[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 232 (Friday, December 2, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87025-87026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28842]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Construction and 
Operation of Solar Photovoltaic Renewable Energy Projects on Army 
Installations

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army has completed a Programmatic 
Environmental Assessment (PEA) for construction, operation, and 
maintenance of solar photovoltaic (PV) renewable energy projects on 
Army installations and is making the PEA and a draft Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FNSI) available for public comment. The draft FNSI 
incorporates the PEA, which does not identify any significant 
environmental impacts from the proposed action or any of the 
alternatives. The draft FNSI concludes that preparation of an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) is not required, and therefore 
will not be prepared.
    The PEA is programmatic and nationwide in scope. For years, the 
Army has analyzed and implemented solar PV projects at Army 
installations across the country. In the PEA, the Army leveraged this 
experience with the goal of streamlining the National Environmental 
Policy Act process for future solar PV proposals, as appropriate, in a 
manner consistent with Council on Environmental Quality and Department 
of the Army regulations.

DATES: The public comment period will end 30 days after publication of 
the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register by the Department of 
the Army.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: U.S. Army Environmental 
Command, Attn: Solar PV PEA Public Comments, 2450 Connell Road 
(Building 2264), JBSA--Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234-7664; email: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact the U.S. Army 
Environmental Command Public Affairs Office, (210) 466-1590 or toll-
free 855-846-3940, or email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action is to construct, 
operate, and maintain solar PV arrays and/or ancillary power systems on 
Army installations, to include U.S. Army Reserve facilities, Army 
National Guard sites, and joint bases managed by the Department of the 
Army (with all henceforth referred to only as ``Army installations'' or 
``installations''). The proposed action includes, for those solar PV 
projects where the existing infrastructure is insufficient, 
constructing (or upgrading) and maintaining the associated 
infrastructure required for the transmission and management of the 
generated electricity to the electric grid. Associated infrastructure 
includes but is not limited to electricity transformers, transmission 
and distribution lines, and sub or switching stations; as well as 
ancillary power control systems such as energy storage systems, micro-
grid components, and back-up power generators. The proposed action may 
include real estate actions on Army lands where the projects could be 
funded and constructed by the Army, funded through a third party Power 
Purchase Agreement utilizing a lease of Army or Joint Base land to an 
independent power producer or the local regulated utility company, or 
funded via some other relationship with a private or public entity.
    The projects being evaluated and analyzed would generally range 
from approximately 10 megawatt (MW) to 100 MW per site; however, the 
projects outside of this MW range (e.g., less than 10 MW) are inclusive 
in this proposed action. On average, seven acres of land are currently 
required to produce one MW of power. As this technology has evolved, 
the acreage requirement for one MW generating capacity has decreased; 
therefore, it is possible that future solar PV technologies may require 
even less acreage per MW; currently, approximately 70 acres of land 
would be required for a 10 MW site and 700 acres of land for a 100 MW 
site. PV systems on rooftops would generally expect to have capacity 
measured in watts or kilowatts (kW), not MW, and be of a much smaller 
size and scope.
    After construction, equipment monitoring, routine maintenance 
(including vegetation control, snow removal, solar module washing, and 
periodic module/other equipment

[[Page 87026]]

replacement), and as-needed repairs by the system operator would follow 
to ensure proper operation of the solar PV system.
    The alternatives considered and analyzed in the PEA are the No 
Action alternative and three action alternatives, which are to 
implement the proposed action on greenfield sites (Alternative 1), on 
previously developed sites (Alternative 2), and on or over structures 
or impervious surfaces, such as buildings and carports (Alternative 3). 
Installations may choose any or all of the action alternative 
approaches to solar PV.
    The goal of this programmatic approach is to streamline the NEPA 
process for the construction, operation, and maintenance of solar PV 
renewable energy projects by providing installations with sufficient 
detail about environmental impacts on resources to enable them to tier 
off of the PEA, as appropriate. Tiering from this PEA would avoid or 
reduce the costs of repetitive, similar analyses, and allow the Army to 
focus resources on only those site-specific environmental issues that 
merit a deeper analysis. Installations tiering from the PEA would use 
the checklist contained in the PEA to identify site-specific NEPA 
requirements. Where further analysis would be required to meet site-
specific NEPA requirements, the PEA may still be used for tiering, 
allowing the installation to focus on those resources which require 
site-specific analysis.
    Members of the public, federally-recognized Native American Tribes, 
Alaska Native Tribes, Native Hawaiian Organizations, and federal, 
state, and local agencies are invited to submit written comments on the 
PEA and/or draft FNSI.
    The PEA and draft FNSI may be accessed at: http://www.aec.army.mil/Services/Support/NEPA/Documents.aspx.

Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-28842 Filed 12-1-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 5001-03-P