[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 160 (Friday, August 17, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 49865]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20243]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Notice of Availability of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 
for the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) Long 
Range Development Plan (LRDP)

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.), the Council on 
Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural 
Requirements of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), VA's Implementing 
Regulations (38 CFR part 26), as well as the settlement agreement 
resulting from Planning Association for Richmond, et al. v. U.S. 
Department of Veterans Affairs, C-06-02321-SBA (filed 6 June 2008), VA 
has prepared a Draft EIS for the proposed implementation of the SFVAMC 
LRDP in San Francisco, California. The SFVAMC LRDP involves development 
and construction of patient care buildings, research buildings, 
business occupancy buildings, and parking structures, as well as 
retrofitting seismically deficient buildings. The Draft EIS identifies 
and evaluates environmental factors associated with new construction, 
demolition, as well as seismic retrofit to upgrade the SFVAMC for 
purposes of meeting the needs of Veterans of the North Coast and San 
Francisco Bay Area over the next 20 years.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit comments in writing on 
the SFVAMC LRDP Draft EIS by October 16, 2012. Interested parties are 
also invited to participate in a public meeting regarding the SFVAMC 
LRDP Draft EIS on September 20, 2012 at SFVAMC (4150 Clement Street, 
San Francisco, CA 94121, Building 7, 1st Floor, Auditorium) at 5 p.m. 
At the public meeting, interested parties will also have the 
opportunity to comment regarding the National Historic Preservation Act 
Section 106 process.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on the SFVAMC LRDP Draft EIS through 
www.regulations.gov. Please refer to: ``SFVAMC LRDP Draft EIS'' in any 
correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chief Engineer, Engineering Service 
(138), San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4150 Clement 
Street, San Francisco, CA 94121 or by telephone, (415) 221-4810, 
extension 2009. The SFVAMC LRDP and LRDP Draft EIS are available for 
viewing on the SFVAMC Web site: http://www.sanfrancisco.va.gov/planning.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA operates the SFVAMC, located at Fort 
Miley in San Francisco, California. It is the only VAMC in the City and 
County of San Francisco and is considered an aging facility with need 
for retrofitting and expansion. The SFVAMC has identified a need for 
retrofitting existing buildings to the most recent seismic safety 
requirements and for an additional 589,000 square feet of building 
space (in addition to the existing nearly one million square feet of 
building space) to meet the needs of San Francisco Bay Area and 
northern California coast Veterans over the next 20 years.
    Three alternatives were evaluated in the Draft EIS. Alternative 1 
would include the addition of 244,000 square feet (or 394,000 square 
feet including parking structure space) of medical and research space 
and seismic retrofit of nine existing buildings at the existing SFVAMC 
site, a 29-acre site located at Fort Miley in the northwestern portion 
of San Francisco. Alternative 2 would include the addition of 124,000 
square feet (or 274,000 square feet including parking structure space) 
of medical and research space and seismic retrofit of nine existing 
buildings at the existing SFVAMC site as well as the construction of 
350,000 square feet (or 620,000 square feet including parking structure 
space) of new ambulatory care and research space at a new alternate 
site in the Mission Bay area of San Francisco. Alternative 3 is the No 
Action Alternative.
    Environmental topics that have been addressed in the Draft EIS 
include: aesthetics, air quality, community services, cultural 
resources, coastal management, geology and soils, greenhouse gas 
emissions, hydrology and water quality, land use, noise, 
socioeconomics, hazards, transportation and parking, utilities, and 
biological resources. Relevant and reasonable measures that could 
alleviate environmental effects have been considered and are included 
where relevant within the Draft EIS.
    Information related to the EIS process, including notices of public 
meetings, will be available for viewing on the SFVAMC Web site: http://www.sanfrancisco.va.gov/.

    Approved: August 9, 2012.
John R. Gingrich,
Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2012-20243 Filed 8-16-12; 8:45 am]
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