Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 233 / Monday, December 4, 2000 / Notices 75677

these actions fall within the foreign affairs

exception of the rulemaking provisions of

U.S.C. 553(a)(1).

Sincerely,

Richard B. Steinkamp,

Chairman, Committee for the

Implementation of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc. 00–30801 Filed 12–01–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DR–F

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday,

December 1, 2000.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C., 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 00–30855 Filed 11–30–00; 10:46

am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday,

December 8, 2000.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C., 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 00–30856 Filed 11–30–00; 10:46

am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday,

December 15, 2000.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C., 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 00–30857 Filed 11–30–00; 10:46

am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday,

December 22, 2000.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C., 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 00–30858 Filed 11–30–00; 10:46

am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 11:00 a.m., Friday,

December 29, 2000.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C., 9th Floor Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Surveillance

Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 00–30859 Filed 11–30–00; 10:46

am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

for the Design, Construction, and

Operation and Closure of a Facility for

the Destruction of Chemical Agents

and Munitions at Blue Grass Army

Depot (BGAD), Kentucky

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

SUMMARY: This announces the Army’s

intent to prepare a site-specific EIS on

the potential impacts of the design,

construction, operation and closure of a

facility to destroy all of the chemical

agents and munitions currently stored at

the BGAD, Kentucky. The EIS will

examine potential environmental

impacts of the following destruction

facility alternatives: a baseline

incineration facility; a full-scale facility

to pilot test an alternative technology

successfully demonstrated by the

Assembled Chemical Weapons

Assessment (ACWA) Program; and no

action (an alternative that will continue

the storage of the chemical agent and

munitions at the BGAD). If any

reasonable alternatives are identified

during the environmental analysis

process, they will be considered as

alternative courses of action.

The United States has a statutory and

international treaty obligation to destroy

its stockpile of chemical weapons,

including those at the BGAD. The

technique of using incineration (herein

referred to as baseline incineration) has

already been tested safely and

successfully in full-scale facilities.

Alternatives to baseline incineration

have been tested at the demonstration

level, but not in pilot scale or full-scale

facilities. Before additional federal

funds can be spent on any alternative

technology, sec. 142 of the Strom

Thurmond National Defense

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999,

Pub. L. 105–261, requires that three

findings be made. First, an alternative

technology would have to be

determined to be as safe as and as cost

effective as baseline incineration.

Second, it must also be capable of

completing destruction of the stockpile

by the later of either the Chemical

Weapons Convention destruction date

or the date the BGAD stockpile would

be destroyed if baseline incineration

were used. Finally, it must comply with

Federal and State health and safety

laws.

DATES: Written comments must be

received not later than February 2, 2001

in order to be considered in the Draft

EIS.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be

forwarded to the Program Manager for

Chemical Demilitarization, Public

Outreach and Information Office

(ATTN: Mr. Gregory Mahall), Building

E–4585, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD

21010–4005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Gregory Mahall by mail at the above

listed address, by phone at 410–436–

75678 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 233 / Monday, December 4, 2000 / Notices

1093, by fax at 410–436–5122, or by

email at

gregory.mahall@pmcd.apgea.army.mil.

For additional general information or

questions on this process, please call 1–

800–488–0648 to leave a message.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

compliance with the National

Environmental Policy Act (Title 40,

CFR, Parts 1500 through 1508), the

Army will prepare an EIS to assess the

health and environmental impacts of the

design, construction, operation and

closure of a facility to destroy all of the

chemical agents and munitions stored at

the BGAD. Federal law and an

international treaty require that the

chemical agents and munitions be

destroyed. This EIS will analyze the

impact of the various methods of

destroying the BGAD stockpile. The

ACWA Program is currently in the

process of programmatically addressing

pilot tests for alternative technologies at

one or more Army chemical agent

stockpile sites (FR 65 20139, April 14,

2000). These two separate and distinct

analyses serve complementary but

different purposes.

This site-specific EIS continues the

process that began when Congress

established the Program for Chemical

Demilitarization in Pub. L. 99–145 in

1985. The law requires destruction of

the chemical weapons stockpile by a

deadline established by treaty; that date

is April 2007. This requirement still

exists, notwithstanding the

establishment of the ACWA Program.

The Chemical Demilitarization Program

published a Programmatic EIS in

January 1988. Its Records of Decision

(ROD) states that the stockpile of

chemical agents and munitions should

be destroyed in a safe and

environmentally acceptable manner by

on-site incineration. Site-specific

Environmental Impact Statements that

tier off the Programmatic EIS have been

prepared for Johnston Atoll Chemical

Agent Disposal System, Tooele

Chemical Agent Disposal Facility,

Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal

Facility, Umatilla Chemical Agent

Disposal Facility, Pine Bluff Chemical

Agent Disposal Facility, Aberdeen

Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, and

Newport Chemical Agent Disposal

Facility. An updated report and Record

of Environmental Consideration have

also been done on the Tooele Chemical

Agent Disposal Facility.

The specific purpose of the current

analysis is to determine the

environmental impacts of the methods

that could accomplish the destruction of

the stockpile at the BGAD by the

required destruction date on April 2007.

The environmental impact analysis will

determine whether construction of a

full-scale plant operated initially as a

pilot facility and using one of the

technologies successfully demonstrated

in the ACWA Program is capable of

destroying the stockpile at the BGAD by

the reburied destruction date (or as soon

thereafter as could be achieved by

constructing a destruction facility using

the baseline incineration technology),

and if doing so is as safe as the baseline

incineration technology. The 1988

Programmatic EIS ROD does not limit or

predetermine the results of the selection

of a destruction technology for the

BGAD, and it does not dictate the

decision to be made in the ROD

following completion of the EIS for this

action at the BGAD. The ACWA

Program has already successfully

demonstrated and validated

neutralization followed by supercritical

water oxidation. The ACWA Program is

currently evaluating two additional

technologies—electrochemical

oxidation with nitric acid and

neutralization/supercritical water

oxidation/gas phase reduction. If one or

more of these technologies are later

considered to be a reasonable

alternative, they will also be considered

in this site-specific EIS. The ACWA

Program EIS for potential follow-on

pilot testing of successful ACWA

Program demonstration tests pursuant to

the process established by Congress in

Pub. L. 104–208 and 105–261 addresses

a separate but related purpose. That

purpose is to determine if any ACWA

Program technologies can be pilot

tested, and, if so, at which site or sites.

The ACWA Program EIS will be distinct

from this site-specific EIS because its

emphasis will be on the feasibility of

pilot testing one or more of the

successfully demonstrated and

validated ACWA Program technologies

considering the unique characteristics of

various sites, where chemical weapons

are currently stored, including the

BGAD. At the conclusion of both of

these Environmental Impact Statements,

Records of Decision will be issued.

The Army will hold scoping meetings

to aid in determining the significant

issues related to the proposed action

that will be addressed in the sitespecific EIS. The scoping process will

include public participation and seek

input from Federal, Commonwealth of

Kentucky, and local government

agencies, as well as residents within the

affected environment. The dates, times,

and locations of scoping meetings will

be announced in appropriate news

media at least 15 days prior to these

meetings.

Dated: November 28, 2000.

Raymond J. Fatz,

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army,

(Environment, Safety, and Occupational

Health), OASA(I&E).

[FR Doc. 00–30756 Filed 12–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3710–08–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

for the Incorporation of the Overhills

Property Into the Northern Training

Area (NTA) of Fort Bragg, North

Carolina

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

SUMMARY: The EIS will evaluate the

Army’s proposal to incorporate the

Overhills property into Fort Bragg’s

NTA, and create a contiguous 22,000-

acre area for training. Implementation of

the proposed action would govern both

military training and recreational land

uses under a multiple land use concept.

ADDRESSES: Written comments

concerning the scope of the EIS should

be sent to the Commander, U.S. Army

Engineer District, Savannah, ATTN:

CESAS–PD–E (Mr. Seyle), P.O. Box 889,

100 West Oglethorpe Avenue,

Savannah, GA 31402–0889.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Seyle at (912) 652–6017.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Army

would conduct the same full-scale

training on Overhills that it is now

conducting on the NTA. This training

includes ground and air maneuvers

involving both mechanized and light

infantry with attached combat support

and combat service support. These units

would operate tracked and wheeled

vehicles, as well as rotary and fixedwing aircraft. Soldiers would train with

live, frangible ammunition (with a

maximum range of 200 meters) in and

around existing non-historic structures.

All units would train according to the

Installation Range Regulation and the

Army’s Red-Cockaded Woodpecker

guidelines. Additionally, the Army

would allow hunting and fishing on

selected areas of the property and use

the family estate area, known as ‘‘The

Hill,’’ for youth oriented recreational

activities such as golfing, horseback

riding, hiking, swimming, and boating

to the extent that these activities do not

conflict with training.

Fort Bragg is the Headquarters of the

XVIII Airborne Corps, the command

element for America’s contingency