[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 221 (Friday, November 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80286-80288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24947]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplement to the September 2018 
Final Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Environmental Impact 
Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement for Continuation of 
Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities

AGENCY: Department of the Navy (DoN), Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, and regulations implemented by the Council on Environmental 
Quality, the Department of the Navy (DoN)

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(including both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps) in cooperation 
with the U.S. Coast Guard announces its intent to prepare a supplement 
to the 2018 Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS)/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (OEIS). 
New information includes an updated acoustic effects analysis, updated 
marine mammal density data, and evolving and emergent best available 
science. Proposed activities and study area are consistent with those 
analyzed in the 2018 AFTT EIS/OEIS.

DATES: The 30-day public scoping period begins on November 17, 2023 and 
extends to December 16, 2023. Comments must be postmarked or submitted 
electronically via the website no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on 
December 16, 2023 for consideration in the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS.

ADDRESSES: The DoN invites all interested parties to submit scoping 
comments on the Supplemental EIS/OEIS to the physical address listed 
below and electronically through the project website at http://www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis.
    Comments can be mailed to: Naval Facilities Engineering Systems 
Command, Atlantic, 6506 Hampton Boulevard, Building A, Norfolk, 
Virginia, 23508-1278, ATTN: EV22, AFTT SEIS Project Manager.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: U.S. Fleet Forces Command, 1562 
Mitscher Avenue Suite 250, Norfolk, VA 23551-2487, Attn: Mr. Theodore 
Brown, Installations and Environment Public Affairs Officer, 757-836-
4427, or visit the project website: http://www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DoN's lead action proponent is U.S. 
Fleet Forces Command. Additional Navy action proponents include the 
Office of Naval Research, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems 
Command, the U.S. Marine Corps, The U.S. Coast Guard, as a joint lead 
agency is also an action proponent (hereinafter collectively referred 
to as the ``Action Proponents'').
    The Action Proponents will assess the potential environmental 
effects associated with ongoing and future at-sea military readiness 
activities conducted within the AFTT EIS/OEIS Study Area (hereafter 
known as the ``Study Area'') beyond 2025. Military readiness activities 
include training and research, development, testing, and evaluation 
(hereafter known as ``testing''). The Supplemental EIS/OEIS will 
include an analysis of training and testing activities using new 
information that became available after the release of the 2018 Final 
EIS/OEIS. New information includes an updated acoustic effects 
analysis, updated marine mammal density data, and evolving and emergent 
best available science. Proposed activities are consistent with those 
analyzed in the 2018 Final EIS/OEIS and are representative of training 
and testing activities the Action Proponents have been conducting in 
the Study Area for decades. The Study Area remains consistent with the 
2018 Final EIS/OEIS with the addition of some inland waters within the 
Gulf of Mexico coast. The Study Area is comprised of operating areas 
(sea space) and warning areas (airspace) located in the Atlantic Ocean 
along the eastern coast of North America, the Gulf of Mexico, and 
portions of the Caribbean Sea, at select Navy pierside locations, 
within port transit channels, and some inland waters.
    The purpose of the Proposed Action is to maintain a ready force, 
which is needed to ensure the peacetime promotion of the national 
security interests and prosperity of the United States and for prompt 
and sustained combat incident to operations at sea and to meet the 
needs of war, consistent with Title 10, section 8062, of the United 
States Code.
    The Proposed Action is to conduct at-sea training and testing 
activities within the Study Area. Activities include the use of active 
sonar and explosives while employing marine species protective 
mitigation measures. The Proposed Action does not alter the original 
purpose and need as discussed in the 2018 Final EIS/OEIS.
    Proposed training and testing activities are consistent with those 
analyzed in the 2018 Final EIS/OEIS. In the Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the 
DoN will analyze the proposed changes to the types and tempo of 
training and testing activities, accounting for the introduction of new 
technologies, the evolving nature of international events, advances in 
warfighting doctrine and procedures, and changes in the organization of 
vessels, aircraft, weapons systems, and personnel. In the AFTT 
Supplemental EIS/OEIS, the Action Proponents will reflect the 
compilation of training and testing activities required to fulfill the 
Action Proponent's military readiness requirements beyond 2025, and 
therefore includes the analysis of newly proposed activities and 
changes to previously analyzed activities.
    The Supplemental EIS/OEIS will consider a No Action Alternative and 
two Action Alternatives that account for the types and tempo of 
training and testing activities that are necessary to meet future 
military readiness requirements (beginning in November 2025).
    The Supplemental EIS will evaluate the expected social, economic 
and environmental effects resulting from implementing the action 
alternatives and the No Action Alternative. Resource areas that will be 
addressed include, but are not limited to: biological resources 
(including marine mammals and other protected species), sediments and 
water quality, air quality, noise, cultural resources, socioeconomic 
resources, and public health and safety.
    As part of this process, the Action Proponents will seek the 
issuance of Federal regulatory permits and authorizations under the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act to support on-
going and future at-sea military readiness activities within the Study 
Area beyond 2025.
    Pursuant to 40 CFR 1501.8, the Navy invited the National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NMFS) to be a cooperating agency in preparation of 
the Supplemental EIS/OEIS, in a letter dated August 18, 2022. NMFS has 
agreed to be a cooperating agency on the Supplemental EIS/OEIS to 
support and expedite the NEPA and consultation processes.
    To ensure that the full range of issues related to the proposed 
action are addressed and all potential issues are identified, DoN 
invites comments and suggestions from all interested parties regarding 
potential alternatives, information, studies or analyses of any kind 
concerning impacts affecting the quality of the human environment 
relevant to the proposed action on behalf of all the Action Proponents. 
Comments may be submitted according to the instructions in the 
following Public Scoping Process section.
    The scoping process is used to identify the full range of issues 
including public concerns and local issues to be considered during the 
development of the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS. Federal agencies, State 
agencies, local agencies, the public, and interested persons are 
encouraged to provide substantive comments to the DoN on environmental 
resources and areas of concern that the commenter believes the DoN 
should consider.
    After the scoping period DoN will coordinate with participating and 
cooperating agencies to develop a Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS. The 
Draft Supplemental EIS/OES is anticipated to be issued in the Fall of 
2024. The Final Supplemental EIS/OEIS is anticipated to

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be issued in the Fall of 2025, within 24 months of the publication of 
this NOI.

    Dated: November 7, 2023.
J.E. Koningisor,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, 
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-24947 Filed 11-16-23; 8:45 am]
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