Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 202 / Friday, October 20, 2017 / Notices 48901 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Notice of Availability of a Record of 

Decision for a Replacement Robley 

Rex Department of Veterans Affairs 

Medical Center, Louisville, Kentucky 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) announces the availability 

of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the 

siting, construction, and operation of a 

new campus to replace the existing 

Robley Rex VA Medical Center (VAMC), 

and three community-based outpatient 

clinics in Louisville, Kentucky. VA 

considered comments received on the 

Draft EIS issued in October 2016; 

identified VA’s preferred alternative in 

the Final EIS issued on April 28, 2017; 

and hereby incorporates by reference 

the Final EIS into the ROD. 

DATES: VA is publishing the Record of 

Decision more than 30 days after 

publishing the Final EIS. 

ADDRESSES: The ROD is available for 

viewing on the Web site 

www.louisville.va.gov/newmedical

center. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Replacement VAMC Activation Team 

Office, 800 Zorn Avenue, Louisville, KY 

40206, Email: LouisvilleReplacement

HospitalComments@va.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Based on 

the detailed analysis in the Final EIS, 

along with public input and the 

implementation of identified 

management and mitigation measures to 

minimize impacts identified in Chapter 

5 of the Final EIS, Preferred Alternative 

A (Brownsboro Site) is fully consistent 

with the Agency’s mission to provide 

high-quality, safe and accessible health 

care for Veterans well into the 21st 

Century; and has been shown to fully 

meet the VA’s purpose and need for 

action. Through a rigorous site selection 

process and for reasons described in 

Chapter 2 of the Final EIS, VA narrowed 

the list of most suitable sites to the 

Brownsboro and St. Joseph sites, and 

has determined that the existing VAMC 

cannot be expanded or rebuilt to fully 

meet the current and projected health 

care needs of Louisville-area Veterans. 

The Brownsboro Site is located in closer 

proximity to the University of Louisville 

Hospital in downtown Louisville and 

thus would better facilitate continued 

collaboration between that facility and 

the VAMC. Its more central location is 

also closer to Veterans and VAMC 

employees living in other parts of the 

Louisville Metro area (e.g. west and 

south), and it offers more direct access 

via multiple interstates and major roads 

for those Veterans coming from other 

parts of the service area. With respect to 

environmental concerns, it contains no 

surface water resources or wetlands and 

fewer protected species than the St. 

Joseph Site. 

VA acknowledges there would be 

potential adverse impacts associated 

with the Brownsboro Site, although 

similar adverse effects would also occur 

at the St. Joseph Site, particularly 

related to traffic, which is one of the 

main reasons for public opposition to 

the Brownsboro Site. 

The ROD is available for viewing on 

the VA Web site at 

www.louisville.va.gov/newmedical

center/ and at the St. Matthews and 

Westport Branches of the Louisville 

Free Public Library located at 3940 

Grandview Avenue, Louisville, KY 

40207 and 8100 Westport Road, 

Louisville, KY 40222, respectively. 

Information related to the EIS process is 

also available for viewing on the VA 

Web site at www.louisville.va.gov/

newmedicalcenter/. 

Signing Authority: The Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved 

this document and authorized the 

undersigned to sign and submit the 

document to the Office of the Federal 

Register for publication electronically as 

an official document of the Department 

of Veterans Affairs. Gina S. Farrisee, 

Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of 

Veterans Affairs, approved this 

document on October 12, 2017, for 

publication. 

Dated: October 12, 2017. 

Jeffrey Martin, 

Office Program Manager, Office of Regulation 

Policy & Management, Office of the Secretary, 

Department of Veterans Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22842 Filed 10–19–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 


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