[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 31 (Thursday, February 18, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10042-10044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03208]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
Final Environmental Impact Statement and Finding of No
Practicable Alternative for the Proposed Heavy Off-Road Mounted
Maneuver Training Area at Fort Benning, Georgia
AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army (Army) announces the availability
of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed
Heavy Off-Road Mounted Maneuver Training Area (HOMMTA) at Fort Benning,
Georgia. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA), the Final EIS analyzes the potential environmental and
socioeconomic impacts, and identifies related mitigation measures,
associated with constructing, operating, and maintaining a HOMMTA of at
least 2,400 contiguous acres at Fort Benning to support heavy off-road
mounted maneuver (Proposed Action). The Proposed Action would support
the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) in its mission to train the
maneuver forces of the Army and would increase the total amount of
heavy off-road maneuver training area on Fort Benning, enabling Fort
Benning to conduct realistic training in accordance with current Army
training requirements.
The Proposed Action would provide a training area to meet existing
training needs; it would not result in additional soldiers being
stationed at Fort Benning, traffic, or any training off of the
Installation. Training land development would occur over a 2- to 3-year
period; development would primarily include vegetation removal and the
construction of tank trails, culverted water crossings, and road
upgrades, as well as burying existing overhead utilities. As feasible,
buffers would be used to protect environmentally sensitive resources
such as streams, wetlands, cemeteries, and archaeological sites. A
Finding of No Practicable Alternative (FONPA)
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addressing potential impacts on wetlands and 100-year floodplains is
also included in the Final EIS.
DATES: No decision will be made until 30 days after publication of the
Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, at which time the Army may execute a
Record of Decision (ROD).
ADDRESSES: Requests for additional information related to the Final EIS
should be sent to Fort Benning Environmental Management Division, Attn:
NEPA Program Manager, 6650 Meloy Drive, Building 6, Room 309, Fort
Benning, Georgia 31905-5122, or email comments to
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Mr. John Brown, Fort
Benning Environmental Management Division, at
[email protected] or (706) 545-7549 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
ET. Fort Benning has also established a web page that contains
information updates and background on the HOMMTA EIS, including the
materials identified in this NOA, at https://www.benning.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fort Benning plays a critical role in
supporting the Army's overarching mission. As the Army's MCoE, the home
of the Army's Armor and Infantry Schools, Fort Benning must support the
institutional training of Infantry and Armor soldiers and leaders. The
institutional training conducted at Fort Benning provides Army leaders
with the opportunity to respond to a wide variety of situations that
they can expect to encounter on the modern battlefield. Fort Benning is
also home to several deployable units that conduct off-road mounted
maneuver training, including the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade,
Task Force 1-28 Infantry, and elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment.
Fort Benning must be able to train and develop highly skilled and
cohesive units capable of conducting operations across the full
spectrum of potential conflicts. Inherent in and vital to training
Infantry and Armor soldiers and leaders properly is the requirement to
provide sufficient heavy off-road mounted maneuver training area.
Currently, the only training area at Fort Benning suitable for heavy
off-road mounted maneuver training is the Good Hope Maneuver Training
Area (GHMTA). Since the initial development of the GHMTA, the Army's
training strategy has changed to ``cross-domain movement and maneuver''
that requires additional contiguous area for heavy off-road maneuver.
The Final EIS analyzes the potential environmental and
socioeconomic impacts associated with the Proposed Action, including
direct, indirect, and cumulative effects. Mitigation of adverse effects
through avoidance and environmentally sensitive design, such as
establishment of buffers, would be used to avoid impacts to sensitive
resources to the maximum extent practicable. The Final EIS identifies
additional mitigation measures that the Army may implement to further
reduce identified adverse impacts.
The Army has completed consultation for this action under Section 7
of the Endangered Species Act, and this is incorporated in the EIS.
The Army identified three reasonable Action Alternatives that would
meet the purpose of and need for the Proposed Action; these three
Action Alternatives (i.e., three distinct locations on Fort Benning
where a HOMMTA could be constructed) are analyzed in detail in the
Final EIS.
1. Alternative 1 (Preferred Alternative): Northern Mounted Maneuver
Training Area Alternative: This alternative includes approximately
4,724 acres and is located adjacent to and east of the current Northern
Maneuver Training Area and west of and near Fort Benning's Digital
Multi-Purpose Range Complex (DMPRC).
Of the Action Alternatives, Alternative 1 would provide the most
preferable size and configuration to enable high-quality heavy off-road
mounted maneuver training. Accordingly, the Army has identified
Alternative 1 as the Preferred Alternative to implement the Proposed
Action.
2. Alternative 2: Red Diamond Alternative: This alternative
includes approximately 3,744 acres and is located south of the Southern
Maneuver Training Area (SMTA) near the Installation's southern
boundary.
3. Alternative 3: Eastern Boundary Alternative: This alternative
includes approximately 2,405 acres and is located between the northern
dudded impact area and the Installation's eastern boundary.
The Army also carried forward the No Action Alternative for
detailed analysis in the Final EIS. While the No Action Alternative
would not satisfy the purpose and need for the Proposed Action, this
Alternative was retained to provide a comparative baseline against
which to analyze the effects of the Action Alternatives as required
under the Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA Regulation.
Resource areas analyzed in the Final EIS include: Land use
(recreation), air quality, noise, soils and topography, water resources
(including wetlands and floodplains), biological resources, cultural
resources, socioeconomics, infrastructure, and hazardous and toxic
materials and waste.
Based on the analysis presented in the Final EIS, potentially
significant adverse impacts could occur to biological resources (i.e.,
from disturbance of unique ecological areas). Impacts to all other
resource areas would be less-than-significant (i.e., negligible, minor,
or moderate) adverse or beneficial. Practical mitigation measures are
presented in the Final EIS to reduce potential adverse effects.
All Action Alternatives for the Proposed Action may adversely
impact wetlands and/or 100-year floodplains. Accordingly, the Army has
also prepared a FONPA to comply with Executive Order (E.O.) 11988,
Floodplain Management, and E.O. 11990, Protection of Wetlands. As
described in the Final EIS, environmental protection measures (e.g.,
buffers from heavy maneuver training) and regulatory compliance
measures (e.g., permitting under Sections 401 and 404 of the CWA) would
be implemented to minimize adverse impacts on these resources.
The Army conducted a public review and comment period for the Draft
EIS between May 29 and July 13, 2020, including a public teleconference
on June 30, 2020. The Army considered and addressed in the Final EIS
comments received on the Draft EIS during this comment period.
Printed copies of the Final EIS and FONPA will be made available to
the public for 30 days at the Columbus Public Library, Cusseta-
Chattahoochee County Public Library, Milton E. Long Library, and the
Phenix City-Russell County Library, if the libraries are open for
public visitation when this NOA is published. An electronic copy of the
Final EIS and FONPA is posted on the HOMMTA EIS web page at https://www.benning.army.mil.
After publication of this NOA of the Final EIS, the Army will
prepare and publish its ROD announcing which Alternative is
environmentally preferred, which Alternative it selects for
implementation (be it an Action Alternative or the No Action
Alternative), and which mitigation measures it will implement to reduce
potential adverse impacts. Publication of the ROD will occur no sooner
than 30
[[Page 10044]]
days after publication of this NOA of the Final EIS.
James W. Satterwhite,
Alternate, Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-03208 Filed 2-17-21; 8:45 am]
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