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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 16 (Monday, January 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 8204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01757]

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army

Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement Addressing Heat 
and Electrical Upgrades at Fort Wainwright, Alaska

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Public notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army (Army) is supplementing the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) addressing heat and 
electrical upgrades at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. The current coal-fired 
central heat and power plant (CHPP) and its aging heat distribution 
system require an upgrade that resolves safety, resiliency, fiscal, and 
regulatory concerns. After publication of the Final EIS Notice of 
Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register on February 10, 2023, the 
Army determined that additional analysis is required prior to the Army 
executing a Record of Decision.

DATES: The Army anticipates publishing a NOA in 2025 for the 
Supplemental Final EIS. The public will be invited to comment on the 
Supplemental Final EIS.

ADDRESSES: Digital copies of the EIS documents are available online at: 
https://home.army.mil/wainwright/about/garrison/public-works/environmental/national-environmental-policy-act-nepa/environmental-impact-statements/Heat-and-Electrical-Upgrades-Environmental-Impact-Statement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Grant Sattler by: regular mail at 
Public Affairs Office, AMIM-AKG-PA (Sattler), 1060 Gaffney Road #5900, 
Fort Wainwright, AK 99703-5900; telephone at (907) 353-6701; or email 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fort Wainwright is in the interior of Alaska 
in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Fort Wainwright is home to U.S. 
Army Garrison--Alaska (USAG-Alaska) and units of the 11th Airborne 
Division. The soldiers, families, and civilian employees who make up 
the Fort Wainwright population rely on a 68-year-old coal-fired CHPP 
and an aged heat distribution system to heat and power more than 400 
facilities. The CHPP is one of the oldest working coal-fired power 
plants in the United States and is operating beyond its design life. 
Within the last decade, the installation has experienced critical, 
near-catastrophic failures of the CHPP and unexpected, installation-
wide outages due to maintenance, repair, and operational issues.
    Unexpected outages present substantial risk to safety and to 
mission readiness. Constructing upgraded heat and electrical 
infrastructure would reduce utility costs, minimize the risk of a 
catastrophic failure, help safeguard mission readiness, meet energy 
efficiency standards, comply with emissions standards, and conform to 
Army-directed energy security criteria.
    USAG-Alaska is proposing to upgrade its coal-fired CHPP at Fort 
Wainwright to a more reliable and sustainable heating and electrical 
system that would comply with Army installation energy security 
requirements and with applicable air quality standards. The purpose of 
the proposed action is to provide reliable heat and electrical 
infrastructure for the installation in order to resolve safety, 
resiliency, fiscal, and regulatory concerns. The Army needs to prevent 
the potential failure of heat and power generation and distribution. 
Such a failure could require evacuation of the installation and 
severely affect mission readiness.
    The alternatives the Army is considering are: (1) construction of a 
new coal-fired CHPP; (2) construction of a new, dual-fuel, combustion 
turbine generator CHPP that would be primarily fueled by natural gas; 
(3) decentralization of heat and power, whereby heat would be provided 
by distributed natural gas boilers at facilities across the 
installation and electricity would be purchased from a local utility 
provider; and (4) continued operation of the current plant with 
periodic upgrades (i.e., the No-Action Alternative).
    The Supplemental Final EIS will update: information regarding fuel 
source availability, transportation, and infrastructure requirements; 
information on alternative technologies; comparative greenhouse gas 
emissions; and socio-economic impacts. Updates regarding greenhouse gas 
emissions will reflect the Council on Environmental Quality's guidance 
on considering greenhouse gases.
    The Army anticipates publishing a NOA in the Federal Register in 
2025 to invite the public to comment on the Supplemental Final EIS. 
This process is consistent with 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
1502.9(d) and 1503.1(b), and with 32 CFR 651.5(g)(1), 651.24, and 
651.45(l).
    No earlier than 30 days after publication of the Supplemental Final 
EIS, the Army will sign a Record of Decision.

James W. Satterwhite Jr.,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2025-01757 Filed 1-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3711-CC-P
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