[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
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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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