Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / Notices 70979 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Army, U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers 

Notice of Availability of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Proposed Point Thomson Project, 

North Slope Borough, AK 

AGENCY: Corps of Engineers, Department 

of the Army, Department of Defense. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, Alaska District, has prepared 

a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) on the proposed development by 

the Exxon Mobil Corporation and PTE 

Pipeline LLC (Applicant). The Draft EIS 

evaluates project alternatives and 

potential impacts to the environment 

which may occur from the Applicant’s 

proposal to construct industrial 

infrastructure and produce liquid 

hydrocarbon resources near Point 

Thomson, Alaska. The proposed project 

includes the construction of structures 

in navigable waters of the United States 

(U.S.) and the discharge of dredged and/ 

or fill materials into waters of the U.S., 

including wetlands. The proposed work 

requires authorization from the Corps of 

Engineers under Section 10 of the Rivers 

and Harbors Act (RHA) of 1899 and 

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act 

(CWA). The Draft EIS will be used to 

evaluate the Applicant’s Department of 

the Army permit application and 

compliance with NEPA. 

Draft EIS Availability: Electronically 

available for viewing, copying, or 

printing at: http://www.pointthomson

projecteis.com. 

A printed Executive Summary, which 

includes 2 Compact Discs containing 

the entire Draft EIS, can be obtained 

electronically through the project Web 

site address immediately above. 

Draft EIS Comment Period: The 45- 

day review and comment period begins 

on November 18, 2011 and ends on 

January 3, 2012. 

Send written comments, postmarked 

by January 3, 2012, to: Harry A. Baij Jr., 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska 

District, Regulatory Division, Post Office 

Box 6898, JBER, AK 99506–0898. 

Send electronic comments, received 

by January 3, 2012, to: comments@point

thomsonprojecteis.com. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Contact Mr. Baij by email message at 

harry.a.baij@usace.army.mil, by 

telephone at (800) 478–2712 (toll free 

within AK), (907) 753–2784 (office), or 

(907) 350–5097 (cell). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Corps 

of Engineers, Alaska District, has 

published a Public Notice of 

Application for Permit for the 

Applicant’s proposal to coincide with 

this Notice of Availability. The Public 

Notice can be viewed at http://www.

poa.usace.army.mil/reg. Navigate to the 

‘‘Public Notice’’ button and file number 

POA–2001–1082–M1, Beaufort Sea. 

Comments on the Public Notice can be 

submitted by clicking on the Submit 

Comments button at the Public Notice 

Web page. The comment period is 

identical to the Draft EIS comment 

period. 

1. Authorities: Section 404 of the 

Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) and 

Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act 

of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403). 

2. Background Information: The 

Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, 

received the Applicant’s complete 

permit application on November 1, 

2011. The Applicant’s purpose is to 

produce liquid hydrocarbons and 

delineate and evaluate hydrocarbon 

resources in the Point Thomson area. 

Two natural gas production wells have 

been previously authorized, drilled, and 

tested at an existing gravel pad at Point 

Thomson, AK. Other previously 

authorized gravel pads and exploration 

wells also exist in the general area. 

3. Location: Alaska’s Arctic Coastal 

Plain, Beaufort seacoast, approximately 

60 miles east Prudhoe Bay. Most of the 

reservoir is located under the Beaufort 

Sea in State of Alaska waters. The 

proposed facilities would be located 

primarily onshore, on State of Alaska 

lands, leased to the Applicant. Kaktovik, 

AK is located approximately 60 miles 

east. The Arctic National Wildlife 

Refuge is approximately 2 miles east. 

4. Proposed Project: Industrial 

development involving gravel fill 

placement in tundra waters and 

wetlands and marine structures. 

Construct a large gravel mine; a milelong gravel airstrip; 3 production and/or 

processing gravel pads; several miles of 

in-field gravel roads; similar length infield above-ground pipelines; a marine 

bulkhead, service pier, and mooring 

dolphins; navigational dredging; and 

other industrial infrastructure. 

Processed liquid hydrocarbons would 

be transported through a new 22-mile 

long elevated pipeline to existing 

facilities to the west and further 

connections to the Trans Alaska 

Pipeline System. 

Construct temporary and permanent 

camps (lodging); offices, warehouses, 

and shops; electric power generation 

and distribution facilities; fuel, water, 

and chemical storage; a water and 

wastewater treatment facility; a grind 

and inject drilling waste facility; a solid 

waste facility; and communications 

facilities. 

Directionally drill a minimum of five 

wells on three gravel pads: Central, East, 

and West. The Central Pad would be the 

largest and the primary location for 

construction and operations, processing 

fluids, locating a gas injection well for 

recycling natural gas, and a wastewater 

disposal well. The East and West Pads 

would include wells to delineate and 

evaluate the hydrocarbon reservoir for 

additional oil and gas resources and 

facilitate production. 

5. Draft EIS Alternatives: Four 

alternatives were developed and 

evaluated in the Draft EIS that would 

meet the Applicant’s purpose and need. 

The No Action Alternative is used for 

comparison of the environmental effects 

of the action alternatives and involves 

long term monitoring and maintenance 

of the existing wells and gravel pads. 

Three Action Alternatives were 

developed. Two action alternatives 

would minimize impacts to coastal 

resources by locating infrastructure 

components inland from the coastline 

and reducing coastal access. These 2 

alternatives consider alternative 

transportation routes, such as ice roads 

and an all-season gravel road in-lieu of 

barge access. A third alternative was 

developed to reduce impacts to waters 

and wetlands by minimizing the total 

gravel fill footprint. A complete 

description of the alternatives 

development, screening process, and the 

alternatives carried forward for detailed 

study, is disclosed in Section 2 of the 

Draft EIS. 

6. Scoping Process: A Notice of Intent 

to prepare a Draft EIS for the Proposed 

Point Thomson Project was published 

on December 4, 2009. The Corps of 

Engineers conducted public, Tribal, and 

agency scoping meetings in AK prior to 

preparing the Draft EIS. Results from the 

scoping process were summarized a 

Public Scoping Document and are 

addressed in the Draft EIS. 

7. Public Locations for Draft EIS: The 

Draft EIS is available for review at the 

following public libraries and schools: 

a. Harold Kaveolook School, Kaktovik, 

AK 

b. Nuiqsut Trapper School, Nuiqsut, AK 

c. Tuzzy Consortium Library, Barrow, 

AK 

d. Noel Wein Library, Fairbanks, AK 

e. Z.J. Loussac Library, Anchorage, AK 

f. Alaska Resources Library and 

Information Services, Anchorage, 

AK 

g. University of Alaska, Anchorage 

Library, Anchorage, AK 

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70980 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / Notices 

8. Public Meetings: Open house and 

public comment meetings will be held 

at the following times and locations: 

05 December 2011 .................................. Anchorage, AK ........................................ Open House ............................................ 4–6 p.m. 

Loussac Library ....................................... Public Comment ...................................... 6:30–8 p.m. 

07 December 2011 .................................. Fairbanks, AK ......................................... Open House ............................................ 4–6 p.m. 

Westmark Hotel ...................................... Public Comment ...................................... 6:30–8 p.m. 

12 December 2011 .................................. Kaktovik, AK ............................................ Open House ............................................ 6–7:30 p.m. 

Marsh Creek Inn ..................................... Public Comment ...................................... 8–9 p.m. 

13 December 2011 .................................. Nuiqsut, AK ............................................. Open House ............................................ 4–6 p.m. 

Trapper School ....................................... Public Comment ...................................... 6:30–8 p.m. 

15 December 2011 .................................. Barrow, AK .............................................. Open House ............................................ 4–6 p.m. 

Hobson Middle School ............................ Public Comment ...................................... 6:30–8 p.m. 

Review and comment of this Draft EIS 

is encouraged. Requests to be placed on 

a mailing list for future announcements 

can be sent to Mr. Baij at the contact 

information above. The Corps of 

Engineers will give full consideration to 

all public comments received on the 

Draft EIS. A summary of the public 

meetings, written comment letters, and 

responses will be incorporated into the 

Final EIS, as appropriate. 

Dated: November 7, 2011. 

Harry A. Baij, Jr., 

Project Manager, US Army Corps of 

Engineers, Alaska District. 

[FR Doc. 2011–29632 Filed 11–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3720–58–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Meeting of the U.S. Naval Academy 

Board of Visitors 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of Partially Closed 

Meeting. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Naval Academy 

Board of Visitors will meet to make such 

inquiry, as the Board shall deem 

necessary, into the state of morale and 

discipline, the curriculum, instruction, 

physical equipment, fiscal affairs, and 

academic methods of the Naval 

Academy. The executive session of this 

meeting from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on 

December 5, 2011, will include 

discussions of disciplinary matters, law 

enforcement investigations into 

allegations of criminal activity, and 

personnel issues at the Naval Academy, 

the disclosure of which would 

constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of personal privacy. For this 

reason, the executive session of this 

meeting will be closed to the public. 

DATES: The open session of the meeting 

will be held on December 5, 2011, from 

8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The closed session of 

this meeting will be the executive 

session held from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in 

the Bo Coppege Room at the Naval 

Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The 

meeting will be handicap accessible. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lieutenant Commander Travis Haire, 

USN, Executive Secretary to the Board 

of Visitors, Office of the Superintendent, 

U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD 

21402–5000, (410) 293–1503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice of meeting is provided per the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2). The 

executive session of the meeting from 

11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on December 5, 2011, 

will consist of discussions of law 

enforcement investigations into 

allegations of criminal activity, new and 

pending administrative/minor 

disciplinary infractions and nonjudicial 

punishments involving the Midshipmen 

attending the Naval Academy to 

include, but not limited to, individual 

honor/conduct violations within the 

Brigade, and personnel issues. The 

discussion of such information cannot 

be adequately segregated from other 

topics, which precludes opening the 

executive session of this meeting to the 

public. Accordingly, the Secretary of the 

Navy has determined in writing that the 

meeting shall be partially closed to the 

public because the discussions during 

the executive session from 11 a.m. to 

12 p.m. will be concerned with matters 

coming under sections 552b(c)(5), (6), 

and (7) of Title 5, United States Code. 

Dated: November 8, 2011. 

L.M. Senay, 

Lieutenant, Office of the Judge Advocate 

General, U.S. Navy, Alternate Federal Register 

Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2011–29559 Filed 11–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Applications for New Awards; Race to 

the Top Fund Phase 3 

AGENCY: Office of the Deputy Secretary, 

Department of Education 

ACTION: Notice. 

Overview Information 

Race to the Top Fund Phase 3 

Notice inviting applications for new 

awards for fiscal year (FY) 2011. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 84.395A. 

DATES: Applications Available: 

November 16, 2011. 

Date of Meetings for Prospective 

Applicants: November 16, 2011. 

Deadline for Transmittal of Part I 

Applications: November 22, 2011, 

4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time. 

Deadline for Transmittal of Part II 

Applications: December 16, 2011, 

4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time. 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: The Race to the 

Top program, the largest competitive 

education grant program in U.S. history, 

is designed to provide incentives to 

States to implement system-changing 

reforms that result in improved student 

achievement, narrowed achievement 

gaps, and increased high school 

graduation and college enrollment rates. 

On April 15, 2011, President Obama 

signed into law Public Law 112–10, the 

Department of Defense and Full-Year 

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 

(FY 2011 Appropriations Act), which 

made $698.6 million available for the 

Race to the Top Fund, authorized the 

Secretary to make awards on ‘‘the basis 

of previously submitted applications,’’ 

and amended the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) 

to permit the Secretary to make grants 

for improving early childhood care and 

learning under the program. On May 25, 

2011, the Department announced that 

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