[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 221 (Friday, November 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80286-80288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24947]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplement to the September 2018
Final Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Environmental Impact
Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement for Continuation of
Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities
AGENCY: Department of the Navy (DoN), Department of Defense (DoD).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, and regulations implemented by the Council on Environmental
Quality, the Department of the Navy (DoN)
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(including both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps) in cooperation
with the U.S. Coast Guard announces its intent to prepare a supplement
to the 2018 Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS)/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (OEIS).
New information includes an updated acoustic effects analysis, updated
marine mammal density data, and evolving and emergent best available
science. Proposed activities and study area are consistent with those
analyzed in the 2018 AFTT EIS/OEIS.
DATES: The 30-day public scoping period begins on November 17, 2023 and
extends to December 16, 2023. Comments must be postmarked or submitted
electronically via the website no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on
December 16, 2023 for consideration in the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
ADDRESSES: The DoN invites all interested parties to submit scoping
comments on the Supplemental EIS/OEIS to the physical address listed
below and electronically through the project website at http://www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis.
Comments can be mailed to: Naval Facilities Engineering Systems
Command, Atlantic, 6506 Hampton Boulevard, Building A, Norfolk,
Virginia, 23508-1278, ATTN: EV22, AFTT SEIS Project Manager.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: U.S. Fleet Forces Command, 1562
Mitscher Avenue Suite 250, Norfolk, VA 23551-2487, Attn: Mr. Theodore
Brown, Installations and Environment Public Affairs Officer, 757-836-
4427, or visit the project website: http://www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DoN's lead action proponent is U.S.
Fleet Forces Command. Additional Navy action proponents include the
Office of Naval Research, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems
Command, the U.S. Marine Corps, The U.S. Coast Guard, as a joint lead
agency is also an action proponent (hereinafter collectively referred
to as the ``Action Proponents'').
The Action Proponents will assess the potential environmental
effects associated with ongoing and future at-sea military readiness
activities conducted within the AFTT EIS/OEIS Study Area (hereafter
known as the ``Study Area'') beyond 2025. Military readiness activities
include training and research, development, testing, and evaluation
(hereafter known as ``testing''). The Supplemental EIS/OEIS will
include an analysis of training and testing activities using new
information that became available after the release of the 2018 Final
EIS/OEIS. New information includes an updated acoustic effects
analysis, updated marine mammal density data, and evolving and emergent
best available science. Proposed activities are consistent with those
analyzed in the 2018 Final EIS/OEIS and are representative of training
and testing activities the Action Proponents have been conducting in
the Study Area for decades. The Study Area remains consistent with the
2018 Final EIS/OEIS with the addition of some inland waters within the
Gulf of Mexico coast. The Study Area is comprised of operating areas
(sea space) and warning areas (airspace) located in the Atlantic Ocean
along the eastern coast of North America, the Gulf of Mexico, and
portions of the Caribbean Sea, at select Navy pierside locations,
within port transit channels, and some inland waters.
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to maintain a ready force,
which is needed to ensure the peacetime promotion of the national
security interests and prosperity of the United States and for prompt
and sustained combat incident to operations at sea and to meet the
needs of war, consistent with Title 10, section 8062, of the United
States Code.
The Proposed Action is to conduct at-sea training and testing
activities within the Study Area. Activities include the use of active
sonar and explosives while employing marine species protective
mitigation measures. The Proposed Action does not alter the original
purpose and need as discussed in the 2018 Final EIS/OEIS.
Proposed training and testing activities are consistent with those
analyzed in the 2018 Final EIS/OEIS. In the Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the
DoN will analyze the proposed changes to the types and tempo of
training and testing activities, accounting for the introduction of new
technologies, the evolving nature of international events, advances in
warfighting doctrine and procedures, and changes in the organization of
vessels, aircraft, weapons systems, and personnel. In the AFTT
Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the Action Proponents will reflect the
compilation of training and testing activities required to fulfill the
Action Proponent's military readiness requirements beyond 2025, and
therefore includes the analysis of newly proposed activities and
changes to previously analyzed activities.
The Supplemental EIS/OEIS will consider a No Action Alternative and
two Action Alternatives that account for the types and tempo of
training and testing activities that are necessary to meet future
military readiness requirements (beginning in November 2025).
The Supplemental EIS will evaluate the expected social, economic
and environmental effects resulting from implementing the action
alternatives and the No Action Alternative. Resource areas that will be
addressed include, but are not limited to: biological resources
(including marine mammals and other protected species), sediments and
water quality, air quality, noise, cultural resources, socioeconomic
resources, and public health and safety.
As part of this process, the Action Proponents will seek the
issuance of Federal regulatory permits and authorizations under the
Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act to support on-
going and future at-sea military readiness activities within the Study
Area beyond 2025.
Pursuant to 40 CFR 1501.8, the Navy invited the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) to be a cooperating agency in preparation of
the Supplemental EIS/OEIS, in a letter dated August 18, 2022. NMFS has
agreed to be a cooperating agency on the Supplemental EIS/OEIS to
support and expedite the NEPA and consultation processes.
To ensure that the full range of issues related to the proposed
action are addressed and all potential issues are identified, DoN
invites comments and suggestions from all interested parties regarding
potential alternatives, information, studies or analyses of any kind
concerning impacts affecting the quality of the human environment
relevant to the proposed action on behalf of all the Action Proponents.
Comments may be submitted according to the instructions in the
following Public Scoping Process section.
The scoping process is used to identify the full range of issues
including public concerns and local issues to be considered during the
development of the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS. Federal agencies, State
agencies, local agencies, the public, and interested persons are
encouraged to provide substantive comments to the DoN on environmental
resources and areas of concern that the commenter believes the DoN
should consider.
After the scoping period DoN will coordinate with participating and
cooperating agencies to develop a Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS. The
Draft Supplemental EIS/OES is anticipated to be issued in the Fall of
2024. The Final Supplemental EIS/OEIS is anticipated to
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be issued in the Fall of 2025, within 24 months of the publication of
this NOI.
Dated: November 7, 2023.
J.E. Koningisor,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-24947 Filed 11-16-23; 8:45 am]
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