[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 137 (Monday, July 20, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35168-35169]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-17180]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy


Notice of Public Hearings for the U.S. Marine Corps Grow the 
Force at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station 
(MCAS) New River, and MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Department of the Navy, DoD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section (102)(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 United States Code [U.S.C.] 4321); the 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations for implementing the 
procedural provisions of NEPA (Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations 
[CFR] Parts 1500-1508); Department of Navy Procedures for Implementing 
NEPA (32 CFR Part 775); and Marine Corps NEPA directives (Marine Corps 
Order P5090.2A), the Marine Corps has prepared and filed with the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) which evaluates the potential environmental 
consequences that may result from implementing the Grow the Force 
initiative in North Carolina in accordance with the President's mandate 
and Congressional direction to increase end strength across the Marine 
Corps war-fighting organizations by the end of Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11). 
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington district, is a cooperating 
agency for the EIS. A Notice of Intent for this EIS was published in 
the Federal Register on December 14, 2007 (Vol. 72, No. 240, p. 71128).
    The Marine Corps will conduct three public hearings to receive oral 
and written comments on the Draft EIS. Federal, State, and local 
agencies and interested individuals are invited to be present or 
represented at the public hearing meetings. This notice announces the 
dates and locations of the public hearings for this Draft EIS; 
supplementary information about the environmental planning effort is 
also included in this notice.

DATES: An open house session will precede the public hearing at each of 
the locations listed below. Individuals will be allowed to review the 
information presented in the Draft EIS and Marine Corps representatives 
will be available during the open house sessions to clarify information 
related to the Draft EIS. For all meetings the open house will be held 
from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and the public hearing will be held from 6:30 
p.m. to 8 p.m. Public hearings will be held on the following dates and 
at the following locations in North Carolina:
    (1) Tuesday, August 18, 2009, Havelock Tourist and Event Center, 
201 Tourist Center Drive, Havelock, NC.
    (2) Wednesday, August 19, 2009, Jacksonville High School, 
Auditorium, 1021 Henderson Drive, Jacksonville, NC.
    (3) Thursday, August 20, 2009, Holly Ridge Community Center, 404 
Sound Road, Holly Ridge, NC.
    The Draft EIS was distributed to Federal, State, and local 
agencies, elected officials, and other interested parties and 
organizations on July 17, 2009. The public comment period will end on 
September 1, 2009. Copies of the Draft EIS are available for public 
review at the following libraries: Onslow County Public Library, 58 
Doris Ave. East, Jacksonville, NC 28540; Richlands Branch Library, 299 
S. Wilmington St., Richlands, NC 28574; Sneads Ferry Branch Library, 
242 Sneads Ferry Rd., Sneads Ferry, NC 28460; Law Library Branch, 109 
Old Bridge St., Jacksonville, NC 28540; and Havelock-Craven County 
Public Library, 301 Cunningham Boulevard, Havelock, NC 28532. The Draft 
EIS is also available for electronic public viewing at: http://www.GrowTheForceNC.com.
    A paper copy of the Draft EIS will be made available upon written 
request by contacting Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-
Atlantic, Marine Corps Grow the Force in NC, EIS Project Manager, 6506 
Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA 23508.
    Comments: Federal, State, and local agencies and interested parties 
are invited to be present or be represented at the public hearings. 
Written comments can be submitted during the open house sessions 
preceding the public hearings.
    Oral statements will be heard and transcribed by a stenographer; 
however, to ensure the accuracy of the record, all statements should be 
submitted in writing. All statements, both oral and written, will 
become part of the public record on the Draft EIS and will be responded 
to in the Final EIS. Equal weight will be given to both oral and 
written statements. In the interest of available time, and to ensure 
all who wish to give an oral statement have the opportunity to do so, 
each speaker's comments will be limited to three (3) minutes. If a long 
statement is to be presented, it should be summarized at the public 
hearing with the full text submitted in writing at the hearing, or 
mailed to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Marine 
Corps Grow the Force in NC, EIS Project Manager, 6506 Hampton 
Boulevard, Norfolk, VA 23508. In addition, comments may be submitted 
on-line at http://www.GrowTheForceNC.com during the 45-day comment 
period. All written comments must be postmarked by September 8, 2009, 
to ensure they become part of the official record. All comments will be 
addressed in the Final EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael H. Jones, telephone: (757) 
322-4942. Please submit requests for special assistance, sign language 
interpretation for the hearing impaired or other auxiliary aids at the 
public meetings to Mr. Jones by August 4, 2009.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action and subject of the Draft 
EIS covers the permanent, incremental increase of active duty and 
civilian personnel and their dependents at three North Carolina Marine 
Corps Installations: MCB Camp Lejeune, MCAS New River, and MCAS Cherry 
Point. The increase in personnel is part of a nationwide Presidential 
mandate for the Marine Corps to grow its force size from 186,000 to 
202,000 Marines by the end of FY11. Three action alternatives and a No 
Action Alternative were carried forward for analysis in the Draft EIS.
    The No Action Alternative (Alternative 1) was examined in the Draft 
EIS. Under this alternative, the permanent, incremental increase of 
Marine Corps personnel at North Carolina Installations would not occur. 
This alternative is included to provide a baseline from which to gauge 
potential impacts of the action alternatives, even though it would not 
meet the purpose and need to permanently increase Marine Corps 
personnel at North Carolina bases. In addition, it is incompatible with 
the President's mandate to increase Marine Corps personnel.
    The Preferred Alternative (Alternative 2) includes the addition of 
approximately 7,700 personnel at MCB Camp Lejeune, 1,400 at MCAS New 
River, and close to 800 at MCAS Cherry Point (total of 9,900 active 
duty and civilian personnel), as well as approximately 9,450 
dependents.

[[Page 35169]]

    To support this growth, a multi-year, major construction effort 
would occur at all three installations. Proposed infrastructure 
development at each installation (at least to some extent) includes: 
Constructing administrative, educational, training, maintenance, and 
operations facilities; providing living accommodations (housing, 
lodging, and mess halls); building Morale, Welfare, and Recreation 
facilities (fitness centers, medical/dental clinics, child development 
centers); demolishing existing buildings and infrastructure; and 
constructing and/or upgrading infrastructure (e.g., roads, power, and 
communications). Proposed development would result in approximately 
1,700 acres of disturbance at MCB Camp Lejeune, 160 acres at MCAS New 
River, and 117 acres at MCAS Cherry Point.
    Under Alternative 3 the same permanent increase of Marines and 
dependents would occur at the three North Carolina Installations as 
described for the Preferred Alternative; however, a reduced 
construction effort would be implemented. This alternative meets the 
purpose and need to establish the Marine Corps personnel increases on a 
permanent basis; however, once deployments are curtailed and Marines 
return to their home stations from abroad, infrastructure capacity to 
support all the Marines would be considerably strained at the three 
Installations. Under this alternative proposed development would result 
in approximately 360 acres of disturbance at MCB Camp Lejeune, 90 acres 
at MCAS New River, and 40 acres at MCAS Cherry Point.
    Under Alternative 4, the same permanent increase of Marines and 
dependents would occur at the three Installations as described in the 
Preferred Alternative; however, no construction projects or 
infrastructure development would occur. The increased personnel would 
be accommodated in existing facilities or temporary/relocatable 
buildings already in place. The purpose and need for the Proposed 
Action would be met; however, by not implementing any construction 
projects or upgrades, infrastructure capacity to support all the 
Marines would be considerably strained at all three Installations.
    Environmental resources addressed in the Draft EIS include land use 
and coastal zone management; socioeconomics; recreation and visual 
resources; community services and facilities; transportation and 
traffic; utilities and infrastructure; hazardous materials, toxic 
substances, and hazardous waste; noise; air quality; natural resources, 
including threatened and endangered species; earth resources (e.g., 
soils and geology); water resources (e.g., surface waters and 
wetlands); and cultural resources. The Draft EIS also accounts for 
cumulative impacts from other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable 
future actions in the Jacksonville and Havelock, North Carolina 
regional area.
    The Draft EIS analyses indicate that the proposed personnel 
increases would substantially increase the population residing on the 
three Marine Corps installations, as well as the population within the 
surrounding communities of Onslow, Craven, and Carteret counties. 
Onslow and Craven counties are anticipated to receive 95 percent of the 
growth directly associated with the proposed action. The influx of 
personnel would have direct impacts (but not at a magnitude to 
introduce major adverse effects) to socioeconomics, community services 
(specifically schools in Onslow County), utilities, and local traffic. 
The Preferred Alternative would, however, introduce positive input into 
the local economy from economic gains associated with military salaries 
and taxes (long-term gain) and major construction efforts (short-term 
gain).
    The proposed construction and demolition would have adverse impacts 
to cultural resources at MCB Camp Lejeune (demolition of three historic 
buildings). Mitigation measures will be developed in consultation with 
the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Officer. Proposed 
construction also has the potential to impact wetlands at all three 
installations. However, these impacts are not anticipated to be 
significant due to the best management practices utilized by the Marine 
Corps.
    Schedule: A Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft EIS will be 
published both in the Federal Register and local print media, which 
starts the 45-day public comment period for the Draft EIS. 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 December 2009, at which time a NOA 
will be published in the Federal Register and local media. A Record of 
Decision will be issued no sooner than 30 days following publication of 
the Final EIS.

    Dated: July 14, 2009.
A.M. Vallandingham,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy, 
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E9-17180 Filed 7-17-09; 8:45 am]
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