[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7494-7497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4479]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Record of Decision for the Establishment of the United States
Navy Mine Warfare Center of Excellence in the Corpus Christi Bay Area,
Texas
SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2) of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the Council on Environmental Quality
regulations implementing NEPA procedures (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), the
Department of the Navy announces its decision to establish the Mine
Warfare Center of Excellence (MWCE) in the Corpus Christi Bay area by
collocating its Mine Warfare (MIW) and Mine Counter Measures (MCM)
assets in proximity to each other at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Ingleside
and Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus Christi, Texas. The proposed action
includes new construction at these installations and off-base, use of
or modification to existing facilities at the installations, and the
establishment of offshore training and operating areas.
Congress directed the Navy to establish the MWCE at NAVSTA
Ingleside in the FY94 Defense Appropriations Act. A Notice of Intent
(NOI) was published in the Federal Register on November 19, 1993,
indicating the Department of the Navy would prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for the establishment of the United States Navy
Mine Warfare Center of Excellence in the Corpus Christi Bay Area,
Texas. Two public scoping meetings were held to determine the scope of
significant issues to be examined in the EIS. The first meeting was
held on December 7, 1993 in Flour Bluff, Texas, and the second meeting
was held on December 8, 1993 in Corpus Christi, Texas. A Draft EIS
(DEIS) was filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and distributed to agencies and officials of federal, state, and local
governments, citizen's groups and associations, media, public
libraries, and interested parties for review and comments. The Notice
of Filing and Notice of Public Availability appeared in the Federal
Register on May 5, 1995. The period of public review and comment on the
DEIS was from May 5, 1995 through June 19, 1995. Two public hearings
were held during this period: the first on June 6, 1995 in Flour Bluff,
Texas, and the second on June 7, 1995 in Ingleside, Texas. Comments on
the DEIS were received in three forms: (1) Letters, (2) written
comments received at the public hearings, and (3) oral statements made
at the hearings. Comments included concerns about habitat impacts,
terrestrial vegetation impacts, seagrass impacts, mitigation, water
quality, landuse, wildlife impacts, and surfing impacts. Those comments
and Navy responses were incorporated into the Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS), which was filed with the EPA on December 15,
1995 and distributed for public review.
Two letters of comments were received during public review of the
FEIS. The Office of the Governor had no substantive comment and the EPA
reiterated its ``lack of objection'' rating given on the DEIS.
The EIS evaluated the reasonable facility alternatives to
implementing the proposed action in the Corpus Christi Bay area and the
environmental impacts of the construction, modification, and operation
of the proposed facilities and establishment of offshore training and
operating areas. In addition to the various facility alternatives
discussed in the EIS, a ``No Action'' alternative was evaluated. In the
``No Action'' alternative, an MWCE would not be established leaving
assets and facilities spread out at several locations. This alternative
was eliminated because it would continue to degrade the Navy's ability
to properly perform its expeditionary warfare mission in support of
possible contingencies world-wide. This alternative also would not
comply with Congressional direction.
New facility construction includes a Magnetic Silencing Facility
(MSF), required to measure the magnetic signature of MIW ships, to be
located at a site north of Jewell Fulton Canal near NAVSTA Ingleside.
The MSF consists of two components: An electromagnetic roll (EMR)
``crib'' and a ``check'' range. The EMR ``crib'' requires 27 feet of
water depth, navigable access to the pier, and a turning basin. The
facility will consist of two parallel timber piers approximately 50
feet apart and 320 feet long that are 14 feet wide, an instrument
building, and a generator building. The ``check'' range will consist of
a Closed Loop Degaussing (CLDG) component built over the ``crib'' with
minimum modification to the proposed pier configuration to accommodate
all classes of MIW ships. Dredging of the MSF site will remove
approximately 450,000 cubic yards (CY) of dredged material. The 50-year
maintenance requirement could require dredging of approximately 720,000
CY. Dredge material will be disposed of at Navy's existing upland
disposal site near the La Quinta Channel area. Dredging of the MSF will
cause the loss of approximately 3.5 acres of seagrass. The Navy has
prepared a mitigation plan to compensate for the loss of the seagrass
area which has been approved in concept by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USAEC).
The Aviation Mine Counter Measures (AMCM) Sled Facility, required
to train helicopter pilots in the launching and recovery of magnetic
influenced AMCM sleds, will be located on North Padre Island adjacent
to the Padre Island National Seashore. The facility will include a
landing pad, launch ramp, a staging area capable of holding and
[[Page 7495]]
maintaining the sleds, tiedown capability, maintenance/personnel
support structure, security systems, and on-site wash rack. Mobile
fueling capability will be provided for sled operations; however, no
permanent fueling facilities will be constructed. Construction of the
AMCM facility at North Padre Island will result in a removal of
approximately 1.77 acres of ephemeral fresh to brackish wetland swales.
The Navy will replace the wetlands at a ratio established through the
permitting process.
A small craft pier will be constructed near the east end of the
existing wharf at NAVSTA Ingleside where dredging is not required. The
pier will be 600-foot by 30-foot, reinforced concrete construction and
will include utilities. The function of the pier is to accommodate
utility boats used in support of the mine warfare exercises and other
assignments. A 32-foot wide concrete launching ramp extending from the
existing wharf deck located adjacent to the east of the small craft
pier will also be constructed.
Administrative Facilities required for the MWCE will be located in
existing facilities at NAS Corpus Christi and NAVSTA Ingleside. Support
for two MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter squadrons will be accommodated by
modifying existing hangars and support facilities at NAS Corpus
Christi. New bachelor enlisted housing (approximately 119,130 square
feet) will be constructed in a vacant site within the Community
Facilities Area of NAS Corpus Christi to house approximately 722
enlisted personnel.
Mobile Mine Assembly Group (MOMAG) Unit Fifteen will use existing
Hangar 3 (Building 760) at NAS Kingsville for administrative and
operations space. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Unit Six
will reside in existing facilities located in the Housing Area to the
southeast of the hospital at NAS Corpus Christi. An additional 200-foot
by 50-foot ``drive-through'' building will be required to complete the
storage needs for EOD equipment. An on-shore explosive pit will also be
constructed in the southwest section of NAS Corpus Christi near the
existing skeet/trap range for EOD training purposes.
Training and operating areas will be established in the Gulf of
Mexico off North Padre Island, collocated with the AMCM Sled Facility,
and within Mineral Management Service (MMS) Lease Blocks 732, 733, 734,
793, 799, and 816. This will include a permanent drill minefield and an
Ordnance Detonation Area, required for the detonation of practice mines
using a maximum of 10 pounds C-4 explosive (equivalent to 8 pounds of
TNT). This area (a one nautical mile by one nautical mile area) is in
the southeast corner of MMS Lease Block 816. Surface restrictions in
these areas will be established to allow for both daily MIW training
and quarterly integrated training.
In selecting the preferred facility and operating site locations,
various alternatives were considered with respect to environmental
impacts, as well as other factors including cost. The evaluation
criteria included a location's ability to meet a best balance of
project need, physical, biological, and socioeconomic impacts. A brief
summary of the alternatives considered and their rational for the
selection follows:
Six alternative sites in the coastal bend area of Texas were
considered for the location of each of the two components (``crib'' and
``check'' range) of the MSF. Because one of the operational
requirements of the MSF is for the ``check'' range to be visible from
the EMR ``crib'' instrumentation, a two step evaluation was used to
select the site(s) for the two components. The initial step consisted
of the evaluation of the six EMR component sites followed by the
evaluation of the ``check'' range component sites which were
operationally acceptable (visible) to the EMR. One EMR site was
initially eliminated because it was outside of the acceptable operation
distance for MCM-type ships and a second was eliminated because it did
not provide access to the Gulf. The chosen EMR alternative (Jewell
Fulton Canal) was selected because it represented the least potential
adverse impacts to the environment. Once the Jewell Fulton Canal site
was selected for the location of the EMR component, the CLDG component
was determined to the most acceptable ``check'' range alternative
because it required no additional dredging and limited adverse impacts
to bay waters.
The only site considered for the small craft pier was NAVSTA
Ingleside because it already provides existing Navy homeport and
support facilities unavailable at any other locations in the Corpus
Christi Bay area.
Five alternatives initially were considered for the AMCM facility;
of these, three were determined to be operationally unacceptable and
one had the potential for major environmental impacts. The launch-from-
a-ramp facility located on the beach was judged to be the most feasible
alternative. The beach launch alternative considered three sites, of
these the North Padre Island site was determined to be the most
operationally acceptable and would cause the least potential impact to
the environment and public.
For the MOMAG facility, three sites other than the chosen NAS
Kingsville site were considered: NAVSTA Ingleside, NAS Corpus Christi,
and government facilities in San Antonio, Texas. NAS Kingsville had
available administrative and operations space which could meet space
requirements without new construction and also had existing support
facilities.
Only NAS Corpus Christi had available space to meet EOD
administrative and on-shore explosive pit requirements in acceptable
landuse areas.
Three alternative sites were considered for the Very Shallow Water/
Littoral Training Area: San Jose Island, Mustang Island, and North
Padre Island. San Jose Island and Mustang Island were eliminated
because these two sites contain enough impediments (navigation
fairways, oil and gas pipelines, offshore platforms, and/or areas of
heavy beach usage by the public) to make the areas operationally
unacceptable. Thus, the North Padre Island site was selected as the
location for the Very Shallow Water/ Littoral Training Area.
All five of the areas considered for the Medium Water Depth
Training and Operating Areas met the evaluations criteria (within
reasonable operational distances and in areas of minimal or non-
existent finfish habitat). The three chosen sites (MMS Lease Blocks
793, 799, and 816) were selected because they are adjacent to each
other, making operations more convenient, and are currently unleased.
The only areas considered for the Deep Water Training and Operating
Areas were MMS Lease Blocks 732, 733, and 734. They were the only
unleased deep water blocks within acceptable distances which met the
criteria of having minimal or non-existent finfish habitat.
All practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental impacts of
these facilities and operating areas have been adopted. Activities have
been located in existing buildings as much as practicable, with some
buildings requiring rehabilitation/remodeling. New facilities have been
sited after extensive alternatives analysis, and the chosen sites
result in the least environmental impact of the reasonable
alternatives.
Impacts to water quality, air quality, benthic organisms, marine
and natural resources will briefly occur during dredging and dredged
material disposal activities and the various facility
[[Page 7496]]
construction activities. However, these short-term impacts are not
considered significant within the context of the over-all project area
and with implementation of specific construction measures described
herein and in the EIS. Generally, construction of the various proposed
facilities will incorporate erosion control measures consistent with
the requirements of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) General Permit for Construction Activity. Where necessary, a
Notice of Intent (NOI) will be submitted to the EPA for any proposed
facility which exceeds five acres of construction area. This process
will include the preparation and implementation of a Storm Water
Pollution Prevention Plan. All open portions of sites will be
landscaped and revegetated following construction. During construction,
noise-producing activities will be generally conducted during normal
operating hours to limit disturbance and annoyance. During dredging and
disposal of dredged material, the best available equipment and
techniques will be used to minimize the quantity and area of
distribution of suspended sediments. Dredging plans will be formulated
to meet the requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
(Clean Water Act) and necessary permits.
In accordance with Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899
and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, all required permits from the
USACE to perform work in navigable waters of the United States and for
the placement of fill material in waters of the United States will be
obtained prior to construction and operation of the proposed
facilities. In addition to the submission of permit applications to
allow work in jurisdictional waters, a permit application will be
submitted to the USACE to establish surface restricted areas to allow
for offshore training and operating in accordance with 33 CFR 334,
Danger Zone and Restricted Area Regulations.
In accordance with the Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the construction of
the proposed AMCM sled facility on North Padre Island qualifies for an
exception under Section 6(a)(4) of that Act; that is, military
activities essential to national security. In addition to the Coastal
Barrier Resources Act, the proposed beach site is covered under the
Texas Open Beaches Act. The policy of the State of Texas is that the
public shall have free and unrestricted access to state-owned beaches.
Section 61.022 of the Act provides an exemption for lawful structures
authorized by the Constitution or laws of the state or the United
States. The Navy will coordinate with the local county government, the
Texas General Land Office, and the Office of the Attorney General
consistent with the Texas Open Beaches Act when acquiring beach front
property and before construction of the ramp facility.
In compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act,
potential impacts to cultural resources have been evaluated at the
proposed sites. No sites listed on the National Register of Historic
Places, outside of NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Kingsville, exist in the
proposed area of operations. Any alterations of historic properties at
either NAS Corpus Christi or NAS Kingsville, above or beyond normal
maintenance, for proposed facilities will be consistent with existing
cultural resources management plans and Section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act. Underwater anomalies were identified at the
proposed Jewell Fulton Canal EMR ``crib'' site and a single anomaly,
which would be avoided during construction, near the proposed AMCM sled
ramp. In the event that construction would disturb the anomalies,
additional investigations to establish signature identity and determine
potential National Register eligibility would be performed. The State
Historic Preservation Office concurs with this procedure.
To ensure compliance with the Endangered Species Act and Marine
Mammal Protection Act during training and operations, a Memorandum of
Agreement between the National Marine Fisheries Service and the
Department of the Navy is being finalized to implement a mitigation
plan that would incorporate visual and electronic surveillance before,
during, and after each planned detonation activity.
Impacts associated with the relocation of 9,697 personnel (both
military and dependents) have been addressed and coordinated with state
and local governments and agencies. A Navy housing study has projected
that there will be a shortfall of affordable one- and two-bedroom
family housing units. This projected deficit in one- and two-bedroom
units will be particularly acute among junior enlisted personnel. The
Secretary of the Navy has solicited proposals from qualified private
developers interested in forming a limited partnership to develop,
maintain, and manage a family housing project in which a maximum of 400
units of affordable housing will be made available to Navy families on
a preferential basis.
Approximately 2,926 school age children are expected to move into
the area. The Corpus Christi School District is expected to have the
largest influx of approximately 1,201 school age children; however,
this increase represents less than three percent of its present
enrollment and only half of its available additional capacity. The
Flour Bluff School District, which is projected to experience an
increase of approximately 677 school aged children, is expected to
experience the greatest impact because of its small size, proximity,
and current crowded conditions. However, planning for 24 new buildings
to provide additional capacity is now underway. This is expected to
resolve overcrowding concerns for the next five years.
Pursuant to Executive Order 12898, Environmental Justice, potential
environmental and economic impacts on minority and low income
populations and communities were assessed. No disproportionate
concentrations of minority or low income populations were identified in
the area of impacts of the various facilities and operations.
Additionally, the Navy has ensured that opportunities for community
involvement (including minority and low income individuals and
populations) in the NEPA process have been provided.
There are adequate utility capacities in the region to support the
establishment of the MWCE. Potable water use in the region would
increase about four percent through the turn of the century as a result
of the establishment of the MWCE. Additional discharges to area
wastewater treatment plants from proposed MWCE facilities is not
expected to exceed facility capacities. Community support, such as
police and fire protection, must be increased to accommodate the new
residents; however, this is not expected to impose a significant burden
on the communities.
Questions regarding the Environmental Impact Statement prepared for
this action may be directed to: Commanding Officer, Southern Division,
Naval Facilities Engineering Command, P.O. Box 190010, North
Charleston, South Carolina 29419-9100 (Attention: Mr. Will Sloger, Code
064WS), telephone (803) 820-5797.
[[Page 7497]]
Dated: February 21, 1996.
Duncan Holaday,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and Facilities)
Dated: February 21, 1996.
M.D. Schetzsle,
LT JAGC, USNR, Alternate Federal Register Certifying Officer.
[FR Doc. 96-4479 Filed 2-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3810-FF-P
