[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 145 (Friday, July 29, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-18510]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: July 29, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Revised Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement for Base Realignment at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry
Point, Craven County, NC
Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality
regulation (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), the Department of the Navy
announced on November 15, 1993, its intent to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the environmental effects of the
realignment of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, Craven
County, North Carolina. The proposed action is being conducted in
accordance with the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990
(Public Law 101-510) and the specific 1993 base closure and realignment
decisions which became effective in September
1993. The proposed action involves the relocation of F/A-18 aircraft
and dedicated personnel from Naval Air Station Cecil Field,
Jacksonville, Florida, to MCAS Cherry Point.
The purpose of this notice is to supplement the information
provided in the original Notice of Intent which stated that an existing
outlying airfield may need to be renovated or a new outlying airfield
may need to be developed to provide for the increased training needs.
Three scoping meetings were held in Eastern North Carolina on December
7, 8, and 9, 1993, and the process of preparing the EIS was begun.
Since these initial scoping meetings, the Navy has been studying this
issue to determine reasonable outlying airfield sites.
A tiered screening approach progressively narrowed down a number of
potential areas meeting the general requirements for an outlying
airfield to a short list of nine candidate areas. These included: the
three existing Marine Corps Outlying Landing Fields (MCOLF) in eastern
North Carolina [MCOLF Atlantic in Carteret County, Marine Corps
Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue in Carteret County, and MCOLF Oak Grove
in Jones County]; a site identified jointly with the United States
Forest Service within the Croatan National Forest along Black Swamp
Road; and five potentially suitable privately owned sites.
The final step in the screening process involved utilizing a set of
specific operational and environmental criteria to evaluate each of the
nine candidate sites. From this evaluation, three sites are considered
to be reasonable sites and will be evaluated in detail in the EIS.
These sites are three of the five privately owned sites: an
agricultural site which lies east of Bay City Road in Beaufort County
at the Beaufort County/Pamlico County Line; a site in northern Beaufort
County, east of Route 32 at the Beaufort County/Washington County line;
and a site within Carteret County north of Beaufort in the Open Grounds
Farm area. The other sites are not considered reasonable because of the
potential for significant environmental impacts and incompatible land
uses.
Agencies and the public are invited and encouraged to provide
additional written comments on the proposed OLF development areas
discussed in this notice. Comments should clearly describe specific
issues or topics which should be addressed in the EIS. Written comments
and/or questions regarding this notice should be mailed to: Commander,
Atlantic Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, 1510 Gilbert
Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23511-2699 (Attn: Mr. Jim Haluska, Code
2032JH), telephone (804) 445-2307. All comments should be received no
later than August 29, 1994.
Dated: July 26, 1994.
Lewis T. Booker, Jr.,
LCDR, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 94-18510 Filed 7-28-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3810-AE-P
