[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 155 (Tuesday, August 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48512-48513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17528]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Environmental Impact Statement for Training and Public Land 
Withdrawal Extension, Fort Irwin, California

AGENCY: Department of the Army, Defense (DOD).

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army intends to prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the environmental impacts resulting 
from modernization of training activities and improvement of training 
facilities at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. 
The Army is also issuing this notice to inform the public that the EIS 
will serve as a Legislative Environmental Impact Statement (LEIS) to 
support extension of public land withdrawal for portions of Fort Irwin.

DATES: Comments must be sent by September 10, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be forwarded to Dr. David Housman, 
NEPA Planner, Fort Irwin Directorate of Public Works, Environmental 
Division, Building 602, Fifth Street, Fort Irwin, CA 92310-5085 email: 
[email protected]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Muhammad Bari, Director, 
Directorate of Public Works, telephone (760) 380-3543; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fort Irwin consists of approximately 753,537 
acres in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County in southern 
California. The U.S. Army National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin 
provides combined arms training for maneuver Brigade Combat Teams 
(BCTs), including the Army's Stryker BCTs (SBCTs) and Armored BCTs 
(ABCTs). Training is also provided for joint military branches (Marine 
Corps, Navy, and Air Force), Army Reserve, National Guard units, and 
regular and transitional law enforcement units, as well as home station 
units. Due to its size, design, and terrain, Fort Irwin is one of the 
few places in the world that brigade-size units (5,000+ soldiers) can 
test their combat readiness.
    Fort Irwin's mission is to train rotational training units (RTUs), 
joint, interagency, and multinational partners in order to fight and 
win in a complex world, while taking care of soldiers, civilians, and 
family members. To achieve this mission, NTC designs and executes 
training exercises that prepare brigade-level units for operational 
deployments. Up to 12 BCT rotations are executed per year.
    The Army intends to prepare an EIS at Fort Irwin to analyze 
potential impacts from modernization of training and improvement of 
training infrastructure. Training changes are required to support new 
training doctrine that focuses on large Army formations operating 
against near-peer

[[Page 48513]]

adversaries. In order to reflect weapon systems capabilities and 
evolving mission requirements, improvements need to be made to weapons 
ranges, urban operations training facilities, and communication 
infrastructure.
    Approximately 110,000 acres of Fort Irwin training land areas are 
public lands withdrawn from all types of appropriation and reserved for 
military purposes under Public Law 107-107 (2001). This public land 
withdrawal terminates on December 28, 2026. The Army has identified a 
continuing military need for the land beyond the termination date and 
intends to request Congress to extend the withdrawal and reservation 
for military purposes for at least 25 years, or in the alternative, for 
an indefinite period until there is no longer a military need for the 
land. Upon a separate application by the Army, the Bureau of Land 
Management will file in the Federal Register a separate notice of 
withdrawal extension application. This EIS will be submitted to 
Congress to support the legislative request for extension of this 
withdrawal and reservation. The document will also serve as the EIS 
that will analyze training changes proposed for the withdrawn land.
    The EIS will analyze alternatives, which consist of different 
magnitudes of implementation, and the No Action Alternative, under 
which there would be no modernization or improvement to training 
activities conducted at Fort Irwin. The no action alternative would 
also include the possibility that public land withdrawal extension 
would not occur and that portions of the installation would return to 
public domain. The proposed action includes an increase in training 
activities that reflects new mission requirements and improvement of 
training infrastructure. For Fort Irwin's Western Training Area, the 
EIS will consider a range of medium to heavy intensity training 
alternatives. In terms of withdrawal, the alternatives include 
extension of the current withdrawal and reservation for 25 years or 
indefinitely until there is no longer a military need for the land. All 
military activities under consideration would be conducted within the 
boundaries of the installation. Resource areas that may be impacted 
include air quality, airspace, traffic, noise, water resources, 
biological resources, cultural resources, socioeconomics, utilities, 
land use, and solid and hazardous materials and waste. Impacts to these 
resources may occur from changing the scope or magnitude of military 
training activities within the current Fort Irwin boundaries. The 
analysis will also consider the potential for cumulative environmental 
effects. Significant impacts could occur to biological and cultural 
resources.
    Federal, state, and local agencies, Native Americans, Native 
American organizations, and the public are invited to be involved in 
the scoping process for the preparation of this EIS by participating in 
a scoping meeting or submitting written comments. Written comments must 
be sent within 30 days of publication of this Notice of Intent in the 
Federal Register. In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 
the United States and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 
recommendations for social distancing and avoiding large public 
gatherings, the Army will not hold in-person public scoping meetings 
for this action. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to maintain 
social distancing, Fort Irwin will host the public scoping meetings by 
telephone. Specific details of the telephone meetings will be announced 
in local media and on the Fort Irwin EIS website: https://aec.army.mil/index.php/irwin-nepa-meeting.
    For those who do not have ready access to a computer or the 
internet, the scoping-related materials posted to the website will be 
made available upon request by mail. Inquiries, requests for scoping-
related materials, and comments regarding the proposed action may be 
submitted by mail to Dr. David Housman, NEPA Planner, Fort Irwin 
Directorate of Public Works, Environmental Division, Building 602, 
Fifth Street, Fort Irwin, CA 92310-5085. Written scoping comments will 
be accepted at any time during process up until the public release of 
the Draft EIS. To ensure the Army has sufficient time to consider 
public input in the preparation of the Draft EIS, scoping comments 
should be submitted to the website or the address listed above by no 
later than thirty days after the date of this notice.
    The public will also be invited to review and comment on the Draft 
EIS when it is released. Comments from the public will be considered 
before any decision is made regarding implementing the Proposed Action. 
The Bureau of Land Management will also organize public participation 
following publication of its notice of application for extension of the 
public land withdrawal.

Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-17528 Filed 8-10-20; 8:45 am]
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