of a single, 5-story replacement building in 
the medical center core, construction of an associated parking garage, 
utility capacity upgrades, construction of temporary medical facilities 
to maintain uninterrupted patient care during construction, and 
internal renovations to Buildings 1, 3, 5, 9, and 10; and (2) the 
University Expansion, which includes construction of a new classroom/
research facility and associated parking garage at USUHS. The proposed 
actions would not add to the existing missions at NSA Bethesda and 
would occur subsequent to the 2005 BRAC Law mandated relocation of the 
Walter Reed Army Medical Center's (WRAMC) tertiary (sub-specialty and 
complex care) medical services to National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) 
at NSA Bethesda in September 2011. With the relocation, the NNMC will 
be renamed the WRNMMCB.
    NSA Bethesda is the action proponent and the DoN is the lead agency 
for the proposed actions. Joint Task Force National Capital Region 
Medical (JTF CapMed), NNMC, and USUHS, are tenants of NSA Bethesda and 
are the stakeholders for these activities.
    The DoN is initiating a 45-day public scoping period to identify 
community interests and specific issues to be addressed in the EIS. The 
public scoping period starts with the publication of this Notice of 
Intent. The DoN will hold two public scoping meetings to inform the 
public of the proposed actions and receive comments.
    Comments, both written and oral, will be collected at each of the 
two public scoping meetings. Each of the public scoping meetings will 
consist of an open house session followed by a live presentation and an 
opportunity for the public to present their comments. To ensure that 
the full range of issues related to the proposed actions will be 
addressed, representatives from the DoN will be available to solicit 
comments from all interested parties during the public scoping 
meetings. Following future publication of the draft EIS, at a time to 
be determined, further public meetings will be held to address comments 
on the draft document.
    Dates and Addresses: The two public scoping meetings will be held 
on the following dates:
    1. Wednesday, September 7, 2011, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Bethesda 
Marriott, 5151 Pooks Hill Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20814.
    2. Monday, September 12, 2011, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Bethesda Marriott, 
5151 Pooks Hill Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20814.
    Additional information concerning meeting times and locations are 
available on the NSA Bethesda Web site at: http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/nsa/eis.aspx. Public scoping meeting 
schedules and locations will also be announced in local newspapers.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandy Dean, NSA Bethesda Public 
Affairs Office; e-mail: [email protected]; telephone 
number: 301-295-5727.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NSA Bethesda is a 243-acre health care, 
medical education and research installation located in Bethesda in 
Montgomery County, Maryland and is the home of the world renowned NNMC. 
The installation provides logistical and service support to all of its 
tenant commands, including JTF

[[Page 51958]]

CapMed, NNMC, and USUHS. In September 2011, with the completion of 2005 
BRAC mandated relocation of WRAMC tertiary medical services to NNMC and 
its transformation to WRNMMCB, the facility will become the premier DoD 
medical center offering intensive and complex specialty and 
subspecialty medical services for the most seriously injured personnel 
from all military services. WRNMMCB and USUHS will also provide 
training and post-graduate level education to the military medical 
community and serve as a critical medical research center.
    The purpose of the Medical Facilities Development is to implement 
the Congressional mandate from the FY2010 National Defense 
Authorization Act to achieve the new statutory world-class standards 
for military medicine at the WRNMMCB by providing enduring facilities 
commensurate in quality, capability and condition as those provided by 
the BRAC investment. The Medical Facilities Development is needed 
because current space is insufficient to meet world class standards 
such as decompression to single occupancy patient rooms, a state-of-
the-art simulation center, and a health innovation center. The purpose 
of, and need for, the Medical Facilities Development was identified 
subsequent to the programming for BRAC 2005, which was specifically 
designed to accommodate the transfer of WRAMC to WRNMMCB and was never 
intended to address the mission capability or functionality of the 
existing infrastructure.
    The primary purpose of the University Expansion is to address the 
significant space and operational limitations that exist for education 
and research activities due to the fragmented, aging, and inefficient 
infrastructure and enable USUHS to serve as the core academic health 
research center at WRNMMCB. The University Expansion is needed because 
the USUHS operations are currently fragmented between off-site leased 
space in Montgomery County, Maryland and other dispersed buildings on 
NSA Bethesda. Additionally, the University Expansion will address the 
most recent Liaison Committee on Medical Education accreditation 
requirements, and provide adequate education and research space to meet 
Military Health System commitments to deliver training and post-
graduate level education to the military medical community.
    The Medical Facilities Development resulted from an iterative 
planning process which resulted in the Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP) 
developed by JTF CapMed in response to the FY10 NDAA Congressional 
mandate, which identified and evaluated alternatives based on the 
departmental needs anticipated at the WRNMMCB after the completion of 
the BRAC-mandated relocations in September 2011. The CMP development 
process identified the proposed action as the best approach to meet the 
Congressional mandate for world class facilities commensurate in 
quality, capability and condition with the BRAC investment. The Medical 
Facilities Development, as described in the CMP, entails demolition of 
Buildings 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8 (approximately 326,000 square feet (SF)) of 
and construction of a single, 5-story facility totaling approximately 
563,000 SF in the same basic footprint. The Medical Facilities 
Development also proposes utilities and power capacity upgrades, 
internal renovations in Buildings 1, 3, 5, 9 and 10, and the use of the 
northwest parking lot for temporary medical facilities to maintain 
uninterrupted patient care during the construction period.
    The Medical Facilities Development also proposes, in the lawn in 
front of Building 1, the construction of an approximately 203,000 SF, 
500-space underground parking garage, which in addition to the medical 
center, will serve the overall parking needs at NSA Bethesda. The EIS 
will analyze three alternative sites at NSA Bethesda for the 
underground parking garage: The warehouse area in the northeast corner, 
the Taylor Road site in the northeast area, and H-Lot in the south 
area, respectively.
    The EIS will consider two alternative sites for the University 
Expansion: Alternative 1 and Alternative 2 are south and west, 
respectively, of the existing USUHS campus. Under either of the 
alternative sites, the University Expansion would entail an 
approximately 341,000 SF education and research facility and an 
approximately 144,000 SF, 400-space parking structure that will serve 
USUHS and the overall parking needs across NSA Bethesda.
    The EIS will also consider the No Action Alternative, which will 
evaluate the impact at NSA Bethesda in the event that the proposed 
actions do not occur.
    The EIS will address the potential impacts of the proposed actions 
on the number of staff, patients, and visitors at NSA Bethesda. In 
addition, the EIS will evaluate the potential direct, indirect, short-
term, long-term, and cumulative impacts to the human and natural 
environment, to include potential impacts to topography, geology, and 
soils; water resources, biological resources, air quality, noise, 
infrastructure and utilities, traffic and transportation, cultural 
resources, land use, socioeconomics, environmental justice, and public 
health and safety. Known areas of concern associated with proposed 
actions include providing the required space and facilities at NSA 
Bethesda in consideration of historic characteristics of the 
installation, and the impact to local traffic and on-base parking 
associated with personnel and patient visits. Other recent changes at, 
and in the vicinity of, NSA Bethesda will be evaluated to ensure 
consideration of the cumulative impacts of the proposed actions in the 
context of the ongoing and programmed projects as well as reasonably 
foreseeable projects identified in the 2012 Master Plan.
    The EIS will also consider the 2012 NSA Bethesda Master Plan 
relative to the implementation of the Medical Facilities Development 
and University Expansion. The EIS will evaluate the cumulative impacts 
of the proposed actions in the context of the programmed projects 
already in progress and the programmatic effects of the potential 
future development opportunities identified in the 2012 NSA Bethesda 
Master Plan.
    The DoN encourages agencies and the public to provide written 
comments in addition to, or in lieu of, oral comments at the public 
scoping meetings. To be most helpful, comments should clearly describe 
specific issues or topics that the EIS should address. Written comments 
must be postmarked within 45 days of the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register and should be mailed to the address 
below. Comments may also be submitted via e-mail and/or the Web site 
listed below, within 45 days of the date of publication of this notice 
in the Federal Register. Requests for inclusion on the EIS mailing list 
may also be submitted to: Sandy Dean, NSA Bethesda Public Affairs 
Office, 8901 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20889; via e-mail at 
[email protected]; via telephone at 301-295-5727; or 
visit the project Web site at http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/nsa/eis.aspx.

    Dated: August 15, 2011.
J.M. Beal,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, 
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-21216 Filed 8-18-11; 8:45 am]
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