[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 36 (Friday, February 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 11564]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03694]



[[Page 11564]]

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Availability of Records of Decision for the 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Land Acquisition and 
Airspace Establishment To Support Large-Scale Marine Air Ground Task 
Force Live-Fire and Maneuver Training at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat 
Center, Twentynine Palms, California

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, Department of Defense; Bureau of Land 
Management, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy (DoN) announces the availability of 
the Records of Decision (RODs) by the DoN and the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 
for Land Acquisition and Airspace Establishment to Support Large-Scale 
Marine Air Ground Task Force Live-Fire and Maneuver Training at Marine 
Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California. The 
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations 
and Environment) signed the DoN ROD on February 10, 2017. The BLM 
California Desert District Manager signed the BLM ROD on February 9, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the DoN ROD and the BLM ROD, along with the Final 
SEIS and other supporting documents, are available for public viewing 
on the DoN's project Web site: www.SEISforLAA.com and on the Combat 
Center's Web site: www.29palms.marines.mil/Staff/G5-Government-and-External-Affairs/SEISforLAA. The BLM ROD is also available on the 
agency's ePlanning Web site at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=dispatchToPatternPage&currentPageId=108440. Copies of both RODs are also available at the following public 
libraries: Newton T. Bass Apple Valley Branch Library, Apple Valley, 
CA; Barstow Branch Library, Barstow, CA; Palm Springs Public Library, 
Palm Springs, CA; Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building, Sacramento, 
CA; San Bernardino County Library Administrative Offices, San 
Bernardino, CA; Twentynine Palms Branch Library, Twentynine Palms, CA; 
Victorville City Library, Victorville, CA; Yucca Valley Branch Library, 
Yucca Valley, CA; Joshua Tree Branch Library, Joshua Tree, CA; Lucerne 
Valley Janice Horst Branch Library, Lucerne Valley, CA; Needles Branch 
Library, Needles, CA; and Ovitt Family Community Library, Ontario, CA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: DoN: Mr. Jesse Martinez, Project 
Manager, SEIS for 29Palms Land Acquisition/Airspace Establishment 
Project, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, 1220 Pacific 
Highway, San Diego, California 92132-5190. Telephone: 619-532-3844. 
BLM: Ms. Katrina Symons, Field Manager, BLM Barstow Field Office, 2601 
Barstow Road, Barstow, CA 92311. Telephone: 760-252-6004.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, 42 United States Code 
4321-4370h, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality 
regulations, 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 1500-1508, the 
DoN NEPA regulations (32 CFR part 775), and Marine Corps Order P5090.2A 
(with Changes 1-3) Marine Corps Environmental Compliance and Protection 
Manual, Chapter 12, the DoN, after carefully considering the 
operational and environmental consequences of the proposed action and 
alternatives analyzed in a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 
(SEIS), announces the availability of its ROD to translocate a 
population of the federal-listed threatened Agassiz's desert tortoise 
(Gopherus agassizii, hereinafter ``desert tortoise'') from high- and 
moderate-impact training areas at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat 
Center at Twentynine Palms, California (hereinafter, ``the Combat 
Center''). In its ROD, the DoN has selected the preferred alternative 
(Alternative 2) from the Final SEIS, which provides for the 
implementation of a June 2016 Desert Tortoise Translocation Plan. The 
Plan will guide translocation of desert tortoises in accordance with 
requirements of a January 2017 United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
(USFWS) Biological Opinion (hereinafter the ``2017 BO,'' which 
superseded a previous 2012 BO), and a 2013 DoN ROD associated with the 
2012 Final EIS for Land Acquisition and Airspace Establishment to 
Support Large-Scale Marine Air Ground Task Force Live-Fire and Maneuver 
Training at the Combat Center (hereinafter the ``2012 Final EIS'').
    The DoN ROD documents why the DoN has chosen to implement the 
preferred alternative as described in the 2017 Final SEIS. This 
decision adopts all of the special conservation measures that were 
identified in the Final SEIS to avoid or minimize adverse environmental 
impacts from the preferred alternative. The ROD also includes 
descriptions and discussions of the anticipated environmental impacts 
of the proposed action, and responds to substantive comments received 
since the Final SEIS was released.
    The BLM, which served as a Cooperating Agency during preparation of 
the SEIS, adopted the SEIS and prepared a separate ROD regarding the 
SEIS actions proposed on BLM-managed lands. The BLM's involvement as a 
cooperating agency in the development of the SEIS was triggered by its 
current jurisdiction by law and special expertise over a portion of 
lands considered for translocation of desert tortoises. The BLM has 
unique knowledge of the public lands under its management and has the 
expertise essential to help evaluate appropriate parcels of land to 
meet translocation requirements. The BLM conducted frequent 
coordination with DON throughout the SEIS process. The BLM ROD explains 
the rationale for its independent selection of Alternative 2 (Preferred 
Alternative) of the SEIS. The BLM decision is subject to a 30-day 
appeal period commencing with the publication of this Notice. A party 
that is adversely affected by the BLM's decision may file an appeal in 
accordance with the procedures in 43 CFR part 4.

    Dated: February 21, 2017.
A.M. Nichols,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, 
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-03694 Filed 2-23-17; 8:45 am]
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