[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 8 (Friday, January 11, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 103-105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-00052]
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Notices
Federal Register
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This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 8 / Friday, January 11, 2019 /
Notices
[[Page 103]]
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Air Force
Decision Memorandum Accepting Alternative Arrangements for the
U.S. Air Force's Interim Beddown of the F-22 Formal Training Unit at
Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
AGENCY: Department of the Air Force, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of Decision Memorandum.
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Air Force announces its decision to
accept alternative arrangements approved by the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) for the Air Force's interim beddown of the
F-22 Formal Training Unit at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
ADDRESSES: For further information contact: Mr. Jack Bush, 703-614-0237
or [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the entire Decision Memorandum
is provided as follows:
Decision Memorandum--Alternative Arrangements for Interim Beddown of F-
22 Formal Training Unit
On December 21, 2019, the Department of the Air Force (Air Force)
sought Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) approval of alternative
arrangements pursuant to 40 CFR 1506.11 for implementing the procedural
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321, et
seq. (NEPA), for the beddown of the Air Force's F-22 Formal Training
Unit. This memorandum documents the Air Force's decision to accept the
alternative procedures.
Background
NEPA: NEPA requires the Air Force to undertake an assessment of the
environmental effects of its proposed actions prior to making
decisions. The CEQ Regulations for Implementing the Procedural
Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act provide for
situations when emergency circumstances make it necessary to make a
decision and take action with potentially significant environmental
impact without observing the provisions of the CEQ Regulations (40 CFR
1506.11). Specifically, the agency should consult with CEQ about
alternative arrangements for actions necessary to control the immediate
impacts of the emergency.
F-22 Raptor: The F-22 is the United States' premier fighter
aircraft, which is essential to national security. It is a specialized
``Fifth-Generation'' fighter which introduces a large array of sensors
that can detect both air and ground targets and share that data with
other U.S. and Allied aircraft. The F-22 possesses a sophisticated
sensor suite allowing the pilot to track, identify, shoot and kill air-
to-air threats before being detected. Significant advances in cockpit
design and sensor fusion improve the pilot's situational awareness. It
is also ``Low Observable,'' which makes it a stealth platform that can
be extremely difficult to detect. This combination means that F-22
pilots can see the enemy, but cannot be seen. The F-22's
characteristics provide a synergistic effect ensuring F-22 lethality
against all advanced air threats. The combination of stealth,
integrated avionics and supercruise (traveling faster than the speed of
sound without using afterburner) drastically shrinks surface-to-air
missile engagement envelopes and minimizes enemy capabilities to track
and engage the F-22. The combination of reduced observability and
supercruise accentuates the advantage of surprise in a tactical
environment. Maintenance of these advantages is vital as the Air Force
prepares for conflicts with near-peer nations, and would also be
invaluable against others emerging threats.
Nature of the Emergency: In October 2018, Hurricane Michael
displaced the Air Force's only F-22 Formal Training Unit (FTU), which
consists of the F-22 aircraft in the 43rd Fighter Squadron and its
associated T-38 Talon aircraft, a two-seat twinjet supersonic jet
trainer in the 2d Fighter Training Squadron, from its home at Tyndall
Air Force Base (AFB), Florida, to Joint Base Langley-Eustis in
Virginia. This temporary relocation disrupted the current student pilot
full-rate Basic Course. Hurricane Michael's subsequent devastation of
Tyndall AFB further aggravated deficiencies in the F-22 pilot
production pipeline by rendering many of the FTU's facilities unusable
for the foreseeable future. The production of trained and qualified F-
22 pilots completely stopped for two months, exacerbating the current
pilot shortage that the Air Force is facing. This situation will worsen
unless the Air Force can restart F-22 FTU full-rate training by January
2019, because all student pilots are currently unable to perform
qualifying flights. As current F-22 pilots retire or separate from the
Service, the Air Force needs to produce the same numbers and more to
maintain its combat readiness.
When Hurricane Michael struck Tyndall AFB, the F-22 FTU had 14
Basic Course students, two Track 2 students, and one Track 1 student
enrolled in training. Track 2 is for previously qualified F-22 pilots
who are no longer current, and Track 1 is for current fighter pilots
who have not flown the F-22. The Track 1 student had completed a
majority of his training and returned to his operational unit to
complete his transition. The two Track 2 students were returned to
their gaining operational units without accomplishing any training. The
gaining operational units will assume the resource burden and risk to
train the one Track 1 and the two Track 2 students. The 14 Basic Course
students were approximately 90 days into their 160 day course. On
average the students had completed only 8 of the 38 total syllabus
flying sorties. The F-22 FTU restarted limited student flying at Eglin
AFB on December 6, 2018, after nearly two months of no flying. Flying
was limited so that operations would fall within the parameters of an
existing Air Force Categorical Exclusion (CATEX), CATEX A2.3.31 in 32
CFR part 989, Appendix B, which covers relocating a small number of
aircraft that does not significantly increase flying hours or number of
operations. The Air Force will be unable to rely on this CATEX beyond
January 31, 2019. The delays in F-22 FTU student training will delay
the Basic Course pilots arriving at their operational units, negatively
impacting unit manning.
The F-22 is a niche fighter community due to the small number of
[[Page 104]]
primary mission aircraft inventory (combat-coded aircraft), just 123
total jets. There are less than 250 Regular Air Force F-22 pilots plus
an additional 40 full-time Air Reserve Component F-22 pilots actively
serving. These numbers include all F-22 student pilots, operational
pilots, pilots on staff and at school. The goal for active component
Air Force manning in operational units by June 2019 is 100%. In fiscal
year (FY) 2018, the Air Force lost 19 F-22 pilots due to retirement,
separation, or promotion to Colonel (O-6). Additionally, only 6 of the
11 F-22 pilots (54%) eligible for the initial pilot bonus in FY18
accepted the bonus, indicating 5 more F-22 pilots will be leaving the
Air Force soon. The small size of the F-22 community, combined with the
number of pilots either lost or uncommitted, demands the continued
full-scale production of F-22 Basic Course students.
Purpose and Need for Agency Action: The purpose of the proposed
action is to enable the Air Force to quickly get back to full-rate
Basic Course Student, Transition, and Instructor Pilot production to
mitigate potentially severe adverse impacts to the Nation's military
readiness. On average, the F-22 FTU trains 28 Basic Course pilots, 20
Transition Course pilots, and 9 Instructor Pilots each fiscal year. The
need for the proposed action is to enable the Air Force to avoid
further delay to restarting F-22 FTU operations or achieving full F-22
pilot production capacity that will have negative impacts to the entire
F-22 operational force, the United States' sole fully-operational 5th
Generation fighter. Delays to restarting F-22 FTU operations will
create a bottleneck in fighter pilot production, generate a backlog of
undergraduate pilot training graduates, and exacerbate the fighter
pilot manning crisis.
Agency Proposal
Proposed Action and Alternatives: The proposed action is to restore
training of replacement pilots for the F-22 FTU by January 31, 2019 at
Eglin AFB, Florida until the Air Force decides on and implements a
permanent beddown. While Hurricane Michael rendered many of the
facilities used by the F-22 FTU inoperable, and total recovery is
estimated to take between three and five years, two very important
facilities for the F-22 FTU at Tyndall AFB survived Michael's
destruction: The Special Access Program (SAP) flight simulators and the
low observable coatings maintenance facility.
These two facilities at Tyndall AFB are approximately 89 miles away
from Eglin AFB. The survival of the simulators and low observable
maintenance facilities, coupled with other factors such as the
substantial instructor and maintenance workforce made up of
contractors, civilian employees, and Air Force Reserve and Guard
personnel who are unable or unwilling to relocate, in part because they
need to attend to the repair of their own homes, make nearby Eglin AFB
the only near-term alternative to quickly reestablish and resume the F-
22 pilot production pipeline. Further, the Air Force Reserve and Guard
personnel make up twenty-five percent of the F-22 FTU's instructor
pilots. Nearby Eglin AFB's main airfield (Eglin Main) has existing ramp
and operating capacity for the F-22 FTU. Relocating the F-22 FTU to
Eglin AFB also enables the F-22 FTU to use the same Special Use
Airspace in the Gulf of Mexico that it is accustomed to training in and
access to its Air Force Reserve/Guard, civilian, and contractor
personnel in the region. Joint Base Langley-Eustis has no F-22 FTU
instructors and lacks the robust simulators that are available at
Tyndall AFB. Moving the SAP simulators at Tyndall AFB to another
location is estimated to take one year and cost $22 million, and the
Air Force cannot accept further delayed or degraded F-22 simulator
capacity for training.
The lack of ready access to F-22 simulator capacity, F-22 weapons
and tactics trainer cockpits, classified academic space, and F-22
qualified academic/simulator instructors at any location other than
Tyndall AFB is the reason no other F-22 base, to include Joint Base
Langley-Eustis, is a reasonable alternative compared to Eglin AFB at
the current time. The Academic Simulator Building (ASB) at Tyndall AFB
serves as the hub for all F-22 FTU instruction--from computer based
instruction, academic lessons, 14 weapons and tactics trainer cockpits,
and eight full mission simulators--the ASB support over 68% of the F-22
Basic Course syllabus. The ASB received minimal damage from Hurricane
Michael and has already been restored to full operational capability.
The ASB is the cornerstone to F-22 FTU operations.
Affected Environment: Currently there are 52,000 annual operations
at Eglin Main. Projected annual operations for the FTU's F-22s and
associated T-38s could reach 31,000. Interim basing of the F-22 FTU at
Eglin AFB would therefore potentially result in a 45% increase to Eglin
Main's 52,000 annual operations, including a potential nineteen-percent
increase in nighttime operations.
The Air Force has preliminarily identified noise as the only
projected significant environmental impact from the proposed action
under the alternative arrangements. A preliminary noise analysis of
adding the F-22 FTU to Eglin AFB revealed potentially significant
impacts. The increase in operations from the FTU's aircraft will create
a measurable increase in the 65 decibel (dB) Day-Night Average Sound
Level (DNL) noise contour on the south, east, and west side of Eglin
Main. Additionally, operations from the FTU's aircraft will increase
the 65 dB DNL contour to the southwest and northeast which will impact
populated areas and other noise sensitive environments including
residential homes, schools, churches, recreational facilities, and
other community facilities. The DNL noise contour increases suggest
that the mission will have the potential to cause significant impacts
to the areas to the west and southwest of Eglin Main due to increases
of 5 dB in the 65 dB and above DNL noise contours from proposed F-22
operations.
The FTU's F-22 closed-pattern and departure operations of up to
22,000 and 4,000 annual operations, respectively, are the primary cause
of projected noise increases at and around Eglin Main. Tyndall AFB will
not be available as a Precision Instrument Approach Field for any
closed-pattern operations until the Air Traffic Control Tower, the
Radar Approach Control system, and navigational aids are restored. The
Air Force's current best estimate is that these functions will not be
fully restored at Tyndall AFB before July 2019. Therefore, Tyndall AFB
will not be available as a potential operational mitigation for noise
from F-22 closed-pattern and approach operations until that time.
Ultimately, any final suite of mitigation measures for the interim
basing of the F-22 FTU at Eglin AFB will have to account for other
relevant non-FTU aircraft operations.
Environmental Impact Assessment and Alternative Arrangements: The
Air Force will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the
permanent beddown for the F-22 FTU, with scoping planned for next year.
This EIS will inform the Air Force Strategic Basing Process' selection
of a permanent beddown location for the F-22 FTU. The Strategic Basing
Process typically involves the identification and Secretarial approval
of objective basing criteria, the rank ordering of locations based on
application of those criteria from an enterprise of locations, the
winnowing of those locations to a small number of candidate bases,
[[Page 105]]
identification of preferred and reasonable locations, and the final
selection of the basing location. The candidate bases constitute the
reasonable alternatives for NEPA purposes, and once identified, allow
for the issuance of a NEPA Notice of Intent. The Air Force cannot delay
F-22 pilot production until these actions are completed without
irreparable harm to the National Security Strategy posture. Therefore,
in accordance with the provisions of 40 CFR 1506.11, the Air Force
initiated consultation with the CEQ and requested alternative
arrangements for the interim basing of the F-22 FTU at Eglin AFB,
Florida.
Alternative Arrangements: The Air Force accepts the alternative
arrangements prescribed below, as approved by CEQ's letter of December
21, 2018, for the interim beddown of the F-22 FTU at Eglin AFB.
Environmental Assessment: The Air Force will undertake immediately
the preparation of an environmental assessment of the interim beddown.
The Air Force will strive to complete the draft EA by February 28,
2019, and issue it for public review and comment for at least 30 days.
The draft EA will identify any proposed mitigation measures that would
address any significant impacts identified in the draft EA. The Air
Force will complete the final EA and issue a Record of Decision no
later than April 30, 2019. The Record of Decision will set forth the
practicable mitigation measures that the Air Force will implement for
the interim beddown in accordance with 40 CFR 1505.2 and 1505.3.
Environmental Impact Statement: The Air Force will undertake an EIS
for the permanent beddown of the F-22 FTU. The EIS will include an
assessment of the reasonable alternatives for the permanent beddown.
The Air Force will issue a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS as soon
as possible, but no later than April 1, 2019. The Air Force will
develop a timeline for the NEPA process, including all milestones and
authorization processes, and submit the timeline to CEQ for its review
and approval. To ensure that NEPA compliance proceeds as expeditiously
as possible, and consistent with Executive Order 13807 on Establishing
Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and
Permitting Process for Infrastructure, the Air Force will develop a
permitting timetable that identifies milestones for this environmental
review and authorization process. The Air Force will provide its
timetable to CEQ within one month of the date of CEQ's letter and
update the timetable monthly to ensure that the environmental review
process is completed as expeditiously as is practicable, with a goal of
completion of a Record of Decision approximately 2 years (or less) from
the date of the Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS. The Air Force's
Federal Register notice for the EIS preparation will describe these
alternative arrangements and their relationship to the EIS for long-
term F-22 beddown decisions.
Public Participation Measures: The alternative arrangements include
the following public participation measures that supplement the
proposal set forth in the Air Force letter. The Air Force will provide
notice of these alternative arrangements and submit this Decision
Memorandum for publication in the Federal Register within 10 business
days. The Air Force also will publish notice of these alternative
arrangements in local newspapers likely to reach interested parties
including the Northwest Florida Daily News and the Bay Beacon.
Additionally, the Air Force will provide notice of these
alternative arrangements to the interested parties listed in Appendix A
of the 2014 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. The
notices will specifically seek input on the interim and final beddown,
and include an offer to meet with Air Force representatives and CEQ to
discuss the alternative arrangements.
The Air Force will reconstitute and reconvene the Noise Committee
with representatives of the counties and municipalities of Walton,
Okaloosa, and Santa Rosa Counties. The Air Force will use the Noise
Committee to gather information for the development of the
environmental assessment and environmental impact statement.
The Air Force will provide CEQ with copies of any notices made in
accordance with these alternative arrangements and post notices online
at https://www.eglin.af.mil/.
Other Measures: The Air Force and CEQ will convene monthly meetings
to discuss the status of the NEPA process with interested components of
the Executive Office of the President. At the conclusion of the
alternative arrangements and no later than 2 years from the date of the
Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS, the Air Force will provide a report
to CEQ on the use of the alternative arrangements that reviews the
value and effectiveness of these arrangements. The Air Force will
provide notice of the report in the Federal Register, local newspapers,
including those specified above, and online at https://www.eglin.af.mil/.
Henry Williams,
Civ, DAF, Acting Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019-00052 Filed 1-10-19; 8:45 am]
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