[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 97 (Friday, May 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27654-27655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10575]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Federal Bureau of Prisons


Record of Decision; Final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Proposed Development of a Federal Correctional 
Institution and Federal Prison Camp on the Grounds of the United States 
Penitentiary in Leavenworth, KS

    The U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) 
announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) concerning 
the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for the 
proposed development of a Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) and 
Federal Prison Camp (FPC) on the grounds of the United States 
Penitentiary (USP) in Leavenworth, Kansas.
    Background Information: Pursuant to Section 102 of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Council of Environmental 
Quality Regulations found at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508, BOP has prepared 
Draft Supplemental and Final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statements (EISs) for the development of a medium-security FCI and a 
minimum-security satellite work camp, to replace the existing, aged 
correctional facilities.
    Project Information: The mission of the BOP is to protect society 
by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prison and 
community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and 
appropriately secure, and that provide work and other self-improvement 
opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens.
    A growing challenge to the BOP's mission is that an increasing 
number of federal correctional facilities and supporting infrastructure 
are aging, resulting in an ongoing need for new facilities and 
infrastructure. Among the oldest are the medium-security facility and 
federal prison camp at USP Leavenworth. In the FSEIS, BOP proposed to 
construct and operate a new FCI designed to house approximately 1,152 
medium-security inmates and an FPC designed to house 256 minimum-
security inmates with approximately 338 staff for operation. 
Development of a new FCI and FPC will help to meet the need for modern 
correctional facilities and infrastructure and to address the specific 
need for a new medium-security FCI and minimum-security FPC in 
Leavenworth to replace the existing, aged correctional facilities.
    Once development is completed and the new facilities are activated, 
inmates

[[Page 27655]]

housed at the USP and FPC will be transferred to the new facilities 
along with the complement of correctional officers and other staff. 
After this transfer, the existing USP and FPC will no longer house 
inmates.
    The analysis conducted under NEPA guidelines address the following 
alternatives:
     No Action Alternative--A decision not to proceed with the 
proposed action to develop a new FCI/FPC.
     Alternative Locations--Locations other than Leavenworth, 
Kansas, for implementation of the proposed action and warranting only a 
brief explanation of the reasons for elimination.
     Action Alternatives--Alternative building location within 
the grounds of USP Leavenworth which best meets BOP requirements for 
development while minimizing potential adverse environmental impacts.
     Preferred Alternative--The alternative preferred by the 
BOP for implementation of the proposed action.
    No reasonable alternatives outside the jurisdiction of the BOP (the 
lead agency) have been identified or warranted inclusion in the FSEIS. 
Development of the proposed FCI/FPC at USP Leavenworth under the East-1 
plan is considered by the BOP to be the Preferred Alternative.
    The BOP issued a Draft Supplemental EIS in November 2020 with 
publication of the Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register 
on November 20, 2020. The NOA provided for a 45-day public comment 
period which began on November 20, 2020, and ended on January 4, 2021. 
During the public comment period, the BOP held a virtual public hearing 
concerning the proposed action and the Draft Supplemental EIS on 
December 30, 2020. Approximately 39 individuals attended the public 
hearing.
    The Final Supplemental EIS addressed comments received on the Draft 
Supplemental EIS. Publication of the NOA in the Federal Register 
concerning the Final Supplemental EIS occurred on February 26, 2021. 
The 30-day review period for receipt of public comments concerning the 
Final Supplemental EIS ended on March 29, 2021. The comments received 
on the Final Supplemental EIS were considered in the decision presented 
in the ROD.
    BOP provided written notices of the availability of the Draft 
Supplemental EIS and the FSEIS in the Federal Register, a newspaper 
with local and regional circulations, and through publication on a 
website established for this EIS process at https://www.proposed-fci-fpc-leavenworth.com/communications.
    Availability of Record of Decision: The Record of Decision and 
other information regarding this project are available on the project 
website at https://www.proposed-fci-fpc-leavenworth.com/communications 
or upon request.
    For further information please contact Cheryl D. Ciccone, Acting 
Chief, or Kimberly S. Hudson, Site Selection Specialist, Construction 
and Environmental Review Branch, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First 
Street NW, Room 901-5, Washington, DC 20534, Tel: 202-514-6470 Fax: 
202-260-0702/Email: cciccone@ bop.gov/[email protected]">bop.gov/[email protected].

Cheryl D. Ciccone,
Acting Chief, Construction and Environmental Review Branch, Federal 
Bureau of Prisons.
[FR Doc. 2021-10575 Filed 5-20-21; 8:45 am]
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