[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 183 (Friday, September 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77113-77114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21123]
[[Page 77113]]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Notice of Public Meetings for the Draft Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement
for Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (ID# SEIS-007-17-USN-
1723491961)
AGENCY: Department of the Navy (DoN), Department of Defense (DoD).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act- (NEPA) of
1969, as implemented by the Council on Environmental Quality
regulations, and Presidential Executive Order 12114, the Department of
the Navy (DoN), as the lead agency, and U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard)
have prepared and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a
Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Overseas
Environmental Impact Statement (OEIS) that evaluates the reasonably
foreseeable effects on the human environment of Navy, Marine Corps, and
Coast Guard training and testing activities conducted within the
Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) Study Area.
DATES: The 60-day public comment period begins on September 20, 2024,
and ends November 21, 2024. The comment period includes an additional
15 calendar days (from the required 45 days) to allow the public more
time to review and comment. The public can submit comments during the
Draft EIS/OEIS public review and comment period at one of the in-person
public meetings, online at the project website, or by U.S. mail. All
comments must be postmarked or received electronically by 11:59 p.m.
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on November 21, 2024, for consideration in
the Final Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
Three in-person public meetings in the form of an open-house will
be held to inform the public about the proposed action and alternatives
and about the opportunity to provide written and oral comments on the
Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
The in-person public meetings will be held as follows:
1. Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT New Bedford
Whaling Museum, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740.
2. Thursday, October 10, 2024, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT Silver Spring
Civic Building at Veterans Plaza, 1 Veterans Pl, Silver Spring, MD
20910.
3. Wednesday, October 16, 2024, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Central Daylight
Time (CDT)) New Orleans Marriott Metairie at Lakeway, 3838 N Causeway
Blvd., Metairie, LA 70002.
Two virtual public meetings in the form of a webinar and question
and answer session will be held for the public to learn about the
proposed action and alternatives. The virtual public meetings will be
held as follows:
1. Tuesday, October 22, 2024, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT.
2. Thursday, October 24, 2024, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT.
Registration for the virtual public meetings is available at the
project website www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis/. Recordings of the virtual
public meetings will be posted to the project website at
www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis/ for the public to view following their
completion.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS may be provided
at the in-person public meetings, submitted electronically through the
project website: www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis/, or by mail to: Naval
Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic; Attention: Code EV22SG
(AFTT EIS Project Managers); 6506 Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA 23508-
1278.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: U.S. Fleet Forces Command, 1562
Mitscher Avenue Suite 250, Norfolk, VA 23551-2487, Attention: Mr.
Theodore Brown, Installations and Environment Public Affairs Officer,
757-836-4427, theodore.c.brown4.civ@us.navy.mil, or visit the project
website www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DoN and Coast Guard's Proposed Action is to
conduct military readiness training activities, and research,
development, testing, and evaluation activities in the AFTT Study Area.
These military readiness activities include the use of active sonar and
explosives within existing range complexes and testing ranges and
additional areas located in the Atlantic Ocean along the eastern coast
of North America, in portions of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico,
at Navy pierside locations and port transit channels, near civilian
ports, and in bays, harbors, and inland waterways (e.g., the lower
Chesapeake Bay). These military readiness activities are generally
consistent with those analyzed in the AFTT EIS/OEIS completed in 2018
and are representative of training and testing that the Navy has been
conducting in the AFTT Study Area for decades. Since the completion of
the 2018 Final EIS/OEIS, the best available science has been updated,
the regulatory environment has changed, the Study Area has changed, and
what is known about our impacts has been refined. All of this has been
incorporated into this Supplemental EIS/OEIS analysis. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) is a Cooperating Agency for the Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
The purpose of the Proposed Action is to ensure the Action
Proponents, including the Coast Guard, are able to organize, train, and
equip service members and personnel to meet their respective national
defense missions in accordance with their Congressionally mandated
requirements.
Potential direct, indirect, cumulative, short-term, long-term,
irreversible, and irretrievable impacts to the environment from two
action alternatives and a No Action Alternative are evaluated in the
Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS. Resources evaluated in detail include air
quality, sediments and water quality, vegetation, invertebrates, marine
habitats, fish, marine mammals, sea turtles and other marine reptiles,
and birds and bats.
Based on the results of the analysis, the DoN and Coast Guard have
requested from NMFS a Letter of Authorization in accordance with the
Marine Mammal Protection Act to authorize the incidental take of marine
mammals that may result from the implementation of the activities
analyzed in the AFTT Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS. In accordance with
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, DoN and Coast Guard are
consulting with NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for potential
impacts to federally listed species. DoN and Coast Guard will complete
all required consultations and comply with all applicable laws and
regulations.
The Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS addresses mitigation measures
designed to help reduce or avoid potential impacts to marine resources,
including new mitigation measures that include expanded location-
specific mitigations and updates to activity-based mitigation measures.
In addition, the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS addresses marine species
monitoring efforts designed to track compliance with authorizations and
to investigate the effectiveness of mitigation measures implemented as
part of the Proposed Action. The proposed mitigation measures would be
implemented under either action alternative to maximize the mitigation
benefits to the environment.
Mitigation measures are being coordinated through the consultation
and permitting processes. DoN and Coast Guard will also consider public
[[Page 77114]]
comments on proposed mitigation measures described in this Draft
Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
Comments submitted during the public comment period at the in-
person public meetings, electronically via the project website, or
mailed to the address provided in the ADDRESSES section will become
part of the public record. Substantive comments will be considered in
the development of the Final Supplemental EIS/OEIS.
Notice of the availability of the Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS was
distributed to federal, state, and local agencies, elected officials,
and other interested individuals and organizations. Copies of the Draft
Supplemental EIS/OEIS are available for public review at the following
libraries:
1. Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library, 900 Wayne Avenue,
Silver Spring, MD 20910.
2. Broward County Main Library, 100 South Andrews Avenue, Fort
Lauderdale, FL 33301.
3. Camden County Public Library, 1410 GA-40, Kingsland, GA 31548.
4. Corpus Christi La Retama Central Library, 805 Comanche Street,
Corpus Christi, TX 78401.
5. East Bank Regional Library, 4747 West Napoleon Avenue, Metairie,
LA 70001.
6. New Bedford Free Public Library Casa de Saudade Branch, 58 Crapo
Street #1, New Bedford, MA 02740.
7. Onslow County Public Library, 58 East Doris Avenue,
Jacksonville, NC 28540.
8. Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland, ME 04101.
9. Providence Public Library, 150 Empire Street, Providence, RI
02903.
10. West Florida Public Library, Southwest Branch, 12248 Gulf Beach
Highway, Pensacola, FL 32507.
Copies of the AFTT Draft Supplemental EIS/OEIS are available for
electronic viewing at www.nepa.navy.mil/aftteis/. A paper copy of the
Executive Summary and a single compact disc (CD) of the Draft
Supplemental EIS/OEIS will be made available upon written request by
contacting: Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic,
Attention: Code EV22SG (AFTT EIS Project Managers), 6506 Hampton
Boulevard, Norfolk, VA 23508-1278.
Dated: September 12, 2024.
A.J. Gioiello,
Lieutenant Commander, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-21123 Filed 9-19-24; 8:45 am]
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