[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 104 (Tuesday, May 31, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34315-34316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12681]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Continental United States Interceptor Site

AGENCY: Missile Defense Agency, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of availability and notice of activity in Wetlands as 
required by Executive Order 11990 (Protection of Wetlands).

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SUMMARY: The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announces the availability of 
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the potential 
deployment of a Continental United States (CONUS) Interceptor Site 
(CIS). A CIS Draft EIS was prepared in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the Council on 
Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural 
Provisions of NEPA and assesses the impacts of the potential deployment 
of a CIS.
    As required by the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization 
Act, the MDA has conducted extensive surveys and assessments for 
development of a Draft EIS in order to evaluate candidate sites for the 
potential future deployment of additional ground-based interceptors for 
homeland defense against threats from nations such as North Korea and 
Iran.
    All potential sites analyzed in this Draft EIS contain wetlands 
that would be affected. All practicable measures were taken to arrange 
a CIS footprint to minimize and avoid impacts to wetlands while still 
maintaining operational effectiveness. However there are no practicable 
deployment alternatives that would completely avoid impacts to 
wetlands. If a deployment decision were made MDA would coordinate with 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and applicable state department of 
environmental protection to determine appropriate mitigations for 
wetland impacts. As required by Executive Order (EO) 11990 (Protection 
of Wetlands), MDA would prepare a Finding of No Practicable Alternative 
(FONPA) for the selected site. The FONPA would explain why there is no 
practicable alternative to impacting wetlands at the identified site. 
MDA is providing a public review, in accordance with EO 11990, of its 
findings in the Draft EIS concerning wetlands impacts and potential 
mitigation measures.

DATES: The public comment period will be from June 3 to July 18, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the Draft EIS should be received by July 18, 
2016 by one of the following methods:
     Mail: U.S. Postal Service to: Black & Veatch Special 
Projects Corp. Attn: MDA CIS EIS, 6800 W 115th Street, Suite 2200, 
Overland Park, KS-66211-2420.
     Email: [email protected].
    Public comments on the Draft EIS are requested pursuant to the 
NEPA. All written comments received during the comment period will 
become part of the public record. Providing private address information 
with your comment is voluntary and such personal information will be 
kept confidential unless release is required by law. All comments 
received by the public, including at public meetings, will be addressed 
in the Final EIS. A NOA will be published notifying the public of the 
final EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Christopher Johnson, MDA Public 
Affairs, at 571-231-8212, or by email: mda.info@mda.mil">mda.info@mda.mil. For more 
information, including a downloadable copy of the Draft EIS, visit the 
MDA Web site at http://www.mda.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Proposed Action and Alternative: The Department of Defense (DoD) 
does not have a proposed action and has not made a decision to deploy 
or construct an additional interceptor site. Current sites in Alaska 
and California provide the necessary protection of the homeland from a 
ballistic missile attack by countries such as North Korea and Iran. If 
the DoD were to make a decision in the future to construct a new site, 
the prior completion of the required site studies and EIS could shorten 
the timeline necessary to build such a site.
    If deployed, a CIS would be an extension of the existing Ground-
based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the Ballistic Missile Defense 
System. To the extent practicable, the CIS would be built as a 
contiguous Missile Defense Complex, similar to that found at Fort 
Greely, Alaska, and would consist of a deployment of up to a total of 
60 Ground-Based Interceptors (GBIs) in up to three GBI fields. The GBIs 
would not be fired from their deployment site except in the Nation's 
defense and no test firing would be conducted at a CIS. The overall 
system architecture and baseline requirements for a notional CIS 
include, but are not limited to, the GBI fields, Command Launch 
Equipment, In-Flight Interceptor Communication

[[Page 34316]]

System Data Terminals, GMD Communication Network, supporting 
facilities, such as lodging and dining, recreation, warehouse and bulk 
storage, vehicle storage and maintenance, fire station, hazardous 
materials/waste storage, and roads and parking where necessary.
    Candidate site locations under consideration include: Fort Custer 
Training Center in Michigan; Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training 
Center in Ohio; and Fort Drum in New York. Earlier this year, MDA 
designated the Center for Security Forces Detachment Kittery Survival, 
Evasion, Resistance and Escape Facility (SERE East) in Redington 
Township, Maine as an Alternative Considered, but Not Carried Forward. 
The Draft EIS also analyzed a No Action Alternative or no CIS 
deployment. The DoD has not made a decision to deploy or construct a 
CIS and does not have a preferred alternative.
    For each of the candidate site locations, the following resource 
areas were assessed: air quality, air space, biological, cultural, 
environmental justice, geology and soils, hazardous materials and 
hazardous waste management, health and safety, land use, noise, 
socioeconomics, transportation, utilities, water, wetlands, and visual 
and aesthetics.
    Information: The MDA will host open house public meetings at each 
of the candidate site locations to review the Draft EIS. Similar to the 
scoping meetings held in August 2014, the open house event will allow 
attendees to talk with experts at a series of information stations. 
Attendees can learn about findings in the Draft EIS and may provide 
verbal and written comments.
    The open house events and dates are as follows: (1) June 21, 2016 
from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Lakeview Middle School, 300 S. 28th St., 
Battle Creek, Michigan; (2) June 23, 2016 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; 
Richland Community Center, 9400 E. Cd Ave., Richland, Michigan; (3) 
June 28, 2016 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Carthage Senior High School, 
36500 New York 26, Carthage, New York; (4) June 30, 2016 from 5:00 p.m. 
to 8:00 p.m.; Ravenna High School, 6589 N. Chestnut Street, Ravenna, 
Ohio.

    Dated: May 24, 2016.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2016-12681 Filed 5-27-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 5001-06-P