[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2597-2599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00749]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Air Force


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
Regional Special Use Airspace Optimization To Support Air Force 
Missions in Arizona

AGENCY: Department of the Air Force, Federal Aviation Administration, 
Department of Defense.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is issuing this Notice 
of Intent (NOI) to advise the public of its intent to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess the potential 
environmental consequences associated with optimizing the Special Use 
Airspace (SUA) managed by the DAF to support aircrews stationed at 
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), Luke AFB, and Morris Air National 
Guard Base ([ANGB] located at Tucson International Airport) in Arizona 
and to request comments on potential alternatives and impacts, and 
identification of any relevant information, studies, or analyses of any 
kind concerning impacts affecting the quality of the human environment.

DATES: This NOI begins the public scoping process for identifying 
issues and potential alternatives for consideration in the EIS. 
Notifications are being concurrently published in local newspapers 
within the potentially affected localities. Scoping comments are 
requested by March 4, 2022 to ensure full consideration in the Draft 
EIS in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.9. In-person scoping meetings will 
be held at the dates and locations below. All meetings will be open-
house style from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Local). There will not be a 
formal presentation, please attend at your convenience. Persons with 
hearing impairments should notify the DAF at least 7 days in advance of 
the meeting dates to ensure that sign language assistance can be 
available. Masks worn over the nose and mouth and social distancing are 
required at all in-person meetings. Spanish interpreters will be 
available at scoping meetings.
     February 7, 2022. Sonoran Desert Inn & Conference Center, 
55 South Orilla Avenue, Ajo, Arizona 85321.
     February 8, 2022. Superior Town Hall, 199 N Lobb Avenue, 
Superior, Arizona 85173.
     February 9, 2022. Bagdad Event Center, 121 Main Street, 
Bagdad, Arizona 86321.
     February 10, 2022. Congress Fire Department, 26733 Santa 
Fe Road, Congress, Arizona 85332.
     February 22, 2022. Village Hall, 15 Jake Scott Street, 
Reserve, New Mexico 87830.
     February 23, 2022. Clifton Community Center, 100 North 
Coronado Blvd., Clifton, Arizona 85533.
     February 24, 2022. Animas High School, 1 Panther Blvd., 
Animas, New Mexico 88020.
    In addition to the in-person meetings, the project website 
www.ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com provides a virtual presentation of 
the meeting materials for those persons that do not wish to attend or 
are unable to attend an in-person meeting. All the handout(s) and 
displays for the in-person meetings are available on the website.
    The EIS is still in the early planning stages and the schedule is 
subject to change. The schedule will be updated throughout the EIS 
process on the project website. Major milestone dates are as follows:

     Draft EIS and Notice of Availability (NOA) publication, 
Fall 2023
     Draft EIS Public Comment Period and Hearing, Fall 2023
     Final EIS and NOA publication, Summer 2024
     Record of Decision signature, Summer/Fall 2024

ADDRESSES: For questions regarding the Proposed Action or EIS 
development, or to request sign language assistance at the in-person 
scoping meetings, contact Grace Keesling, at [email protected] 
or (210) 925-4534. Comments may be submitted through the project 
website www.ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com,

[[Page 2598]]

by mailing to Arizona Regional Airspace EIS, c/o Cardno, 501 Butler 
Farm Rd., Suite H, Hampton, VA 23666, or in person at the scoping 
meetings.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Air Force utilizes portions of the 
National Airspace System (NAS) for aerial training and test activities 
known as Special Use Airspace (SUA). As a specific type of SUA, 
Military Operations Areas (MOAs) are specific airspace, defined by 
vertical and lateral limits, established for the purpose of separating 
certain military flight activates from other civil and commercial air 
traffic. Air Force aircrews stationed in Arizona are continually 
challenged to meet critical training requirements within existing MOAs 
established decades ago. The MOAs that are currently used for Air Force 
training in Arizona, specifically low altitude airspace and airspace 
that supports supersonic operations at low altitude, have become 
saturated with aircraft. While the Air Force manages an extensive 
network of valuable SUA in the region, including the restricted areas 
associated with the Barry M. Goldwater Range, the volume and attributes 
associated with the individual MOAs are insufficient to meet the 
current training requirements. The Air Force is proposing a regional 
approach that aims at optimizing the existing training airspace to meet 
current and future mission requirements of multiple users. The airspace 
proposed for optimization includes the following MOAs: Tombstone, 
Outlaw, Jackal, Reserve, Morenci, Bagdad, Gladden, Sells, Ruby, and 
Fuzzy. These MOAs overlie land located throughout southern Arizona and 
a small portion of western New Mexico.
    The purpose of the Proposed Action is to optimize existing Air 
Force SUA to address the existing and future training deficiencies of 
aircrews stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB, Luke AFB, and Morris ANGB due 
to existing airspace limitations. The need for the Proposed Action is 
driven by two primary factors: The need for aircrews to be able to 
conduct flight training near their home base; and the need to conduct 
required training to ensure readiness and increase survivability. As 
currently configured, the identified MOAs do not provide the 
appropriate altitudes (down to 500 feet above ground level [AGL] and 
lower), terrain variety, and attributes (ability to fly supersonic at 
lower altitude and use of chaff and flares) to support required 
training.
    The Proposed Action is to modify existing Air Force MOAs to address 
existing and future training deficiencies. The Proposed Action includes 
changing published times of use; adjusting the horizontal dimensions of 
some airspace; lowering the floor of some airspace to allow for low-
altitude training; and adjusting airspace attributes to allow for 
supersonic speed at lower altitude and use of chaff and flares. The 
Proposed Action does not include any changes at the installations 
(personnel, infrastructure, aircraft inventory, or airfield 
operations), ground disturbance beneath the MOAs, or weapons 
deployment.
    Three preliminary action alternatives that meet the purpose and 
need for the Proposed Action have been developed. Comments received 
during scoping may result in changes or additions to these 
alternatives. Additionally, the No Action Alternative (Alternative 1), 
whereby the proposed modifications of the training airspace would not 
occur, will be evaluated to provide a benchmark that will enable Air 
Force decision makers to compare the magnitude of the environmental 
effects of the Proposed Action and any reasonable alternatives.
    Alternative 2 (Proposed Action) would optimize the existing Air 
Force managed airspace, including the following changes to the times of 
use, horizontal and vertical dimensions, and attributes: Published 
times of use for all MOAs would be modified to provide consistency 
across the airspace; Tombstone A, B, and C would be combined and the 
northern boundary of the MOA and associated Tombstone Air Traffic 
Control Assigned Airspace (ATCAA) would be expanded; an exclusion zone 
would be established below 13,000 feet above mean sea level (MSL) 
surrounding Bisbee Douglas International Airport; the floor of 
Tombstone MOA would be lowered to 100 AGL from the existing 500 feet 
AGL; the floors of Outlaw and Jackal MOAs would be lowered to 500 feet 
AGL from the existing 3,000 feet AGL; the floors of the Bagdad and 
Gladden MOAs would be lowered to 500 feet AGL from the existing 5,000 
feet AGL; use of chaff would be authorized in Tombstone MOA; the 
minimum flare release altitude in Tombstone, Gladden, and Bagdad MOAs 
would be lowered to 2,000 feet AGL from 5,000 feet AGL; the minimum 
flare release altitude in Outlaw and Jackal MOAs would be lowered to 
2,000 feet AGL from 3,000 feet AGL; and the authorization for 
supersonic flight would be lowered to 5,000 feet AGL from the existing 
30,000 feet MSL in Tombstone, Outlaw, Jackal, Morenci, and Reserve 
MOAs.
    Alternative 3 would include those modifications proposed for 
Alternative 2 except that the northern boundary of the Tombstone MOA/
ATCAA would not be expanded. Additionally, to increase the volume of 
airspace available to support Davis-Monthan AFB, the floor of Jackal 
MOA would also be lowered to 100 feet AGL from the existing 3,000 feet 
AGL.
    Alternative 4 would include those modifications proposed in 
Alternative 2 except supersonic flight would be authorized down to 
10,000 feet AGL in the Tombstone, Outlaw, Jackal, Morenci and Reserve 
MOAs (vs 5,000 feet AGL in Alternative 2). While this option would not 
fully optimize the airspace for supersonic operations, lowering the 
authorized altitude in the MOAs would improve the current capabilities.
    Based on previous NEPA actions in the region and familiarity with 
the affected environment, the following is a preliminary list of issues 
and concerns that will be the focus in the EIS: Noise and sonic boom 
impacts to domestic animals, wildlife, special status species, 
children, quality of life, property values, homes, and cultural 
resources; effects to cultural resources and Native American tribes; 
effects to Environmental Justice populations; aircraft safety and 
impacts to civilian pilots (crop dusting, predator control, and cattle 
management) and commercial operations; air quality impacts to wildlife 
and public; effects from use of chaff and flares, specifically fire 
risk; and effects to special use land management areas such as 
wilderness areas, national wildlife refuges, and national parks/
monuments.
    Scoping and Agency Coordination: To effectively define the full 
range of issues and alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS, the Air 
Force is soliciting comments from interested local, state and federal 
elected officials and agencies, Tribes, as well as interested members 
of the public and others. The DAF is requesting comments concerning the 
proposed SUA optimization, feasible alternatives, possible measures to 
mitigate, minimize and/or avoid adverse environmental impacts, and any 
other information relevant to the Proposed Action and any reasonable 
alternatives.
    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, State Historic Preservation 
Offices for Arizona and New Mexico, and tribes with interest in land 
beneath the airspace are being consulted to ensure compliance with the 
Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act. The 
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has agreed to be a Cooperating 
Agency for this action. The FAA would update aeronautical charts to 
reflect any modifications to existing airspace that result from this 
proposal and published in FAA Order

[[Page 2599]]

JO 7400.10(C), Special Use Airspace (http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/).

Adriane Paris,
Air Force Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-00749 Filed 1-14-22; 8:45 am]
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