[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 210 (Friday, October 30, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66979-66980]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-27658]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
a Replacement Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Louisville, 
Kentucky

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), VA intends to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for constructing and operating a new campus to replace 
the existing VA Medical Center, Veterans Benefits Administration 
office, and three community-based outpatient clinics in Louisville, 
Kentucky. VA seeks public scoping input on the EIS.

DATES: Interested parties are invited to submit scoping comments for 
the Replacement Louisville VAMC EIS by Monday, November 30, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit scoping comments online through www.Louisville-EIS.com, by email to [email protected], or 
by regular mail to Robley Rex VAMC, Attn: Replacement VAMC Activation 
Team Office, 800 Zorn Avenue, Louisville, KY 40206.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robley Rex VAMC, Attn: Replacement 
VAMC Activation Team Office, 800 Zorn Avenue, Louisville, KY 40206 or 
by email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA proposes to construct and operate a new 
104-bed hospital, which will include diagnostic and treatment 
facilities, a Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) regional office, 
and required site amenities and improvements on a new campus. This 
proposed project would replace the existing Robley Rex VA Medical 
Center (VAMC), three community-based outpatient clinics, and the 
existing VBA regional office with new facilities of sufficient capacity 
to meet the current and projected future healthcare needs of Veterans 
in the Louisville service area. The proposed project is needed because 
the existing Louisville VAMC facilities on Zorn Avenue have reached the 
end of their serviceable lives. The building conditions and site 
configuration at the existing 63-year old VAMC are inadequate to 
effectively and efficiently meet the expanding needs of VA's health 
care mission and VBA services in the region. Within the Louisville 
service area, 60,943 Veterans were enrolled to receive care in Fiscal 
Year 2014. Enrollment is expected to increase to more than 68,000 by FY 
2024. During this same time period, outpatient clinic stops are 
expected to increase from 763,104 to over 963,000. The existing 
Louisville VAMC facility is insufficient to meet the current and the 
increasing future needs of VA's health care mission in the region. 
Therefore, VA conducted studies beginning in 2009 that recommended new 
facilities be constructed on a new site that would be better suited to 
meet future needs.
    VA has identified two potential action alternatives to be analyzed 
in detail in this EIS: Construction and operation of a replacement VAMC 
campus at the ``Brownsboro Site'' at 4906 Brownsboro Road, Louisville; 
and construction and operation of a replacement VAMC campus at the 
``St. Joseph Site,'' on a parcel located east of I-265 and south of 
Factory Lane in Louisville. The Brownsboro and St. Joseph Sites were 
identified through a site selection process conducted by VA in 2011. 
The Brownsboro Site was acquired by VA in 2012 as the proposed location 
for the replacement VAMC. In addition to these two action alternatives, 
the EIS also will evaluate the impacts associated with No Action or 
``status quo'' as required by the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) and its implementing regulations. The three community-based 
outpatient clinics and the existing VBA

[[Page 66980]]

regional office are currently located in leased spaces, for which the 
leases would not be renewed under either action alternative. VA has 
tentatively determined that renovating the existing Robley Rex VAMC is 
not a reasonably foreseeable alternative and would adversely affect 
VA's ability to provide needed services to Veterans.
    Environmental topics that will be addressed in the EIS include 
aesthetics, air quality, cultural resources and historic properties, 
geology and soils, hydrology and water quality, wildlife and habitat, 
noise, land use, floodplains and wetlands, socioeconomics, community 
services, solid waste and hazardous materials, transportation and 
traffic, utilities, and environmental justice. Best management 
practices and mitigation measures that could alleviate any identified 
environmental effects will be included where relevant.
    Two prior environmental assessments (EAs) addressed aspects of VA's 
proposal. In June 2012, VA completed a Programmatic EA of the Proposed 
Site Selection, Construction, and Operation of a Replacement Louisville 
VA Medical Center. This analysis concluded with a Finding of No 
Significant Impact for selecting and acquiring the Brownsboro Site for 
the replacement Louisville VAMC, with the provision that mitigation 
measures would be identified in a subsequent site-specific EA to ensure 
that impacts would not be significant. In December 2014, VA published a 
Draft Site-Specific EA: Proposed Replacement VA Medical Center Campus, 
Louisville, Kentucky. However, upon further review before publishing a 
Final Site-Specific EA, VA concluded that an EIS was the appropriate 
level of NEPA documentation for evaluating the potential for adverse 
impacts from constructing and operating a replacement campus at the 
Brownsboro Site. This Notice of Intent initiates the EIS for the 
replacement Louisville VAMC campus.
    Extensive public input was provided by Veterans, elected officials, 
residents near the proposed new locations, and other interested members 
of the public throughout the scoping and public draft reviews for the 
two EAs. These comments remain in the project record and are being 
incorporated as identified scoping issues for this EIS.
    VA does not intend to hold a public scoping event specific to this 
EIS, anticipating that any input would largely reiterate issues that 
have been previously identified. Upon specific request, VA will 
consider whether an additional in-person scoping event would enhance 
public involvement in this EIS. The event would be at a Louisville 
venue at which a project fact sheet would be available in hard copy, 
posters summarizing the EIS process would be available for viewing, and 
members of the public could submit written comments using either 
comment forms or their own written format. There would be no formal 
presentation by VA or verbal public comment opportunity. The comment 
form (this form is not a required format for submitting scoping 
comments), the fact sheet, and the two previous EAs are available 
online at www.louisville.va.gov/newmedicalcenter/, along with other 
information related to the EIS process.
    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this 
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document 
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as 
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robert L. 
Nabors II, Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs, approved 
this document on October 22, 2015, for publication.

    Dated: October 27, 2015.
Michael Shores,
Chief Impact Analyst, Office of Regulation Policy & Management, Office 
of the General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2015-27658 Filed 10-29-15; 8:45 am]
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