[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30313-30314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14348]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Availability of the Revised Final Environmental Impact Statement
for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions Stored at Pine Bluff
Arsenal, AR
AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: This announces the availability of the Revised Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the construction and operation
of the proposed chemical agent disposal facility at Pine Bluff Arsenal,
Arkansas. The proposed facility will be used to demilitarize all
stockpiled chemical agents and munitions currently stored at Pine Bluff
Arsenal. The Revised Final EIS examines the potential impacts of on-
site incineration, alternative locations within the Pine Bluff Arsenal,
and the ``no action'' alternative. The ``no action'' alternative is
considered to be a deferral of the demilitarization with continued
storage of agents and munitions at Pine Bluff Arsenal.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In its Record of Decision (53 FR 5816-5817,
dated February 26, 1988) for the Final Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement on the Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program, the
Department of the Army selected on-site disposal by incineration at all
eight chemical munition storage sites within the continental United
States as the method by which it will destroy its lethal chemical
stockpile. On March 29, 1989, the Department of the Army published a
Notice of Intent in the Federal Register (54 FR 12944-12945) which
provided notice that, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act
and implementing regulations, it would prepare a draft site-specific
EIS for the proposed Pine Bluff chemical agent disposal facility. In
1995, the Department of the Army prepared a Draft EIS to assess the
site-specific health and environmental impacts of on-site incineration
of chemical agents and munitions stored at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. A
Notice of Availability was published on June 9, 1995, in the Federal
Register (60 FR 30537) which provided notice that the Draft EIS was
available for comment. All comments from the Draft EIS were considered
and responses included in the Final EIS. A Notice of Availability for
the Final EIS was published on October 18, 1996, in the Federal
Register (61 FR 54437). After publication, the Army revised the Final
EIS by performing an additional review of the potential impacts. This
Revised Final EIS includes a discussion of that review. After a 30-day
waiting period the Army will publish a Record of Decision.
WAITING PERIOD: Comments will be accepted during this 30-day waiting
period, which begins with the Environmental Protection Agency's
publication of the notice of availability.
COPIES: To obtain copies of the Revised Final EIS, contact the Program
Manager for Chemical Demilitarization (PMCD), Data and Document Control
Center, at
[[Page 30314]]
(410) 671-4901. For more information, contact Ms. Cathy Stalcup, OPMCD,
or Mr. Jeff Lindblad, Pine Bluff Chemical Activity, at (410) 671-3629
and (501) 540-2429, respectively.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will
also publish a Notice of Availability for the Final EIS in the Federal
Register.
Dated: May 28, 1997.
Richard E. Newsome,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Environment, Safety and
Occupational Health), OASA (I, L&E).
[FR Doc. 97-14348 Filed 6-2-97; 8:45 am]
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