[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 125 (Wednesday, June 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42338-42339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15358]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Public Meeting on the Environmental Assessment 
Addressing the Consolidation and Renovation at Marine Corps Forces 
Reserve Center Brooklyn, New York

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA) (42 United States Code [U.S.C.] Sections 4321-4370h); the 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the 
procedural provisions of NEPA (Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) parts 1500-1508); Department of the Navy (DoN) Procedures for 
Implementing NEPA (32 CFR part 775); and Marine Corps Order P5090.2A, 
the United States Marine Corps Forces Reserve (MARFORRES) has prepared 
an Environmental Assessment (EA) assessing the potential environmental 
impacts from the consolidation of approximately 55 full-time active 
duty and 549 reserve staff and their equipment from the Armed Forces 
Reserve Center Farmingdale and Marine Forces Reserve Center Garden City 
to Marine Corps Reserve Center Brooklyn. Additionally, MARFORRES would 
implement several associated facility and infrastructure improvements 
at MCRC Brooklyn, including a new utility corridor. Based on the EA 
analysis we are proposing to issue a Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI) determining that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not 
required.
    With the filing of the EA, the DON is initiating a 30-day public 
comment period and has scheduled a public open house to receive written 
comments on the EA. Federal, state, and local agencies and interested 
individuals are invited to attend the open house. This notice announces 
the date and location of the open house, and supplementary information 
about the environmental planning effort.

DATES: The EA public 30-day review period begins June 20, 2016. 
MARFORRES will hold an open house for the public to learn about the 
project and ask questions on Wednesday, June 29, 2016 from 6:00 p.m. to 
9:00 p.m. at the Aviator Sports Club on Floyd Bennett Field.
    The DON will consider all comments received on the EA when 
preparing the Final EA. The DON expects to issue the Final EA in August 
2016, at which time

[[Page 42339]]

a Notice of Availability will be published in the Federal Register.
    Availability: The EA has been distributed to Federal and local 
agencies, elected officials, and the interested public. The EA can be 
viewed at the following Web site:  http://www.marforres.marines.mil/GeneralSpecialStaff/Facilities.aspx.
    Copies are available at the Brooklyn Public Library, 2115 Ocean 
Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. Requests for copies of the EA can be submitted to 
Mr. Christopher Hurst, NEPA Project Manager U.S. Marine Corps Forces 
Reserve, 2000 Opelousas Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70114, or by email at 
[email protected].
    Comments: Attendees will be able to submit written comments at the 
open house. Comments may be submitted anytime during the 30-day public 
review period, and must be postmarked or electronically dated on or 
before July 15, 2016, to ensure they become part of the public record. 
All comments submitted during the official public review period will 
become part of the public record on the EA and will be responded to in 
the Final EA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Christopher Hurst, NEPA Project 
Manager U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, 2000 Opelousas Avenue, New 
Orleans, LA 70114, or by email at [email protected]. Please 
submit requests for special assistance to Mr. Hurst by June 22, 2016.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MCRC Brooklyn encompasses approximately 70 
acres of the 19,000-acre Jamaica Bay Unit of the National Park Service 
(NPS) Gateway National Recreation Area (NRA). MCRC Brooklyn is on the 
southernmost end of Floyd Bennett Field. Floyd Bennett Field was 
formerly U.S. Naval Air Station Brooklyn, New York, and was used from 
World War II until 1967, prior to its decommissioning in 1971.
    Subsequently, the majority of the 1,450-acre property was 
transferred from the Department of Defense (DoD) to the U.S. Coast 
Guard and the NPS, a bureau of the Department of the Interior. The Navy 
retained the southern portion of Floyd Bennett Field and a series of 
parcel transfers deeded the property to MARFORRES in 1998 for continued 
use as MCRC Brooklyn. The remainder of Floyd Bennett Field is owned and 
managed by NPS as part of the Gateway NRA. All utilities, roads, and 
other infrastructure necessary for the installation require crossing 
NPS lands; therefore, the Department of Navy executes, on behalf of 
MARFORRES, any necessary permits with NPS for rights-of-way on NPS 
lands.
    Gateway NRA is the nation's first urban national recreation area. 
It was established in 1972, is twice the size of Manhattan, and is 
divided into three administrative units: Jamaica Bay, Sandy Hook, and 
Staten Island. Gateway NRA has 27,025 acres of open bays, ocean, marsh 
islands, shoreline, dunes, maritime and successional forests, 
grasslands, mudflats, and open spaces. It includes marinas, greenways, 
campgrounds, trails, beaches, picnic grounds within historic 
landscapes, the remains of coastal defense works, rare structures from 
aviation history, and the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in 
the United States.
    Due to an overall reduction in reserve forces, MARFORRES has 
examined options to consolidate training to optimize operational funds. 
MCRC Brooklyn is considered a highly valuable site by MARFORRES due to 
its potential for hosting additional units, centralized location, 
excess capacity, and size of its facilities. As such, MARFORRES 
continues to invest in modernization and renovation activities at MCRC 
Brooklyn. The environmental impacts from ongoing activities were 
analyzed in previous NEPA documents, and are therefore not part of the 
Proposed Action being addressed in this EA but are included in the 
cumulative effects analysis. Previously evaluated projects at MCRC 
Brooklyn include the following:
     Renovate the interior of the MCRC Brooklyn Administration 
Building, the original vehicle maintenance facility (VMF), and the 
existing Technical Storage Warehouse. Interior renovations include 
upgraded utilities and reconfiguration of offices.
     Construct a new VMF (currently under construction).
     Install two temporary armories (440 square feet each) in 
the tactical vehicle area and a covered weapons cleaning area.
     Install a 100-kilowatt (kW) demand response metering 
system. This system will help MARFORRES capture energy usage and 
savings for the installation.
    Purpose And Need: The purpose of the Proposed Action is to 
consolidate existing MARFORRES facilities in the greater New York City 
metropolitan region to allow MARFORRES to optimize training through 
integrated unit training opportunities, and reduce costs from the 
operation of underutilized reserve centers. The Proposed Action is 
needed to improve long-term sustainable unit readiness through 
coordinated training, and prepare for future mission requirements. To 
complete training requirements, the buildings, utilities, and assets on 
MCRC Brooklyn require ongoing maintenance and utilities upgrades. 
Infrastructure on the installation is aging and requires capital 
investment to address deficiencies in the buildings and meet current 
and future mission requirements.

    Dated: June 23, 2016.
N.A. Hagerty-Ford,
Commander, Office of the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Navy, Federal 
Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-15358 Filed 6-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3810-FF-P