Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 110 /Tuesday, June 9, 1998 / Notices 31453

Dated: June 3, 1998.

Sharon A. Kiser,

FAR Secretariat.

[FR Doc. 98–15240 Filed 6–8–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

Department of Defense Wage

Committee; Notice of Closed Meetings

Pursuant to the provisions of section

10 of Public Law 92–463, the Federal

Advisory Committee Act, notice is

hereby given that closed meetings of the

Department of Defense Wage Committee

will be held on July 7, 1998; July 14,

1998; July 21, 1998; and July 28, 1998,

at 10:00 a.m. in Room A105, The Nash

Building, 1400 Key Boulevard, Rosslyn,

Virginia.

Under the provisions of section 10(D)

of Public Law 92–463, the Department

of Defense has determined that the

meetings meet the criteria to close

meetings to the public because the

matters to be considered are related to

internal rules and practices of the

Department of Defense and the detailed

wage date to be considered were

obtained from officials of private

establishments with a guarantee that the

data will be held in confidence.

However, members of the public who

may wish to do so are invited to submit

material in writing to the chairman

concerning matters believed to be

deserving of the Committee’s attention.

Additional information concerning

the meetings may be obtained by writing

to the Chairman, Department of Defense

Wage Committee, 4000 Defense

Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301–4000.

Dated: June 3, 1998.

L.M. Bynum,

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison

Officer, Department of Defense.

[FR Doc. 98–15188 Filed 6–8–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 5000–04–M

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Record of Decision and General

Conformity Determination for

Realignment of E–2 Squadrons From

Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS)

Miramar, California

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DOD.

ACTION: Notice of Record of Decision.

SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy,

after carefully weighing the operational,

environmental, and cost implications of

relocating E–2 aircraft from MCAS

Miramar to other Naval installations,

announces its decision to realign four

E–2 squadrons to Naval Air Weapons

Station (NAWS) Point Mugu, California.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Kelly K. Knight, Southwest

Division, Naval Facilities Engineering

Command (Code 553.KK), 1220 Pacific

Highway, San Diego, CA 92132,

telephone (619) 532–2456.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of

the entire Record of Decision is

provided as follows:

The Department of the Navy (DON),

pursuant to the Defense Base Closure

and Realignment Act of 1990 (10 U.S.C.

2687), section 102(2)(C) of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.), and the

regulations of the Council on

Environmental Quality that implement

NEPA procedures (40 CFR part 1500–

1508), hereby announces its decision to

realign 16 E–2 aircraft, relocate 988

military and civilian personnel with

their families, expand and construct

facilities to support aircraft and

personnel, and provide associated

training functions at Naval Air Weapons

Station (NAWS) Point Mugu, California.

The realignment to NAWS Point Mugu

was identified as the Preferred

Alternative in the Final Environmental

Impact Statement (FEIS).

To support the additional personnel

and operation and maintenance of the

E–2 aircraft, eight construction projects,

primarily consisting of modification or

expansion of existing facilities, are

required at NAWS Point Mugu.

Realignment of the E–2 squadrons

will increase aircraft operations at

NAWS Point Mugu. However, as these

E–2 squadrons will continue to use the

E–2 training ranges, including the

Southern California Operations Area,

there will be no increase in aircraft

operations on the ranges.

Pursuant to section 176(c) of the

Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7476(c)), the

DON has determined that the

realignment of the E–2 aircraft to NAWS

Point Mugu conforms to California’s

State Implementation Plan for Ventura

County. There were no comments on the

draft conformity determination

published as Appendix D to the FEIS.

The final conformity determination is

being distributed concurrent with the

ROD.

Realignment of the E–2 aircraft and

operational functions will begin in July

1998 and should be completed in

January 1999.

Background

The 1993 Defense Base Closure and

Realignment Commission (BRAC)

recommended the realignment of MCAS

El Toro and MCAS Tustin to NAS

Miramar. The Commission also

recommended that the squadrons and

related activities at NAS Miramar would

move to other naval air stations,

primarily NAS Lemoore and NAS

Fallon in order to make room for the

relocation of MCAS El Toro squadrons.

In 1995, the BRAC Commission

revised the 1993 BRAC Commission

recommendations as follows: ‘‘Change

the receiving sites for squadrons and

related activities at NAS Miramar

specified by the 1993 Commission

(BRAC Commission 1993) from NAS

Lemoore and NAS Fallon to other naval

air stations, primarily NAS Oceana,

Virginia, NAS North Island, California,

and NAS Fallon, Nevada.’’

As the 1995 BRAC Commission did

not recommend realignment of NAS

Miramar aircraft to a specific base, the

DON conducted a multi-stage screening

process to identify reasonable and

feasible alternatives for realignment of

Pacific Fleet E–2 aircraft to a west coast

Naval air station. Other Navy aircraft

stationed at NAS Miramar have already

been realigned under separate NEPA

actions.

Process

A Notice of Intent was published in

the Federal Register on May 1, 1996,

announcing that the DON would

prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) which would analyze

the environmental effects of the E–2

realignment and associated facilities

construction.

The DON published a Notice of

Availability of the Draft EIS (DEIS) in

the Federal Register and local

newspapers on November 21, 1997.

Three public hearings were held in the

cities of El Centro, Oxnard, and

Lemoore, CA, between December 8, and

December 10, 1997, to solicit comments

on the DEIS. A total of 30 individuals,

agencies, and organizations submitted

written comments on the DEIS. The

FEIS addressed all oral and written

comments.

The DON published a Notice of

Availability of the FEIS and a draft Final

CAA Conformity Determination in the

Federal Register and local newspapers

on April 17, 1998. The DON received 13

comment letters during the 30-day

public review period. Substantive

comments are addressed later in this

ROD.

Alternatives Considered

The DON conducted a screening

process, based upon criteria set out in

the DEIS, to identify a reasonable range

of alternatives that would satisfy the