Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2009 / Notices 2515 

• No-action alternative, where F–35B 

aircraft would not replace F–18A/C/D, 

AV–8B, and EA–6B squadrons at MCAS 

Beaufort and MCAS Cherry Point. The 

no-action alternative, while required by 

NEPA from which to measure potential 

impacts, would not meet the purpose 

and need of the proposed action and 

would prevent the Marine Corps from 

fulfilling its assigned combat missions. 

• Alternative 1 would base three F– 

35B squadrons and the PTC (with two 

squadrons) at MCAS Beaufort; MCAS 

Cherry point would receive eight 

squadrons. 

• Alternative 2 would base the PTC 

(with two squadrons) at MCAS Beaufort; 

MCAS Cherry Point would receive 

eleven squadrons. 

• Alternative 3 would base eight 

squadrons at MCAS Beaufort; MCAS 

Cherry Point would receive three 

squadrons and the PTC (with two 

squadrons). 

• Alternative 4 would base eleven 

squadrons at MCAS Beaufort; MCAS 

Cherry Point would receive the PTC 

(with two squadrons). 

• Alternative 5 would base two F– 

35B squadrons and the PTC (with two 

squadrons) at MCAS Beaufort; MCAS 

Cherry point would receive nine 

squadrons. 

Environmental Issues and Resources To 

Be Examined 

The EIS will evaluate the potential 

environmental effects associated with 

each of the above alternatives. Issues to 

be addressed may include, but are not 

limited to, biological resources, historic 

and archaeological resources, geology 

and soils, hydrology, water quality, air 

quality, noise, safety, hazardous 

materials and waste, visual resources, 

socioeconomics, and environmental 

justice. Relevant and reasonable 

measures that could avoid or mitigate 

environmental effects will also be 

analyzed. 

Additionally, the Marine Corps will 

undertake any consultations required by 

the Endangered Species Act, Clean 

Water Act, National Historic 

Preservation Act, and any other 

applicable law or regulation. 

EIS Schedule 

This Notice of Intent is the first phase 

of the EIS process and announces the 

30-day public comment period to 

identify community concerns and local 

issues that should be addressed in the 

EIS. The next phase occurs when the 

Department of the Navy publishes a 

Notice of Availability (NOA) in the 

Federal Register and local media to 

publicly release the Draft EIS. A 45-day 

public comment period for the Draft EIS 

will commence upon publication of the 

NOA in the Federal Register . The 

Marine Corps will consider and respond 

to all comments received on the Draft 

EIS when preparing the Final EIS. The 

Department of the Navy intends to issue 

the Final EIS no later than October 

2010, at which time an NOA will be 

published in the Federal Register and 

local media. A Record of Decision will 

be issued 30 days following publication 

of the Final EIS. 

Dated: January 12, 2009. 

A.M. Vallandingham, 

Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate 

Generals Corps, U.S. Navy, Federal Register 

Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–834 Filed 1–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

basing the U.S. Marine Corps Joint 

Strike Fighter F–35B on the West 

Coast 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 

(102)(2)(c) of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 

1969, as implemented by the Council on 

Environmental Quality Regulations (40 

Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 

1500–1508), the Department of the Navy 

NEPA regulations (32 CFR Part 775), 

and Marine Corps NEPA directives 

(Marine Corps Order P5090.2A, change 

1), the Department of the Navy intends 

to prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) and conduct public 

scoping meetings for the proposed 

basing and operation of 12 Joint Strike 

Fighter (JSF) F–35B squadrons at Marine 

Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, in 

San Diego, California and MCAS Yuma 

in Yuma, Arizona. 

The Department of the Navy is 

initiating the public scoping process to 

identify community concerns and local 

issues that should be addressed in the 

EIS. Federal, state and local agencies 

and interested parties are encouraged to 

provide written comments to identify 

specific issue or topics of environmental 

concern that should be addressed in the 

EIS. The Department of the Navy will 

consider these comments in 

determining the scope of the EIS. 

DATES: Public scoping open houses will 

be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the 

dates indicated below, at the following 

locations: 

(1) February 3, 2009, Miramar, Mira 

Mesa Branch Library, 8405 New Salem 

St., San Diego, CA. 

(2) February 4, 2009, Gila Ridge High 

School, 7151 E 24th St., Yuma, AZ. 

Federal, state, and local agencies, and 

interested parties are encouraged to 

attend any of the open house scoping 

meetings. At these open houses, 

proposal-related displays and material 

will be available for public review; 

Marine Corps and Navy staff will be 

present to address questions; and the 

public will have an opportunity to 

submit written comments on 

environmental concerns that should be 

addressed in the EIS. 

ADDRESSES: All are encouraged to 

provide written comments on the 

proposed action and alternatives at any 

public scoping open houses and 

anytime during the scoping comment 

period, which ends February TBD, 2009. 

There are three ways to submit written 

comments: (1) By attending one of the 

public scoping open houses, (2) by email using the project public Web site 

at http://www.usmcJSFwest.com or (3) 

by mail. All written comments on the 

scope of the EIS should be submitted 

and postmarked no later than February 

TBD, 2009. Comments submitted by 

mail should be sent to: JSF West Coast 

EIS Project Manager, NAVFAC 

SOUTHWEST, 1220 Pacific Hwy, San 

Diego, CA 93132. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: F– 

35B West Coast EIS Project Manager at 

(619) 532–4742. Please submit requests 

for special assistance, sign language 

interpretation for the hearing impaired, 

or other auxiliary aids needed at the 

public meeting to the F–35B West Coast 

EIS Project Manager by January 6, 2009. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Marine Corps variant of the JSF, the F– 

35B, is a short take-off/vertical landing 

(STOVL), multi-role fighter aircraft 

whose primary emphasis is air-toground combat. The aircraft is designed 

to replace existing fleets of F–18 A/C/D 

Hornets (strike fighter) and AV–8B 

Harriers (attack). It is also intended to 

adopt the electronic warfare mission of 

the EA–6B Prowler aircraft. The F–35B 

West Coast basing proposal would take 

approximately 12 years to implement 

and would begin in 2012. The proposal 

would base up to 182 aircraft (i.e., 10 

active-duty and 1 reserve squadron of 

up to 16 aircraft each and 1 OT& E 

squadron with 6 aircraft) at MCAS 

Miramar and MCAS Yuma. Facility 

construction and modifications would 

occur prior to and continue throughout 

F–35B squadron arrivals; the F–35B 

would operate within existing airspace 

and at training ranges currently used by 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
2516 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 2009 / Notices 

Marine Corps Hornet and Harrier 

aircraft. 

Proposed Action 

The proposed action would base and 

operate a total of 12 F–35B (the Marine 

Corps variant of the JSF) squadrons at 

MCAS Miramar and MCAS Yuma. The 

decision would include the basing of 10 

active-duty squadrons, 1 Reserve 

squadron, and 1 Operational Testing 

and Evaluation (OT&E) squadron. The 

F–35B is a next generation, stealth, 

supersonic, multi-role fighter aircraft 

that will replace aging Marine Corps 

fleets of F–18 A/C/D Hornets and AV– 

8B Harriers in the 3rd and 4th Marine 

Air Wings. 

Purpose and Need 

To meet any crisis or conflict that may 

arise both now and into the future, 

Marine Corps Aviation must be manned, 

trained, and equipped to conduct worldwide air combat operations. For this 

reason, technological superiority in its 

air fleet is an essential requirement. The 

purpose of the proposed action, 

therefore, is to provide state-of-the art 

F–35B aircraft to Marine Corps fleets by 

replacing aging aircraft inventories. The 

basing action would provide both the 

facilities and functions to support and 

maintain these new aircraft as well as 

the airfields, airspace, and ranges to 

train air crews in these next-generation 

aircraft. The EIS may develop the need 

for new missions on the Barry M. 

Goldwater range and/or identify the 

need and location for additional special 

use airspace to support JSF training 

functions. 

Preliminary Alternatives 

The Marine Corps developed a range 

of reasonable basing alternatives in a 

three-tiered alternatives development 

process. The process applied the 

purpose and need to identify potential 

sites that could maximize JSF 

integration into existing Marine Air 

Ground Task Force organizations, 

maximize utilization of existing 

infrastructure and provide efficient use 

of existing ranges. The alternative 

development process identified five 

preliminary basing alternatives. These 

alternatives distribute differing 

combinations of the F–35B active-duty, 

reserve, and OT&E squadrons between 

MCAS Miramar and MCAS Yuma. The 

basing alternatives include: 

• No-action alternative, where F–35B 

aircraft would not replace F–18A/C/D 

and AV–8B squadrons at MCAS 

Miramar and MCAS Yuma. The noaction alternative, while required by 

NEPA in order to measure potential 

impacts, would not meet the purpose 

and need of the proposed action and 

would prevent the Marine Corps from 

fulfilling its assigned combat missions. 

• Alternative 1 would base six 

squadrons at MCAS Miramar, and five 

squadrons and one OT&E squadron at 

MCAS Yuma. 

• Alternative 2 would base four 

squadrons at MCAS Miramar, and seven 

squadrons and one OT&E squadron at 

MCAS Yuma. 

• Alternative 3 would base seven 

squadrons and one OT&E squadron at 

MCAS Miramar, and four squadrons at 

MCAS Yuma. 

• Alternative 4 would base one 

squadron and one OT&E squadron at 

MCAS Miramar, and ten squadrons at 

MCAS Yuma. 

• Alternative 5 would base ten 

squadrons at MCAS Miramar, and one 

squadron and one OT&E squadron at 

MCAS Yuma. 

Environmental Issues and Resources To 

Be Examined 

The EIS will evaluate the potential 

environmental effects associated with 

each of the above alternatives. Issues to 

be addressed include, but are not 

limited to, biological resources, historic 

and archaeological resources, geology 

and soils, hydrology, water quality, air 

quality, noise, safety, hazardous 

materials and waste, visual resources, 

socioeconomics, and environmental 

justice. Relevant and reasonable 

measures that could avoid or mitigate 

environmental effects will also be 

analyzed. 

Additionally, the Marine Corps will 

undertake any consultations required by 

the Endangered Species Act, Clean 

Water Act, National Historic 

Preservation Act, and any other 

applicable law or regulation. 

EIS Schedule 

This Notice of Intent is the first phase 

of the EIS process and announces the 

beginning of the public comment period 

to identify community concerns and 

local issues that should be addressed in 

the EIS. The next phase occurs when the 

Department of the Navy publishes a 

Notice of Availability (NOA) in the 

Federal Register and local media to 

publicly release the Draft EIS. A 45-day 

public comment period for the Draft EIS 

will start upon publication of the NOA 

in the Federal Register. The Department 

of the Navy will consider and respond 

to all public comments received on the 

Draft EIS when preparing for the Final 

EIS. The Department of the Navy 

intends to issue the Final EIS no later 

than October 2010, at which time an 

NOA will be published in the Federal 

Register and local media. A 30-day 

waiting period will start upon 

publication of the NOA for the Final EIS 

in the Federal Register. At the end of 

this period, the Assistant Secretary of 

the Navy will issue a Record of 

Decision. 

Dated: January 12, 2009. 

A.M. Vallandingham, 

Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate 

Generals Corps, U.S. Navy, Federal Register 

Liaison Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–835 Filed 1–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Department of the Navy 

Partially Closed Meeting of the 

Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel 

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD. 

ACTION: Notice of Partially Closed 

Meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Secretary of the Navy 

(SECNAV) Advisory Panel will meet to 

discuss recommendations for Military 

Program Managers in the Department of 

the Navy and strategies related to a 

classified topic. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

February 6, 2009 from 8:45 a.m. to 2 

p.m. 

The morning sessions from 8:45 a.m. 

to 10:30 a.m. on February 6, 2009, will 

be open to the public, and the afternoon 

sessions from 10:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 

February 6, 2009, will be closed to the 

public. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in 

Room 1E840, in the Pentagon. 

Access: Public access is limited due to 

the Pentagon Security requirements. 

Any individual wishing to attend will 

need to contact LCDR Miriam Smyth at 

(703) 695–3573 or CDR Cary Knox at 

(703) 693–0463 no later than January 30, 

2009. Members of the public who do not 

have Pentagon access will be required 

provide Name, Date of Birth and Social 

Security number by January 30, 2009 in 

order to obtain a visitor badge. Public 

transportation is recommended as 

public parking is not available. 

Members of the public wishing to attend 

this event must enter through the 

Pentagon’s Metro Entrance between 8:45 

a.m. and 9 a.m. At this entrance, they 

will be required to present two forms of 

identification in order to receive a 

visitors badge and meet their escort. 

Members obtaining visitor badges will 

then be escorted to Room 1E840 to 

attend the open sessions of the Advisory 

Panel. Members of the Public shall 

remain with designated escorts at all 

times while on the Pentagon 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES