27622 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 16, 2007 / Notices 

other relief as the Department may deem 

necessary or appropriate. 

Renee V. Wright, 

Program Manager, Docket Operations, 

Federal Register Liaison. 

[FR Doc. E7–9408 Filed 5–15–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Notice of Adoption of the U.S. Air 

Force Final Environmental Impact 

Statement and Approval of the Federal 

Aviation Administration Record of 

Decision for the New Mexico Training 

Range Initiative (NMTRI) 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of Adoption of the U.S. 

Air Force (USAF) Final Environmental 

Impact Statement (FEIS) and Approval 

of the FAA Record of Decision (ROD). 

SUMMARY: The FAA is announcing its 

Adoption of the United States Air Force 

(USAF) Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (FEIS) for the New Mexico 

Training Range Initiative and approval 

of the FAA Record of Decision (ROD). 

The New Mexico Training Range 

Initiative (NMTRI) is the USAF 

initiative to create airspace that allows 

mainly F–16 and aircrews to receive 

much needed realistic combat training 

while maximizing their training time. 

NMTRI includes the Pecos MOA 

complex. 

DATES: Effective Date: May 7, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Federal Aviation 

Administration, Central Services Area, 

System Support Group, 2601 Meacham 

Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76137. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Nan Terry, Federal Aviation 

Administration, Central Services Area, 

System Support Group, 2601 Meacham 

Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 76137, (817) 

222–5594. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

USAF, lead agency for NMTRI, 

published availability of the Final EIS 

on October 20, 2006 in the Federal 

Register (Volume 71, Number 203, 

Pages 61967–61968), in accordance with 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) as amended. The 

determinations on the project are 

outlined in the FAA’s ROD, which was 

approved on May 4, 2007. 

For copies of the USAF Final 

Environmental Impact Statement, 

contact: Ms. Sheryl Parker at (757) 764–

9334. A copy of the FAA Adoption and 

Record of Decision can be obtained by 

contacting Ms. Nan Terry in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION section above. 

Issued in Washington, DC, or May 7, 2007. 

Edith V. Parish, 

Acting Manager, Environmental Programs 

Group, System Operations Airspace & 

Aeronautical Information Management, Air 

Traffic Organization. 

[FR Doc. 07–2393 Filed 5–15–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Notice of the U.S. Air Force 

Supplemental Final Environmental 

Impact Statement and FAA Approval of 

the Record of Decision for the Realistic 

Bomber Training Initiative (RBTI) 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Adoption of the USAF 

Supplemental Final Environmental 

Impact Statement and Issuance of the 

FAA Record of Decision (ROD). 

SUMMARY: The FAA is announcing—

adoption of the United States Air Force 

(USAF) Final Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) 

for the Realistic Bomber Training 

Initiative (RBTI), and approval of the 

FAA Record of Decision (ROD). The 

USAF proposal was to create airspace 

that allows B–52 and B–1 aircrews to 

receive much needed realistic combat 

training while maximizing their training 

time. RBTI includes the Lancer Military 

Operating Area (MOA) and the 

Instrument Military Training Route 178 

(IR–178). 

EFFECTIVE DATES: April 11, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Federal Aviation 

Administration, Central Services Area, 

System Support Group, 2601 Meacham 

Blvd., Fort Worth, TX, 76137. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Nan Terry, Federal Aviation 

Administration, Central Services Area, 

System Support Group, 2601 Meacham 

Blvd, Fort Worth, Texas, 76137, (817) 

222–5594. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On December 19, 1997, the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

process for RBTI began with publication 

of the Notice of Intent (NOI) in the 

Federal Register. The Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

was published in March 1999 (Volume 

64, Number 53). Fifteen public hearings 

were held in 11 communities. The Final 

EIS, published and made available to 

the public in January 2000, identified 

the USAF preferred alternative as 

Alternative B. 

In March 2000, the USAF Deputy 

Chief of Staff for Air and Space 

Operations issued its initial Record of 

Decision (ROD) ((Air Force 2000b)), 

choosing Alternative B for 

implementation. They then submitted 

the formal airspace proposal to establish 

the Lancher Military Operating Area 

(MOA) to the FAA in April 2000. After 

conducting its own independent 

evaluation of the environmental 

documentation and completing the 

aeronautical circularization process, the 

FAA adopted the Final EIS and gave 

final approval for the RBTI airspace on 

December 11, 2001, with an effective 

date of February 21, 2002. 

The USAF and FAA were sued by 

parties alleging, among other things that 

there was a failure to comply with 

NEPA. In March 2003, the U.S. District 

Court, Northern District of Texas, 

Lubbock Division, granted summary 

judgment in favor of the United States. 

The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court 

of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. One of 

the plaintiffs also filed a separate 

petition in the Fifth Circuit alleging that 

the FAA had failed to comply with 

NEPA in approving the RBTI airspace. 

In a single opinion covering both the 

USAF and FAA cases, the Court of 

Appeals (October 2004) upheld the 

adequacy of the Final EIS in most 

respects, but remanded the action to the 

USAF and FAA to prepare a 

Supplemental EIS (SEIS) addressing the 

impact of wake vortices on ground 

structures, and to the USAF for 

compliance with the Council on 

Environmental Quality and USAF 

internal requirements for addressing 

FAA comments. 

Public Involvement Pertaining to the 

SEIS 

The Air Force, in cooperation with 

the FAA, published a Notice of 

Availability for the Draft Supplemental 

EIS in the Federal Register on 

November 18, 2005 marking the 

beginning of the official comment 

period. Between December 5, 2005 and 

January 28, 2006, the Air Force and 

FAA conducted a total of five public 

hearings at locations in the proximity of 

the proposed action and alternatives. 

Lubbock, Texas was added as the fifth 

public hearing location based on 

requests from interested citizens. 

Notice of Availability of the Final 

SEIS appeared in the Federal Register 

on August 11, 2006 (Volume 71, 

Number 155) with a comment period of 

thirty-one (31) days. Additional 

information regarding the public 


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