[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 153 (Wednesday, August 9, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45536-45537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-6791]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) in Support of New Facilities for the U.S. Army Medical 
Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, MD

AGENCY: U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Department of 
the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA).

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army announces the availability of DEIS which 
evaluates the potential environmental impacts of the construction and 
operation of new USAMRIID facilities and the decommissioning and 
demolition and/or re-use of existing USAMRIID facilities at Fort 
Detrick, Maryland.

DATES: The public comment period for the DEIS will end 45 days after 
publication of this NOA in the Federal Register by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caree Vander Linden, USAMRIID Public 
Affairs, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5011; telephone: 
(301) 619-2285; fax: (301) 619-4625, or through the public USAMRIID EIS 
Web site at http://www.usamriid.army.mil/eis.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Proposed Action and subject of the EIS 
is the construction and operation of new USAMRIID facilities and the 
decommissioning and demolition and/or re-use of existing USAMRIID 
facilities at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
    The proposed new USAMRIID facilities will provide biocontainment 
laboratory space, animal facilities, and administrative offices, as 
well as operational and administrative support

[[Page 45537]]

facilities. These new facilities will be located adjacent to the 
existing USAMRIID facilities within the National Interagency Biodefense 
Campus on Area A of Fort Detrick and near the biomedical research 
facilities of mission partners, including the Agricultural Research 
Service Foreign Disease-Weed Research Unit, Department of Agriculture; 
the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Integrated 
Research Facility, Department of Health and Human Services; and the 
National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, Department of 
Homeland Security. The USAMRIID facilities on Area A will be 
decommissioned and either demolished and/or re-used following occupancy 
of the new USAMRIID facilities.
    The construction will occur in two stages. Stage 1 will provide 
approximately 700,000 gross square feet (gsf) of new building space for 
the replacement of outdated and compressed existing facilities in order 
to sustain the current mission and to expand medical test and 
evaluation (T&E) capacity in support of immediate Department of Defense 
(DoD) and national demand. Stage 2 will encompass approximately 400,000 
gsf of new building space for the balance of USAMRIID's expanded 
mission and for additional capacity to meet intensified national 
requirements for medical T&E in support of biodefense research as well 
as to accommodate increased collaborative efforts among USAMRIID's 
mission partners. In addition, approximately 200,000 gsf of the 
existing USAMRIID facilities may be renovated and re-used for 
laboratory or non-laboratory use, to be determined by evolving 
biodefense requirements.
    The significant issues analyzed in the DEIS included safety of 
laboratory operations and demolition of the existing biocontainment 
laboratories; public health and safety; handling, collection, 
treatment, and disposal of research wastes; analysis of other risks; 
and pollution prevention.
    Three alternatives were considered: Construction and Operation of 
New USAMRIID Facilities and Decommissioning and Demolition of the 
Existing USAMRIID Facilities on Area A of Fort Detrick, Maryland 
(Alternative I), Construction and Operation of New USAMRIID Facilities 
and Decommissioning and Partial Demolition of the Existing USAMRIID 
Facilities and Re-Use of the Remaining Facilities on Area A of Fort 
Detrick, Maryland (Alternative II), and the No Action Alternative, 
under which the proposed new USAMRIID facilities would not be built and 
operated and the existing USAMRIID facilities would not be 
decommissioned and demolished and/or re-used.
    The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the U.S. 
Army Garrison of Fort Detrick will hold a public hearing to receive 
comments on the DEIS on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 from 7 p.m. to 9 
p.m. at the Governor Thomas Johnson High School, 1501 N. Market St., 
Frederick, MD 21701.

    Dated: August 3, 2006.
Addison D. Davis, IV,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, (Environment, Safety and 
Occupational Health), OASA(I&E).
[FR Doc. 06-6791 Filed 8-8-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710-08-M